Editor’s Note
**Editor’s Note:** Target’s holiday sales dip underscores a critical pivot: as in-store traffic wanes and digital surges, the retailer must reinvent its jewelry and accessories business to recapture growth.
Some women need to get their sugar fix. Others have a jewelry habit.
With disappointing sales and declining traffic during the holiday season, the Minneapolis-based retailer is rushing to re-imagine its jewelry and accessories business. Combined comparable sales in November and December declined 1.3 percent, Target said. Comparable sales in stores fell more than 3 percent while digital sales grew more than 30 percent, a trend many traditional retailers are seeing as their growth is siphoned off by the web.
SugarFix by BaubleBar is Target’s first partnership in the jewelry and accessories area, which is being updated in stores with a new layout and products displayed on open tables rather than under glass counters and on jewelry grids. The design will be incorporated in 200 doors in early summer and will roll out to 300 more in the fall. Jewelry in March will be relaunched online with a more appealing and interactive digital experience.
BaubleBar cofounders Daniella Yacobovsky and Amy Jain said jewelry is low-hanging fruit for Target.
SugarFix by BaubleBar is a long-term agreement. “They bring a level of credibility and expertise,” a Target spokeswoman said. “Overall, we’re increasing the frequency of newness in jewelry.”
Buried Bauble, a promotion, gave Jain and Yacobovsky a clue that their customers were looking for newness at lower price points.
Jain and Yacobovsky have gleaned knowledge about physical retail from Target. “We’re really excited about our own retail strategy. Retail is in our future,” said Jain, adding that BaubleBar has been testing the waters with pop-up shops in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District and the Roosevelt Field Mall in Garden City, N.Y.
SugarFix consists of lower-priced versions of some of BaubleBar’s most popular styles as well as original items designed specifically for the Target brand. Prices for SugarFix range from $9.99 to $29.99, with an average price of $14.99. BaubleBar’s average price is more than $50, Jain said.
The first delivery of SugarFix will feature four stories, including feminine statement necklaces, chokers and earrings with intricate gem work; large, colorful necklaces and earrings in bright, geometric designs; delicate wearable styles with a modern twist in gold, silver and other hues, and bold beads for making a big fashion statement.
“Our accessories business plays an important role in positioning Target as a style destination,” said Mark Tritton, the retailer’s executive vice president and chief merchandising officer. “We’re making a number of changes this year that will entice guests to shop with us more often. This includes bringing them the latest trends on a more frequent basis, exploring partnerships with brands that will differentiate Target, and enhancing their experience, both in our stores and online. We think guests will love these changes and believe they will allow us to achieve additional growth in this category.”
The six-year-old, fast-growing e-commerce site BaubleBar has been making its way to retail with partnerships with Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s.
Launching a new brand under the BaubleBar umbrella “is a wonderful way for us to meet new customers,” Jain said. “Women shop this category in a lot of different ways. We’re bringing our point of view to Target. There are some fundamental similarities between our customers. Both are loyal and confident in their own style.”
BaubleBar uses real-time data and a reactive business model to give customers what they want.