Online Jewelry Sales Drop 24% This Holiday

Online sales of jewelry and watches didn't fare well this holiday season (Nov. 1-Dec. 24), falling 24 percent compared with the same period last year, according to the latest research from ComScore.
 

Other categories that showed negative online growth this holiday season include: books and magazines (-1 percent), consumer electronics (-5 percent), flowers, greetings and gifts (-7 percent), toys (-7 percent), computer hardware (-8 percent), home, garden and furniture (-14 percent), event tickets (-18 percent), computer software (-24 percent), office supplies (-30 percent) and music, movies and videos (-32 percent).
 

Meanwhile, the top-growing online category, sport and fitness, increased 18 percent compared with the same period last year. According to ComScore, the category continues to benefit from consumers' focus on health and fitness as well as their feeling more comfortable purchasing higher-priced fitness equipment, such as treadmills and elliptical machines, online.
 

The second fastest-growing category was video games, consoles and accessories, which increased 14 percent on continued demand for popular consoles such as the Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
 

Apparel and accessories, the only other product category with positive online growth this holiday season, generated higher sales as a result of retailers' aggressive discounting and promotions, and was helped by unfavorable weather across much of the country.

A comparison of ComScore's e-commerce data with overall (online and offline) consumer spending data published by MasterCard Advisors' SpendingPulse Unit for the period of Nov. 1-Dec. 24, revealed that online trends in several product categories outperformed overall consumer spending in those categories, including:
 

--Sales of apparel and accessories increased 4 percent online, compared with a 19-21 percent decline in overall sales of the category.

--Sales of consumer electronics decreased 5 percent online, and home, garden and furniture declined 14 percent online. This compares with a 26 percent decline in overall sales of electronics/appliances.

--Sales of jewelry and watches decreased 24 percent online, compared with a 34 percent decline in overall sales of luxury goods (including jewelry and watches).
 

"For an online holiday shopping season that recorded a disappointing 3 percent decline in sales, a positive note is that e-commerce trends outperformed overall consumer spending in several product categories, which is to say that e-commerce continued to capture an increasing share of consumers' wallets," ComScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni said in a media release. "Clearly, 2008 was an extremely challenging time for many retailers, and the beginning of 2009 may not be much better. But when the consumer economy eventually does rebound, e-commerce is poised to benefit from its emergence as an important consumer sales channel."