Forecasts show holiday sales are shaping up to be better than expected, but that’s not the only reason jewelers have to be excited about the coming holiday.
1. Keyword Demand for “Jewelers” is Dominating the Yellow Pages
More than 31 million searches are made for “jewelers” in print and Internet Yellow Pages each year, with the highest number of searches occurring in November, according to the Local Media Tracking Study conducted by Burke for the Local Search Association.
“Our annual research continues to show a huge spike in jewelry searches leading into the holiday season, with around 5 million occurring in the month of November,” said Natalie Wuchenich, director of research at the Local Search Association, in a statement. “It looks like a lot of lucky people are getting great gifts for the holidays.”
Nearly half of U.S. consumers who searched for “jewelers” had no jewelers or multiple jewelers in mind. Nearly 75 percent looked at multiple ads, turning to an average of 7.4 before making a purchase. The study found that consumers spent $227 following a search.
2. More Shoppers are Expected on Black Friday
Jewelers should also look forward to a spike in customers during the Black Friday weekend. Up to 152 million people plan to shop that weekend, higher than the 138 million people who planned to do so last year, according to a preliminary Black Friday shopping survey, conducted for the National Retail Federation by BIGresearch.
The results showed that 74 million people say they will definitely hit stores and another 77 million are waiting to see if the bargains are worth braving the cold and the crowds.
The survey also found that 17.3 percent will monitor retailers’ Facebook pages and 11.3 percent will check out group buying sites like Groupon and LivingSocial. Of those who own tablet devices and who plan to shop for or research holiday items online this year, 21.3 percent will seek out group buying sites and 31.2 percent will check out retailers’ Facebook pages.
Other findings from the survey:
- 50.5 percent will keep up with advertising circulars throughout the holiday season
- 31.7 percent said they would tune in to watch retailers’ holiday commercials
- 23.1 percent will seek out coupon websites like RetailMeNot.com and FatWallet.com
- 32.3 percent will specifically keep track of the email coupons they receive from retailers
For more on holiday sales, check out:
- How’s Christmas Shaping Up?
- NRF Forecasts Holiday Sales Increase of 2.8 Percent
- Holiday Sales: Shoppers Want Deals, but Price Doesn’t Mean Everything
- Survey: Affluent Shoppers Will Drive 2011 Holiday Sales
- Forecast: Retailers to See Small Gains in 2011 Holiday Sales
- Forecast: Holiday Sales to Rise 3.5 Percent
Follow JCK on Instagram: @jckmagazine
Follow JCK on Twitter: @jckmagazine
Follow JCK on Facebook: @jckmagazine
