Strategic Management: A Competitive Advantage Approach, Concepts and Cases, 16/e

Competitors

Competition for engagement jewelry sales is intense, particularly in the fourth quarter of every year, when sales garner one third of total annual sales. Tiffany’s retail price of diamond jewelry is perhaps the highest in the industry. According to a recent study conducted by Wakefield Research, a diamond engagement ring purchased from a traditional jewelry store is overpriced by as much as 72 percent if obtained at a leading luxury jewelry chain, 40 percent at a traditional mall jeweler, and 18 percent at independent local jewelers, compared to the same quality diamond purchased online from rival Blue Nile, Inc.

Large retail jewelers, such as Blue Nile and Signet Jewelers, do not manufacture but instead purchase a majority of their ...