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| "Disorder," a silver-plated short necklace with ovals in different sizes from Spanish brand Uno de 50 |
As the holiday shopping season in the US gets
into full gear the National Retail Federation expects total sales in the
November and December shopping period to increase by a solid 3.7 percent to
$630.5 billion.
Out of the that total, online retail spending
for the period will increase 14 percent year-over-year to $70.1 billion,
according to ComScore. Out of that
figure sales on desktop computers is expected to increase 9 percent to $58.3
billion. Mobile commerce is predicted to account for $11.7 billion of retail
spending, representing 17 percent of total digital commerce and growing at a
rate of 47 percent vs. last season. In total, digital commerce is expected to
account for about 15 percent of consumers' discretionary spending.
How much of that total that will include jewelry
and watch sales is unknown at this point. However, the share of this retail
market has grown consistently since 2009. Online and mobile
merchants are growing at a rapid pace and those already in the game have an
advantage.
One of those merchants is Spanish fashion
retailer Uno de 50, a silver and
gold jewelry brand with a presence in nearly 20 countries around the world,
including branded boutiques and other retail and wholesale points of sale.
The company also has a robust online presence in
the US that it plans to use to increase its share in the world’s largest
jewelry market. The company focuses on affordable and fun pieces that can be
worn casually and can easily be collected and matched in many combinations.
For example the company has a line of long and
short key necklaces for women that are
versatile, providing a number of options for women who buy their own jewels and
have a strong sense of fashion. Some are adorned with pearls and semi-precious
gems, adding a bit of color to the collections. They match well with the rest
of the company’s offerings and can be worn with a variety of clothing styles.
Jewelry has been slow to adopt eCommerce with
the school of thought being that people want to see and feel the pieces before
buying. This argument has been proven wrong and the past few years jewelers
have moved quickly to online sales. However, luxury watch brands that are very
focused on controlling all aspects of their marketing and distribution have
been even slower to adopt to eCommerce. A few brands like Montblanc and Chopard now sell a selection of the timepieces and
other products from their website.
As consumers continue to go online and
eventually to mobile platforms for their purchases, brands, retailers and niche
operators are jostling for position on this retail frontier.
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