Retailers in the jewelry and watch category have gone from being digitally challenged to digitally average, according to L2’s Digital IQ Index for Specialty Retail.
Tiffany & Co. retained its “gifted” status, while Blue Nile, Swatch, Zales, Cartier, and Swarovski were considered “average.” Tourneau was rated “challenged.”
The rankings were based on myriad factors: 40 percent were derived from the effectiveness of the brand’s website and e-commerce operations; 30 percent on the retailer’s search, display, and email marketing efforts; 20 percent on the brand’s mobile strategy; and 10 percent on the brand’s presence on social media.
Swatch had a 33 percent gain in digital competency based on its improved organic search. Swarovski was one of the top 10 brands in organic search, while Zales and Blue Nile placed in the bottom 10.
L2 credited Tiffany’s “What Makes Love True” Instagram initiative with driving engagement across all of its platforms. Zales’ “Pin to Win” print and social contest helped the company bolster engagement, but its low website traffic hurt its overall ranking.
Cartier had a 416 percent increase in global Facebook likes, and Zales has a 206 percent increase.
Swatch had one of the top 10 YouTube branded channels with 11,733,624 upload views. Cartier had the no. 1 video with more than 15 million views.
Other key findings from the study:
- For the first time in three years, department stores overtook e-tailers for the highest digital IQ by category.
- Only 50 percent of brands incorporate conversion-enhancing user reviews. Also, the Facebook “like” API is used by only 65 percent of retailers.
- Eighty-six percent of brands are on Pinterest, 73 percent are on Google+, 71 percent are on Instagram, and 42 percent are on Tumblr.
- However, of the 52 brands on Google+, only 26 posted once or more in the past month, and 12 had never posted.
- Only 53 percent of brands maintain a Foursquare account, and only 8 percent have left a brand tip in the last month.
- “Genius” brands keep users on their sites two and a half minutes longer than brands at the bottom of the digital IQ index.
- Fifty-nine percent of retail executives are prioritizing their investments in their website. Thirty-five percent are putting their money into mobile, and 22 percent are making investments in social networks a priority.
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