Tiffany’s Is Selling More Engagement Rings Despite Low Marriage Rates

Sales of engagement rings at the store have jumped 11 percent this year.

tiffany's
Tiffany and Co luxury jewelry store. (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)
Getty Images

People in the United States are getting marries less than ever, but sales of engagement rings at Tiffany & Co. have jumped 11 percent this year, ending three years of declines. This change has little to do with new products or prices, reports The Wall Street Journal. Instead, the 181-year-old jeweler has decided to change the way they talk to customers and have been using advertisements that feature more minorities and same-sex couples. This is a pretty huge departure from former Tiffany’s advertisements that were almost exclusively of Caucasians in poses of marital bliss.

“We had played it a bit too conservatively,” said Alessandro Bogliolo, a retail industry veteran who took over as Tiffany’s chief executive in October, according to WSJ. “You have to take some risks and evolve the brand.”

Only 48 percent of American households are married, down from 78 percent in 1950, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This has posed a challenge for Tiffany’s, since the company gets a quarter of its sales from engagement rings and wedding bands. But the CEO’s efforts to change things up seems to be working and Tiffany’s stocks are at an all-time high.

The InsideHook Newsletter.

News, advice and insights for the most interesting person in the room.