Edahn Golan Dissects 2020: Retail & Wholesale Bounce Back

In his latest blog, industry analyst Edahn Golan dissects 2020 and comes to the conclusion

- December 2020 US jewelry sales knocked it out of the park and rose to US$13.74bn,

- total retail sales for 2020 were flat despite several months of complete lockdown at the peak of the pandemic, totaling US$62.68bn

- a rebound owed to strong consumer demand, retailers' (esp. independents) ability to adapt to restrictions and reach out to consumers, improved gross margins and higher average ticket prices (from US$596.25 to US$1,110.66)

- As he reported earlier, wholesale prices experienced a V-shaped recovery, 

- For the majors in rough production, the rebound took longer, but they are back to normal

- LGD wholesale prices decreased sharply in Q4, retail sales in the US performed well, especially earrings (+50%), Golan estimates market share of LGD rose to 3.1% (+1.1% y-o-y)

- Financing further decreased and industry debt reduced below US$10bn, and overall deleveraging caused banks to actively turn to their client base, especially in Antwerp, Golan says, offering money.