Trade Bodies Relaunch Cost of Business Survey

RAPAPORT... Jewelers of America (JA) has partnered with the Jewelers Board of Trade (JBT) to launch the Retail Jewelers Benchmarking Study, replacing the JA's Cost of Doing Business Survey last published in 2015. The resulting report will serve as a financial benchmarking tool that allows jewelry retailers to input their data and run reports that will provide comparative information they can use in their operations, the organizations explained. "Benchmarking shows not only what we're really good at, but also where there's room for improvement to help the bottom line," said Jeff Corey, owner of Day's Jewelers and a member of the JBT board.JA and JBT have asked retailers to complete the survey by October 1 through a dedicated website, benchmarking.jewelers.org. Participants will have access to the aggregated data and will be able to compare their financials and key performance indicators using dynamic filters such as location and store size. The key performance indicators include merchandise units sold, inventory turnover, net sales per square foot, employee expenses, cost of goods sold, gross profit and gross profit margin. Questions about lab-grown-diamond sales have been added to the survey for the first time.Non-participants will have access to the aggregated data for $295. Image: Jewelry vendors at the JCK Las Vegas show (JCK Events).