While economic conditions have arguably been unfavourable for retailers in recent years, several of the 33 suppliers present at the Nationwide conference – held in Cairns from 13 to 16 June – reported that it was the best buying day they had ever attended.
Although the figures were still being finalised at the time of publication, Nationwide managing director Colin Pocklington said that there was “little doubt” that total sales exceeded the buying group’s previous record.
“At this stage we are confident that total orders placed were at least 30 per cent up on last year. Members are clearly more confident that the year ahead will show improved trading,” he said.
Pocklington’s closing conference address also indicated that a retail recovery was underway. He presented a summary of both international and domestic economic indicators, which suggested that jewellery retailers could look forward to continued sale improvements in the coming years.
To further support this view, it was noted that a new report by Deloitte Access Economics predicted a national inflation-adjusted retail sales increase of 3.2 per cent in 2013–2014, followed by a further rise to a peak of 3.6 per cent in 2014–2015, before a fall back down to 2.4 per cent sales increase in 2015–2016.
The buying day was attended by 160 retailers, with each Nationwide member allocated $25,000 in “conference cash” that allowed for purchases to be paid over six months, interest free.
Successful new conference initiatives
The buying group introduced a number of new features to its 2014 conference, including the Antwerp Diamond Marketing Awards. The new awards recognised the 11 members who had achieved more than $50,000 in customer pre-orders prior to the buying group’s biannual Antwerp visits.
“We picked a sales figure of $50,000 on a single Antwerp trip to qualify for the marketing award, however many of the recipients have achieved pre-trip orders up to $120,000 on numerous occasions,” Pocklington said.
“We have been taking members to Antwerp for 15 years now, and decided that it was appropriate to recognise members who have achieved excellent results from implementing our Antwerp Marketing Program,” he added. The marketing initiative includes a detailed marketing promotion using materials and procedures supplied by the group.
Another new feature was the Advanced Facebook Marketing workshop, which was conducted twice during the conference by Nationwide digital marketing consultant Matthew Ryan.
Given its popularity, the buying group will be repeating the workshop at the International Jewellery Fair held in Sydney later this year.
Nationwide members to visit Las Vegas
In addition, Nationwide has announced that it will be taking more than 100 of its members to the Las Vegas JCK Show in 2016.
Those taking part in the excursion will also have the option to attend JCK seminars as well as a number of other jewellery-related activities that will be announced in due course.
Nationwide organises an overseas trip for its members every two years. Past destinations have included Egypt, China, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Canada, Europe, the Rhine River, and in 1998, Las Vegas for the JCK Show.