Texting jewelers: R U with Gen Y?

June 26, 2008

Young women today are making "incidental" purchases of diamond jewelry, outside of bridal. Pictured here are diamond baguette earrings from KC Designs priced at $1,780 and available in white, yellow or pink gold. (800) 552-3790

By Michelle Graff

Seattle—The children of the baby boomer generation are here, and, if the marketing radar is right, they are ready to shop.

Born between 1978 and 1993, and dubbed "boomlets," "echo boomers" or members of "Generation Y," this 15- to 30-year-old age group constitutes about 26 percent of the U.S. population and wields about $200 billion in spending power, according to a recent Diamond Promotion Service (DPS) presentation.

That spending power means the demographic group is a prime target for diamond jewelry marketing, DPS Vice President of Marketing Anne Valentzas and Planning Director Emmy Kondo said during the presentation.

Many retailers would tag the upper echelons of this age bracket as the perfect target for bridal, while those on the other end might be considered too young for diamond jewelry.

But the times, they are a-changin'.

At Sarah Leonard Fine Jewelers in Los Angeles, Gail Friedman says a woman's first diamond used to be her engagement ring, but not anymore. The Internet, advertising and the prevalence of celebrities in popular culture have all prompted women to become interested in diamond jewelry at a younger age, she says.

"They're much more aware than I was at that age of that kind of jewelry," Friedman says. "They see so much."

Some 19 percent of the diamond jewelry purchased by this under-30 group is bridal, and those within the age bracket still constitute 61 percent of the dollar value for diamond engagement rings. But DPS statistics show that 81 percent of this group's diamond jewelry purchases are non-bridal.

Kondo says women in this age bracket today are buying a higher number of "incidental pieces," or diamond jewelry that is not a wedding band or engagement ring.

This means that today's retailers should actively be marketing non-bridal diamond jewelry to young women, she says, or they could be missing out on a highly educated, potentially high-earning segment of the population.

DPS statistics show that salaries of women in their 20s surpassed that of men in the past seven years in some urban areas, including New York, where women now earn an average of 17 percent more than men, and Dallas, where women earn 20 percent more.

Single, empowered and out in the workforce, young women are not afraid to spend their money on diamonds, albeit at price-point averages below bridal.

DPS data shows that, on average, those between the ages of 18 and 30 spent $3,067 on diamond engagement rings, $1,313 on diamond wedding bands and $636 on non-bridal diamond jewelry.

At her store in Los Angeles, Friedman says she definitely notices the trend of young professional women buying diamond jewelry, particularly fashion pieces.

"They like to see what goes with their clothes," she says. "It's all about matching and coordinating."

She says the one diamond piece this group doesn't buy, however, is diamond rings.

Fashion jewelry, like these pink gold and diamond bangle bracelets priced at $2,585 each from KC Designs, is popular among younger women. (800) 552-3790

"They reserve that for when they are engaged," Friedman says.

Other retailers say bridal still rules the upper-20s age segment at their stores.

Rusty Clark of Thorpe and Co. in Sioux City, Iowa, and James Mangold, a sales manager with Pieter Andries in Southlake, Texas, say they were surprised with the DPS statistics on bridal purchases among 15- to 30-year-olds.

"My store would not match those statistics," Clark says.

He says in his small agricultural community, about 80 percent of customers in their upper 20s are shopping for engagement rings.

Mangold says Pieter Andries is looking to capture more business at the upper end of the Generation Y age range, with both bridal and non-bridal offerings priced between $500 and $1,500.

"The way I'm personally looking at it right now...they have more to spend than I ever did at that age," he says.

Caring and wired in Among the long list of characteristics attributed to the echo-boom generation are that they are global-, civic- and community-minded.

According to the DPS presentation, 66 percent of college freshman said it is essential or very important to help people in need. Additional DPS data shows that 69 percent of 13- to 25-year-olds consider a store's social and environmental commitment when deciding where to shop, and 83 percent trust a company more if it is perceived as socially or environmentally responsible.

"It's now cool to care," the DPS' Valentzas says.

Most retailers don't need a study to tell them one of the most obvious facts about Generation Y: They grew up with the Internet and are wired 24/7.

But, this doesn't mean sales are lost to online retailers. DPS statistics show that sales from cross-channel shopping—researching online but buying in-store—are set to outpace e-commerce growth between now and 2012.

Clark says younger shoppers visit the store armed with much more jewelry knowledge than consumers did 15 years ago. He uses the opportunity to clear up any misperceptions about the Four Cs that customers might have gotten online and to stress the advantage of in-person customer service.

"Young people would rather buy from someone they can walk in and complain to, and know there's someone behind the product to take care of their needs down the road," Clark says. "You have to justify to them your value."

The DPS' Kondo recommends retailers expand beyond a Web site, perhaps by starting a blog or placing a page on a social-networking site such as Facebook, which logs 250,000 new profiles a day.

Mangold says the store is improving its Internet presence by rebuilding its Web page to add interactive video and audio elements, plus the ability to interact with customers through features such as a Q and A.

And Friedman says Sarah Leonard Fine Jewelers is also revamping its Web site, and exploring Facebook, MySpace.com and e-commerce.

"There's so many avenues to explore," Friedman says. "We're definitely open to all, and we're headed in the right direction."

Tips: Selling to boomers' babies

What do you need to know about the "echo boomers?" Read on:

—Nineteen percent of what they purchase is bridal diamond jewelry, while the other 81 percent is non-bridal diamond jewelry.
—Among those surveyed, 93 percent say they are "very happy" or "pretty happy" with their lives, and 78 percent are "content" with their standards of living.
—Some 75 percent of echo boomers grew up with working mothers. —This demographic spends 10 hours per week online and 30 minutes per day on their cell phones. They send up to 10 text messages daily.

Source: Diamond Promotion Service

E-mail: michelle.graff@nationaljeweler.com

Editor's note:This article first appeared in the May 16, 2008, issue of National Jeweler.