Digital IQ Index®: Watches & Jewelry 2013

Key Takeaways

since 2009 apac has been responsible for half of the growth in the 60 billion market for luxury jewelry and timepieces however in the first quarter of 2013 cracks emerged as exports to china declined 23 year on year many brands are now refocusing their gaze westward where select brands continue to enhance their digital efforts in the last year alone five brands have launched e-boutiques signaling growing comfort was selling online while nearly half of brands surveyed have embraced e-commerce only a fifth support online store is specific to the eu5 in addition only a quarter of brands leverage concierge services that put the consumer on an alternate path to purchase however the majority of watch and jewelry sector is still playing catch up with more digitally savvy peers in the fashion and retail sectors seventy-three percent of brands engage in email marketing yet only six percent send trigger emails in response to user behavior over half of brands invest in a mobile optimized site however one in seven exhibit issues on tablets participation on social media is becoming ubiquitous with rolex launching on facebook and april but programming tactics remain mixed only 10 of brands are running contests on facebook to drive user engagement only 27 of brands leverage their twitter account to respond to customer service inquiries and only 35 percent linked to a specific product page from their most popular video on youtube in l2's latest study of the watch and jewelry industry over a quarter of the index now ranks as gifted or above including three brands that qualify as genius perennial leader tiffany boasts the number one position on facebook twitter and instagram while maintaining an unrivaled e-commerce experience with its new site swarovski's high impact campaigns active contests and promotions and dominance on pinterest helped maintain its second place rank cartier's long-anticipated site relaunch last november combined with continued leadership on youtube resulted in the brand becoming an index leader as brands return their attention to traditional markets they face digitally proficient newcomers as well as a threat from non-traditional players promoting wearable technologies this study attempts to quantify the digital competence of 80 watts and jewelry brands our goal is to provide a robust tool to diagnose digital strengths and weaknesses and help managers achieve greater return on incremental investment members can download the full report at l2 thinktank.com