The 10 Most Popular Jewelry News Stories and Tweets of November 2012

Before presenting the top stories of the past month, I wanted to share some stats on Black Friday/Cyber Monday:

  • According to a study by IBM, 24 percent of consumers used a mobile device to visit a retailer’s site on Black Friday, up from 14.3 percent in 2011. Mobile sales exceeded 16 percent on Black Friday—up from 9.8 percent last year—while mobile sales on Cyber Monday jumped an unbelievable 96 percent from 2011.
  • Cyber Monday online sales increased 30.3 percent over 2011, according to a comScore study. Overall Cyber Monday spending reached $1.465 billion, up 17 percent from last year—representing the heaviest online spending day in history.
  • Encouraging news for the jewelry industry: The jewelry and watch category was in the top five top-gaining product categories on Cyber Monday. The category saw sales jump 17 percent over 2011.

Many of the jewelers I talked to earlier this week said Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales weren’t as crucial to them as the days immediately leading up to the holiday. Those sales may not be the be-all and end-all for the jewelry industry, but that doesn’t mean lessons can’t be learned from the retailers that did make a big promotional push last weekend.

Online and mobile sales continue their upward trend, and even if jewelers didn’t run a sales promotion, they should have been actively promoting their stores on social media. Consumer eyeballs were online in full force during the weekend, which should give the industry more incentive to embrace online and social—rather than shy away from both. They may not buy from you on Black Friday/Cyber Monday, but when the holiday gets closer, you want them remembering your name, not your competitors’.

If anyone has a good Black Friday or Cyber Monday story, feel free to email me at dford@jckonline.com, or let it in the comment section.

Here are the top 10 most popular jewelry news stories from November 2012:

Picture This: 15 Images of Jewelry Stores & Hurricane Sandy

“Great photos, and its wonderful that these jewelers were safe and dry,” says commenter Smadesign Grp.

Legendary Flawless Diamond Sets World Record at Auction

The Archduke Joseph Diamond raked in $21.5 million at auction. Which leads me to ask the really important question: Is there a better name for a ginormous diamond?

Lacy & Co. Shutting Down

“So sad to them leave the business! Ellen and Charles are one of the finest couples I’ve ever met and Lacy & Co. is a West Texas icon,” says commenter Jon Parker. “There just has to be someone who can continue their legacy with the care it deserves.”

Sterling Sues Zale Over “Most Brilliant Diamond” Ads

Zale and Sterling have long battled each other in America’s malls. Now they are also fighting in a court of law.

Berkshire Hathaway Calls Its Jewelers’ Earnings “Flat”

Berkshire Hathaway’s jewelry retailers produced flat earnings and lower revenues in the third quarter of 2012.

Jewelers Report Mixed Black Friday

Speaking of fun name recognition promotions, Lewis Diamond & Timepieces in Webster, Texas, handed out free doughnuts and coffee to people standing in line at the neighboring Best Buy. Free coffee and doughnuts = the original social media.

Quality Gold Acquires Leslie’s

“Leslie’s is a great company,” says Quality’s CEO, Michael Langhammer. “It’s been around for over 40 years. They have done a great job and they have created a great brand. We want to continue that.“

9 Carat Blue Diamond Discovered in Botswana

This incredible find just sold for $4.5 million.

Recovered Titanic Jewels Go on Display

This is certainly not the ice that brought the big ship down.

Cutting Remarks: The Incredible Shrinking Jewelry Industry

“I’m a new jeweler! There is still hope!!” says commenter Bailey Christenbury.

The top 10 tweets of November 2012:

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