National Retail Bulletin
Prepared for the Canadian Jewellers Association by J.C. Williams Group, a retail consulting firm specializing in customer-centric strategy, market research, branding and marketing, retail operations, real estate, master planning, and foodservice.
J.C. Williams Group delivers results-driven strategies backed by in-depth research and analysis of the global landscape.
September 2023 (November 2023 Release)
Discretionary Spend Remains Low as Canadian Retail Sales Remain Consistent
Canadian retail sales increased slightly in September 2023 with All Stores in July growing 2.4% YOY and down -3.7% MOM, and Jewellery, Luggage and Leather Goods down -10.7% YOY and -13.0% MOM (Figure 1). Overall, all discretionary categories are down -1.0 YOY, and this trend is likely to continue until interest rates further stabilize.
Jewellery Clicks (Figure 2) fluctuated throughout September. Web visits will likely remain low until Black Friday/Cyber Monday and stay higher until the new year.
Retail FootFall (Figure 3) peaked mid-September and will likely continue to decrease until the holidays. BIA traffic will likely remain low until temperatures warm up again, the opposite of shopping centres. If you have a street front store, now is a great time to focus on
What does this mean for the Jewellery industry?
1/3 of holiday shoppers plan to shop in the last 2 weeks of November. Now is a great time to put more effort into marketing, especially targeted social media advertising! Middle-high income consumers plan to spend more this year, and also plan to self-gift. Make sure you don’t just have products aimed at the gift recipient, but at the gift giver!