FOR A CATEGORY WITH no sizing, no fit anxiety and a built-in self-purchase dynamic, earrings should be a reliable workhorse in any jewelry store. Yet for all that built-in advantage, the retailers in INSTORE’s Brain Squad who are selling the most earrings say that the category still rewards attention, strategy and a willingness to meet customers where they are.
The product story right now is fairly straightforward. Hoops remain the floor — a staple across age groups, price points and store formats, though the profitability calculus on hollow gold styles is creating tension at current metal prices. Huggie mechanisms continue to resonate with customers who want something more secure than a standard post. Lab-grown diamond studs have settled into a reliable baseline. And silver, after years of playing second fiddle, is genuinely outperforming gold for several retailers.
“Gold has definitely slumped,” said Amanda L., a jeweler in Steinbach, MB. “Silver is fun and on fire.”
The more interesting shift is happening at the display case. Multiple piercings have moved from trend to baseline behavior among younger customers, and retailers who haven’t rethought their earring merchandising for a stacking customer are leaving add-on sales behind. Dianna R., who owns a store in Lafayette, LA, addressed this directly — she began using Stuller display No. 61-1682 specifically to demonstrate layered combinations. Elizabeth S. of San Diego goes further, bringing in a professional piercer periodically to encourage clients to add piercings, which creates its own demand.
Flat-back styles in gold are seeing rising request volume, worth tracking for stores that haven’t yet added them.
On the floor, the fundamentals haven’t changed. Getting earrings physically onto a customer remains the single most effective conversion tool — and the retailers who do it consistently, rather than waiting for the customer to ask, see it in their numbers. “Just bring over the mirror as you invite her,” advised Nancy and Pierre P. of Swansea, MA. “She will usually try two or three more pairs once she gets started.” Staff modeling works on the same principle: Brenda N. in El Segundo, CA., credits visible staff wear with moving styles that might otherwise sit.
Selection depth is a recurring theme. David B. of Calgary put a specific floor on it — at least 40 to 50 pairs, gold only — and several others echoed the idea that earrings are a category where breadth drives conversion. Casey G. of Orleans, MA., raised the display logic question that more retailers probably need to revisit: customers frequently ask where the earrings are, which suggests dedicated case space may outperform the aesthetically tidy approach of keeping earrings within their matched sets.
The sharpest unresolved tension in the category is imagery. Jeremy A. of Los Angeles sees it as the industry’s biggest missed opportunity — and lays some of the blame at suppliers’ feet. “If you don’t show it, you won’t sell it,” he said, arguing that vendors should be producing and distributing lifestyle imagery that retailers can actually use. Other jewelers rely on organic Instagram content, posting staff and models in-store.
The underlying dynamic, though, is what makes earrings worth the attention. “It is one of the few things a woman will buy for herself,” noted Jo G. of Oconomowoc, WI — but, she added, “you just have to have things no one else has”. In a category where commodity product is increasingly hard to differentiate on price, that distinction matters.
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