The INSTORE Jewelers Confidence Index edged back up to the high 50s in early July against a backdrop of a strong economy, cheap credit, and rising household income – especially at the top end.
Forty percent of the jewelers in our survey said the short-term prospects for their business had improved in the past month, compared to just 9 percent who said it had deteriorated. That latter figure was the lowest since we started doing our confidence reports in mid-2016 and suggests the benefits of the booming economy are filtering down to more of the jewelers how had so far missed out.
Meanwhile, 45 percent of jewelers said they were buying less inventory this year compared to the same period in 2017, while 22 percent said they were buying more, tracking a trend we have seen for most of the last two years. It is these two elements – outlook and orders — that make up the JCI.
In terms of actual store performance, 49 percent of the jewelers said their sales were up over June 2017 while 22 percent said they were down. That was a notch down from last month’s very strong figures (54 percent up and 21 percent down) but points to an industry that overall is enjoying good times.
Our most recent Brain Squad survey, taken between June 30 to July 20, attracted responses from 265 independent jewelry store owners across the U.S. and Canada.