Milan: Season 2 of CIBJO’s popular webinar series will kick off on Thursday, September 3, 2020, with a panel of retail jewellery trade experts, who together will consider one of the most vexing challenges facing their sector in living memory – how to plan and prepare for the upcoming holiday seasons in the midst of a global pandemic.
Traditionally, the return of businesses from the summer vacation signals the start of preparations for the holiday shopping seasons, which include the Diwali festival celebrated by Indians around the world, which runs for five days starting November 14; the Christmas season, which generally is tracked from Thanksgiving Day in the United States, this year celebrated on November 26, running through the end of December; and the Chinese New Year, which begins February 12, 2021, and takes place over one week. It is a period of gift giving that is considered the most critical in any year by the jewellery trade.
But the upcoming holiday seasons take place against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. And while the markets have settled into a new routine, characterised by strict health protocols in the popular shopping areas and an increased reliance on ecommerce, questions remain about the mood of holiday shoppers and their readiness to spend in economies that have been impacted severely by the pandemic. Retailers are faced by a myriad of vexing challenges, among them the degree of risk they are prepared to take in building up inventory before the holidays, whether the mix of jewellery that has worked in previous years will be successful in 2020, and how price points may need to be adjusted in the new market environment.
These topics and many others will be discussed in the first edition of Jewellery Industry Voices’ Season 2. Featuring four retail trade experts, each representing a major global market, it is entitled: “Gearing up for the holiday seasons during a pandemic: Jewellery retailers from around the world consider the challenges ahead.”
The panel includes four industry leaders, each of whom made his Jewellery Industry Voices debut during Season 1. They include John Carter, President of the American Gem Society, who is himself a retail jeweller based in Illinois; Anantha Padamanaban, Chairman of the All India Gem & Jewellery Domestic Council, who also heads a jewellery company headquartered in Chennai; Steven Tranquilli, Chief Executive of Federpreziosi Confcommercio, the Italian Federation of Jewellery, Silverware and Watches Enterprises; and Alan Chan, General manager of the Group Branding Centre of Chow Tai Fook Jewellery, the largest jewellery chain in China and Hong Kong.
The webinar, on Thursday, September 3, 2020, will be moderated by Edward Johnson and Steven Benson, and hosted by CIBJO President Gaetano Cavalieri. It will start at 9:00 AM New York, 2:00 PM London, 3:00 PM Milan, 5:00 PM Dubai, 6:30 PM Mumbai, 9:00 PM Hong Kong.
CIBJO’s Jewellery Industry Voices webinar series is produced with the support of the Italian Exhibition Group, organiser of the VICENZAORO jewellery shows.
