Online jewelry sales continued to clip along in 2018, with the category’s sales increasing 14.2% year over year in 2018 for the 42 jewelry retailers in the Internet Retailer 2019 Top 1000. This is slower than the Top 1000 average growth rate in 2018, which was 17.5%.
The 42 jewelry retailers Internet Retailer tracks in the Top 1000 generated more than $5 billion in online sales in 2018. This represented 15.4% of the total retail sales in the jewelry category, up from 14.6% ecommerce penetration in 2017.
The jewelry category houses three distinct subcategories, including fashion jewelry, fine jewelry and watches. Fine jewelry, which can include diamonds and engagement rings, contributes to some of the notable factors in this category including a high median average order value (AOV) at $274, compared with the Top 1000 median AOV of $150.
Jewelry is a common product to give as a gift, which makes the holiday season important for all retailers in this category. This holds true for Richline Group, which is the largest online retailer in the group. The five-week peak season generated about 30% of the Richline’s annual revenue, says Lee Senderov, executive vice president of digital commerce.
“Q4 has a tremendous impact on us,” Senderov says. “We really spend the entire year gearing up for Q4.”
Jewelry brands that operate several URLs are among the largest online jewelers. For example, Richline Group operates Gemvara.com, Jewelry.com, Honora.com and Silpada.com.
Similarly, Signet Jewelers Ltd., the second largest online jewelry merchant, operates 11 ecommerce jewelry sites, including Kay.com, JamesAllen.com, Jared.com and Zales.com.
In fact, Richline and Signet’s combined 2018 online sales generated more than 20% of the entire category’s sales.
The largest online jewelry retailers are:
1. Richline Group (No. 109 in the Internet Retailer 2019 Top 1000)
2. Signet Jewelers Ltd. (No. 112)
3. Blue Nile Inc. (No. 121)
4. Jomashop.com (No. 136)
5. Tiffany & Co. (No. 178)
These largest retailers have a strong hold on the category and generate roughly 45% of the entire category’s web sales, according to Internet Retailer estimates.
Because these retailers generated anywhere from $302.3 million in online sales in 2018, up to $574.1 million, none of these five largest jewelry retailers are the fastest growing in the category.
For a more in-depth look at the online jewelry industry, read the following infographic, Online Jewelry Industry Report.
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