![]() When a brand’s own site or its authorized retailers aren’t offering either price transparency or e-commerce, consumers head to gray market sites, says L2’s research. The gray market exploded as Swiss watch sales declined as Fortune magazine explains, luxury watchmakers ramped up production to meet the demands of a then-booming Asia, Middle East, and Russia, but a subsequent slowdown in those regions led to a glut of inventory that has to be unloaded somewhere. There are now more than 65 gray market sites selling luxury watches and jewelry at discounts ranging from approximately 33% to as much as 65% off. Only about 17% of respondents reported increased online sales, but almost half of respondents (48%) said they are not e-commerce enabled.īut consumers love bargains, especially on luxury goods like jewelry and watches. ![]() In The Centurion's final 2016 holiday survey, about one-third of respondents reported double-digit sales increases for the season, and more than one-third of respondents to a Centurion survey in the middle of the holiday shopping season felt their digital efforts were paying off. (A report from says 83% of Americans used Amazon last year, and an article on /Money says more than 70% of affluent Americans and more than 50% of all Americans are Amazon Prime members.) Digital jewelry and watch sales were robust during the holiday 2016 period: not only were online sales were up double digits year-on-year, but Amazon-which overall declared 2016 its best holiday ever-sold 2.5 million watches and 10,451 carats of diamonds during the holiday period. In a follow-up study released last week, L2 found the performance divergence between online and offline channels is growing in the jewelry and watch space. New York, NY-Last fall, a study by digital research firm L2 found that by not having e-commerce capabilities, jewelers are not only hurting their own brick-and-mortar sales, but also helping gray marketers grow. Online Gray Market Growing For Luxury Jewelry And Watches, Discounts Up To 65% By Hedda Schupak, Editor, The Centurion |
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