Retail sales for the company’s concept stores on 14 February increased 124 per cent from the previous year and comparable like-for-like (same store) was up 81 per cent on last year’s Valentine’s Day.
In addition, normalised comparable like-for-like increased 26.2 per cent in the 10 days leading up to Valentine’s Day.
According to Pandora Australia president David Allen, last year’s Valentine’s Day results were extremely disappointing and consequently the company was committed to ensuring 2013 was a stronger event for its stockists.
“Valentine’s Day should be a strong trading period for our customers [stockists]. It is a period that represents love, partnership, belonging, and those moments and memories that should be everlasting, all of the characteristics that fit very nicely with Pandora,” Allen told Jeweller.
He said planning for the event was finalised in 2012 with the primary focus of re-establishing Valentine’s Day on Pandora’s calendar and delivering results that reflected the “strength of what this trading period should be”.
Key priorities for the new campaign were product, marketing, visual impact and sales. Allen said the company invested heavily in TV promotion – something it did not do last year.
“Valentine’s Day traditionally is a two-day event, the day before and the day of Valentine’s Day. Our TV campaign was designed to create enough awareness so that when our consumers were ready to purchase, Pandora was visible in their minds.
“The visual impact of stores was also amazing, very impactful and in line with the event, helping to create the theatre for our partners [stockists] to engage their consumers.”
Allen added that the collection for this year’s event was strong and far more commercial than in previous years. Best sellers for the trading period were pavé set cubic zirconia pieces and heart-shaped charms and pendants.
The company reported that consumer purchases increased more than 30 per cent from last year in like-for-like stores during the Valentine’s Day period. Allen said a lot of the company’s stockists also noted a large number of new customers.
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