Your POS system generates dozens of reports — sales by category, inventory turnover, customer frequency, discount percentages.
Most of them don’t tell you what to do next.
A number without context is just noise. You need to know what’s healthy, what’s broken, and what actions to take when something’s off. Otherwise, you’re staring at spreadsheets hoping the answer jumps out.
This guide breaks down the metrics that matter, organized by what you need to check daily, what drives inventory decisions, and what tells you if your customer strategy is working. For each one, you’ll get a general benchmark and clear next steps when the numbers are off.
Benchmarks vary by market, store size, and product mix. Use these as guidelines to identify patterns, not hard rules.
Check these every morning. Patterns emerge fast. A slow Tuesday becomes a problem when it’s every Tuesday for three weeks.
Most jewelers measure this the wrong way.
Don’t compare this Tuesday to last Tuesday. Compare it to the same Tuesday last year. Jewelry sales follow seasonal patterns: engagement rings spike before holidays, while repairs often drop in summer when people are traveling.
General benchmark: Aim for 5–15% growth year-over-year. Flat is a warning sign. Down more than 10% means something changed, and you need to figure out what.
What to do if it’s off: Look at traffic first. If foot traffic dropped but conversion stayed steady, the problem is marketing, not your team. If traffic stayed steady but conversion dropped, your team may need coaching, or your displays may need an adjustment.
Related Read: 9 Strategies To Drive Retail Foot Traffic to Your Jewelry Store
Returns happen. A ring doesn’t fit. A customer changes their mind. A gift recipient wants something different.
But if returns are climbing, something’s wrong.
General benchmark: The average return rate for jewelry sits around 8% for online sales. In-store rates tend to run lower. If you’re consistently above that, dig into the cause.
What to do if it’s off: Break it down by product type. If most returns are bridal, you might be rushing consultations or sizing incorrectly. If returns cluster around one salesperson, that’s a coaching opportunity.
Every jeweler discounts sometimes. There’s end-of-season clearance, loyalty rewards, or simply matching a competitor’s price.
But discount too often, and you train customers to wait for sales.
General benchmark: A reasonable target for most stores is to keep discounts under 15% of transactions. If you find yourself consistently above that, examine why.
What to do if it’s off: Check who’s applying discounts. If it’s mostly one employee, they may be uncomfortable closing at full price. If discounts spike at the end of the month when you’re trying to hit goals, you’re creating a pattern that customers learn to exploit.
This metric tells you if customers are buying one item or building a basket. An average transaction value (ATV) of $300 might mean a customer bought earrings. An ATV of $1,200 could mean they bought earrings, a necklace, and scheduled a repair.
Independent jewelers saw a 7% jump in average retail sales in 2024. Customers are willing to spend more, but only when your team guides them there.
General benchmark: Industry data puts ATV between $150 and $500 for most mid-range stores, with fine jewelry averaging closer to $350. Luxury stores often exceed $1,000. Track yours month-over-month. A 20% drop without explanation means something shifted.
What to do if it’s off: Check if your team cross-sells. Are they mentioning matching pieces? Suggesting add-ons like jewelry cleaning or insurance? If bestsellers are low-ticket items, consider bundling them or changing displays to encourage multiple purchases.
Inventory is cash sitting on your shelves. The longer it sits, the more it costs you — not just in money, but in missed opportunities. These metrics tell you what’s selling, what’s stuck, and what needs to move.
Sell-through rate is units sold divided by units available. It shows how fast inventory moves.
Bridal jewelry has different expectations than fashion pieces. Engagement rings sell slowly, but fashion earrings should fly off the shelves.
General benchmark:
What to do if it’s off: If your bestsellers are out of stock every Saturday, that’s not demand — it’s poor forecasting. Reorder faster or increase minimums. If your sell-through rate is under 1.5 in any category, you’re overbuying. Clear aging inventory before bringing in new pieces.
Inventory that sits for 90 days without selling is a problem. After six months, it becomes dead weight.
General benchmark: Aim to keep 90–day inventory under 15% of total inventory value. Anything over 25% means you’re carrying too much.
What to do if it’s off: Move it. Run a sale, bundle it with bestsellers, or offer it as a loyalty reward. Sitting inventory doesn’t get more valuable, it gets more expensive. Every dollar tied up in slow-moving stock is a dollar you can’t invest in pieces that actually sell.
Shrink is the gap between what your system says you have and what you actually have. It includes theft, damage, miscounts, and administrative errors.
In jewelry, shrinkage is especially dangerous because the value per item is high. One missing bracelet can wipe out a week of profit.
General benchmark: Industry sources consistently point to under 1% annually as the target for jewelry. Anything above 2% is a serious problem.
What to do if it’s off: Conduct cycle counts weekly, not annually. Assign accountability. If one employee is always involved when inventory goes missing, you might have a personnel issue. Tighten security on high-value items and review your processes for logging repairs, returns, and case transfers.
Related Read: Shrinkage in Jewelry Retail: 7 Common Causes of Lost Inventory (and Fixes)
This metric measures how much inventory you’re holding relative to what you’re selling. Too little stock, and you lose sales. Too much, and you’re tying up cash.
General benchmark: A commonly used target is $3–$5 in inventory for every dollar in monthly sales — though this varies by store size and product mix.
What to do if it’s off: If the ratio is too low, you’re probably running out of popular items. If it’s too high, you’re overinvested. Cut orders and focus on moving what you have.
Daily sales tell you what happened yesterday. Customer metrics tell you if your business is healthy long-term. These numbers separate jewelers who are simply busy from those who are truly profitable.
New customers are expensive to win over, but repeat customers already trust you. They spend more, refer friends, and skip the convincing phase.
General benchmark: Data on luxury and jewelry buyers shows that only about 10% of first-time customers make a second purchase within the same year. If you can raise that number through follow-up and relationship-building, you’re ahead of most competitors.
What to do if it’s off: Your follow-up probably needs some work. Are you capturing emails and phone numbers? Sending reminders about jewelry cleanings or inspections? Reaching out before anniversaries and birthdays? If you’re not staying top-of-mind, customers forget you exist.
Customer lifetime value (CLV) tells you the total revenue a customer generates over their relationship with your store. A first-time buyer who spends $400 looks identical to a loyal customer who spends $400 every year — until you track this metric.
General benchmark: This varies widely by market. Track it year-over-year and look for consistent growth. If customers rarely return for a second purchase, you’re making transactions instead of building relationships.
What to do if it’s off: Focus on the customers that are already buying from you. Loyalty programs, personalized outreach, and consistent follow-up cost far less than acquiring new customers. Make it easy for people to come back before they forget about you.
Not every number matters. Some sound impressive, but don’t change what you do day-to-day. Here are some metrics you don’t need to worry about and why:
Most POS systems dump data and leave you to figure out what it means. Jewel360 is built differently.
Because our system is cloud-based, you can access your reports from any device, anywhere. You don’t have to be in the store to know what’s moving, what’s aging, or how your team is performing.
The reporting goes deeper than a basic sales summary. You can run detailed performance reports by location, by salesperson, or across your entire business. If one store is outperforming another, you see it. If one employee is driving more upsells than the rest of the team, you see that too.
Jewel360 also tracks customer data over time, so repeat purchase rate and lifetime value aren’t just concepts. They’re numbers you can actually pull and act on. And when you’re ready to bring customers back in, the built-in marketing tools let you run targeted campaigns and track whether they worked.
The jewelers who grow aren’t drowning in reports. They’re watching the right numbers and acting on them. Schedule a demo to see how Jewel360 puts those metrics to work for your store.