Why Isn't Jewelry on Black Friday's Must Have List?

"Black Friday" is universally known in the retail industry, supposedly because it's the day when retailers turned the corner and saw their income statements move out of the red and into the black, (started to make a profit) or it's the day when retail workers are exposed to the worst crowds and customer behavior. Black Friday is regularly cited as the busiest shopping day of the year.

I began wondering why jewelry doesn’t sell as much as other commodities on this day. Why don’t we see those long lines outside our jewelry store at 6am in the morning? I started to question what our store was lacking.

Firstly, I found out, although Black Friday may be the day the greatest number of holiday shoppers traipse through malls, it isn't necessarily the biggest day of the year in terms of dollars spent.

According to statistics published by the International Council of Shopping Centers  (ICSC), the top shopping days for the years 1998 through 2002 were:

• 2002: Saturday, Dec. 21
• 2001: Saturday, Dec. 22
• 2000: Saturday, Dec. 23
• 1999: Saturday, Dec. 18
• 1998: Saturday, Dec. 19

For those years, "Black Friday" held the following positions in the ICSC's rankings of year's busiest shopping days:

• 2002: #4
• 2001: #6
• 2000: #5
• 1999: #8
• 1998: #8

The MasterCard Holiday Shopping Insights for 2005 also reported that the day after Thanksgiving was only the sixth busiest day, while Friday, December 23 won the title of busiest shopping day.  

Secondly, the rationale I found most interesting, stated by Marshal Cohen, senior industry analyst at NPD Group Inc., said the reason a lot of merchants were being hurt is that there is no must-have item, except in consumer electronics. I was thinking about his statement and realized all week all I heard on the radio was that PlayStation3 had become difficult to find in many areas and the stores that are selling them have only a limited stock.

My mind started working and I realized all this hype over Black Friday had to do with basic Economics. Limited supply, which increases the demand for these goods and allows the market to determine the price. If these items were more abundant, the lower the price they could command.

Enough of the boring Economics…for Black Friday why not market a product like Piaget customized luxury watch with their personal fingerprint, in diamonds, as the dial. Another watch idea I love is the Do-it-Yourself watch where consumers can create their customized diamond watch. Color Story has over 1,500 possible combinations of metal, dial, strap, and colors of diamonds on their web site.

As precious and rare as a diamond is why can’t our manufacturers come up with some sort of must have item that of course is “limited in stock.”