A Peep into the Future of the Jewelry Industry: Jewelry industry experiences a steady growth over many decades now. A McKinsey survey projects the growth and global sales of jewelry are expected to double up between the year 2015 and 2010 when compared to sales in the first half of this decade. Millions of consumers across the globe find jewelry not only as adorable ornaments to be added to their collection, but also as an investment with a significant potential for better returns over time.
However, prosperity will not be shared that easily across the board. Even though the jewelry industry is growing at a steady rate, the market trends and speculations which rule business decisions may always be shakier now and then. The winners amongst this market fluctuation will be those who can rightly understand the buying habits of the consumers the key drivers based on the market shifts to plan short and long-term strategies accordingly.
Only time will tell as to who will win and lose in this tight competition. However, identifying the driving forces will surely get you closer to the winner circle, and it is not a difficult task now. In this article, we will discuss some key trends and pointers, which may be shaping the jewelry industry in the next few years.
- Expect growth in the peer-to-peer market
We can see that the down and middle-market consumers of jewelry items are pumping up and this, in turn, paved the way to a more vibrant peer-to-peer marketing. Moreover, things are no much easier over the internet for the consumers to purchase and sell jewelry online also.
The users at both ends of the buy-sell spectrum can no be connected directly, which not only makes things easier for both the parties, but even more profitable. From buyer point of you, it is more selection and better prices, and for sellers, it is a better margin by managing sales directly.
Even though it will hold a fair slice of the jewelry market, peer-to-peer may not be fully taking over the traditional retail market. A McKinsey study predicts that about 15% of the jewelry sales may happen online by 2010 through the peer-to-peer platforms.
- Handmade jewelry is coming up in the mainstream
Previously, it was mostly celebrities, and traditional jewelry collectors were keen about handmade jewelry, but now it is slowly picking up as a trend. The younger generation customers are very enthusiastic about handmade crafts and jewelry with a nostalgic touch since the advent in mass production of everything.
Jewelry holds a component of self-expression and culture, and even though it is pricier, handmade hand-made jewelry holds a lot of laudable benefits for those who want to be unique. There are plenty of online stores now specializing in hand-made and custom jewelry, which are in high demand as gifting items and collections.
- Cross-border fashion and hype of the mega brand
As we can see, jewelry industry had maintained a very parochial structure from olden times onwards. Even though the apparel industry shares many apparent resemblances in trends and fashion upgrades globally, the jewelry industry mostly run within the stringent nationalistic rails.
However, this is one thing the big brands always wanted to break, and they are more keenly working towards it. As a result, we can expect this stringency to be changed in the coming years and expect more mega brands to establish internationally and sell gold in globally accepted patterns in jewelry.
The industry observers predict that the biggest jewelry houses from across the countries will together double up their global market share by the year 2020 by acquiring many of the local brands in the jewelry industry.
- Responsible sourcing of social consciousness
We can see that social consciousness is now coming up as a significant pointer towards price sensitivity among consumers. The consumers looking forward to buying jewelry are now more conscious and likely to ask regarding the provenance of the products they buy. On the other hands, merchants are also more likely to oblige it. So, brands should run ahead of this trend by offering responsibly and global verifiably of the products to win trust and reputation.
- Middle market consolidation
As the younger and newer consumers are more enthusiastic about the bespoke and responsibly sourced products, the top end of the market spectrum tends to hit more heights whereas the middle market sector may experience some pain of growth. This may be reflected as a price fall in the jewelry market and may contribute towards an intense market competition among the producers, resellers, and retailers.
This situation expected in future may lead to further spur the consolidation process, which may be good for the regional and local brands for the time being. To win over it, the international brand retail giants will try to acquire small local brands. With this, there is a chance for the small brands also to get global fame in jewelry sector.
- Urban sector decline gets accelerated
In the initial wave, this trend may be contradicting with the bespoke and handmade jewelry movements. However, it will remain more or less the same as purchasing a unique bracelet which only one consumer own and made by an expert craftsman is considered so different than spending bucks on a standard Swarovski bracelet.
From another point of view, the decline in unbranded jewelry and the hype in handmade products are complementary to each other. There is a common denominator which comes into play as the consumers are not so interested in purchasing any cookie-cutter type jewelry which lacks tradition and pedigree.
- Online sales of jewelry
This is one thing which should be downplayed in any model. As of now, the online jewelry sales only make up a very small segment; however, this is fast changing lately. It is estimated that the online percentage of sales in jewelry may likely to increase by around 40% by the year 2020. This may be both end-to-end purchase or the consumers want to browse and choose their products at the online store and then opt for an in-store pickup locally.
All trends show that good times are there ahead for both upper and midsection of the jewelry market. Trends are more pronounced and standardized in the rapidly growing developing international markets, and the players who positioned themselves to exploit the jewelry segment will have a lucrative run.
