If there is a market that never sees a dull day, it is the bridal jewellery market. Wedding season never comes alone. It brings along a lot of excitement, preparations, not to mention expenditure, which is primarily on bridal jewellery. In fact, many a time, brides-to-be choose their wedding dress after they have picked out their jewellery. Clearly, it is a huge deal, which can turn into a window of huge opportunities with just some basic understanding of the target group.
Broadly, bridal jewellery consumers can be divided into two main categories – those who are getting married or their immediate families. Additionally, the families of the bride or groom could gift jewellery to very close relatives and friends. Most certainly, the bride has a budget that is much larger than family and friends. Brides also spend a significant amount of time browsing through the market, latest trends, and spend a lot of time on research and looking around before they make up their minds. This category rarely makes a compulsive purchase. In fact, many brides these days pick designs after browsing through various jewellery magazines. Once they are done, they approach jewellery-makers who gladly duplicate designs but not without charging a whopping sum of money.
Different people have different budgets, which brings us to one solid learning – it is always great to have variety, in terms of designs as well as pricing. There must always be a slightly affordable version of a stellar jewellery piece. Of course, there’s nothing like a bride whose budget has no bounds but there has got to be something for everyone, if a brand wants to reap profits and become popular. Offering affordable jewellery doesn’t mean compromising on exclusivity. It only means that a brand is making exclusivity available to many, which is a great thing from a consumer’s point of view.
Moving on to the second category of the bride’s family, these people are almost always on a smaller budget than the bride. But, for a wealthy family, mothers and sisters of the bride or groom could very well buy more expensive pieces than most brides can dream of. This category of “wedding jewellery shopper” (wedding family) may or may not be offer-led. Rarely does this segment pick something that exceeds a pre-set budget. They look around for the best prices, and wait for discounts. Brand loyalty isn’t their trait though exceptions do exist.
For gifting to friends and relatives as memorabilia for the special occasion, the most characteristic behaviour is the jewellery almost always comprises of small pieces – ear studs, rings, nose studs and never jewellery sets. A great offer on two small jewellery pieces is just right to win over this category.
The Wedding Season is a huge opportunity for jewellers. Staying up-to-date on trends and keeping stocks for these segments are practices all must follow.
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