More than half of the retail jewelers who took our survey this month said their watch sales have declined over the past 10 years as they struggle to compete with online sellers.
Watches are decreasing as a percentage of overall sales, said more than half the jewelers who took National Jeweler’s Product Pulse survey this month.
New York--Though they carry about the same amount of brands as they did a decade ago, retailers report that watches have been slowing as a part of their overall sales in the past 10 years.
This is one of findings in National Jeweler’s latest Product Pulse, a monthly feature where jewelers from around the country share details on sales in a specific category in their stores. Last month’s product survey polled jewelers about silver.
National Jeweler’s March Product Pulse was done in conjunction with Jewelers of America’s new Business Pulse survey, which is designed to help the organization better understand the state of retail in retail time. (JA’s first Business Pulse zeroed in on succession planning and National Jeweler will share those results in a future story.) It is being released just as Baselworld, the largest watch trade show in the world, kicks off in Switzerland.
A total of 203 retailers took the combined survey, which was conducted from late February to early March. Of those retailers, 82 percent, or 166, reported that they carry watches in their stores.
For those who indicated they carry watches, 84 percent said the category accounts for less than 15 percent of sales, and it’s not a category that’s showing growth for jewelry retailers.
More than half (55 percent) of respondents said their watch sales have decreased as a percentage of overall sales over the past 10 years while a total of 26 percent said they’ve stayed the same in that time period. This means that 81 percent of retailers polled have witnessed either stagnant or slipping watch sales since 2006.
One jeweler had this to say about selling watches: “(The) retail watch industry is slowing down because the consumer will come into the store and try it on and then go search the Internet for the cheapest price possible. Now, as a retailer I am choosing to carry less models in the store and keep my price points low. It’s not fair on a new model that the consumer is able to find on online at a fraction (of the) cost. I would rather price match and order in as I need.”
When it comes to their watch assortment, the greatest percentage of respondents, 40 percent, said they carry the same amount of watch brands now as they did a decade ago, with about the same product mix.
Rolex (which many retailers specified were pre-owned), Bulova, Belair (private label) and Pulsar were the brands that survey-takers cited as bestsellers in their stores.
Other top-selling brands included Tissot, Breitling and TAG Heuer.
Seiko and Pulsar were two of the brands mentioned by many retailers as being bestsellers. One survey respondent said they carried Seiko watches, but “are thinking of dropping watches as (they) occupy too much space for the return.”
Tissot, another brand cited as being a bestseller by many retailers, is debuting these timepieces at Baselworld. From left, the women’s Bella Ora model, the Le Locle Régulateur and the Bella Ora Piccola.
Not surprisingly, Rolex was another brand frequently mentioned as a bestseller by survey-takers, though most noted they carried pre-owned Rolexes. Here, the brand’s 18-karat white gold Oyster GMT-Master II.
Breitling’s “Avenger Bandit” wristwatch is one of the newest models from the brand. It is 45 mm with a titanium case, a gray “stealth” look and a mechanical movement.
