December Is Planning Season: The Jewelry KPIs That Matter Before Year-End

December is when jewelry businesses do two things at once:

• Sell like crazy (hello, holiday rush).
• Quietly decide what next year is going to look like.

If you’re an owner, GM, ops head, or finance lead, this is your window—before January resets your targets and your team’s attention jumps to Valentine’s, returns, and “new year, new systems.”

Also, 2025 is not a “set it and forget it” year. The National Retail Federation projected the 2025 holiday season to surpass $1 trillion in US holiday sales (Nov–Dec), with growth in the ~3.7%–4.2% range. Big demand is there—but that doesn’t automatically mean your business performed well. The difference is in your KPIs.

So here’s the no-fluff list of jewelry retail KPIs to review before year-end—plus what each one tells you, how to calculate it, and what to do if it’s telling you something uncomfortable.

1) Gross Margin and Gross Margin %

Why it matters in December: Revenue can be misleading. Margin tells you whether you actually won the season—or bought sales with discounts.

How to calculate

• Gross margin ($) = Net sales − Cost of goods sold
• Gross margin (%) = Gross margin ÷ Net sales

What to look for

• Margin by category (bridal vs fashion vs watches vs repairs)
• Margin by channel (in-store vs e-comm)
• Margin by promotion (was your “20% off” basically a margin bonfire?)

Common December insight: Your top-line is up, but your discounting ate your profit. That leads directly into KPI #2.

2) Markdown Rate and Promo Mix

Why it matters: A jewelry store can “win” December and still start January with a profit hangover.

What to track

• Markdown % of sales (by category)
• Share of sales sold with discount
• Promo ROI (gross profit dollars generated per promo)

Quick operational fix

• Build tighter promo rules (tiered spend, bundles, category-specific promos) instead of blanket discounts.

If you’re using jewelry reporting software, this should be a dashboard—not a post-mortem you do in February.

3) Sell-Through Rate

Why it matters: This is the KPI that separates “we sold a lot” from “we sold what we planned.”

Sell-through rate is commonly defined as the % of inventory sold relative to what you received in a period.

How to calculate (units)

• Sell-through % = Units sold ÷ Units received × 100

What to look for

• Sell-through by collection, price band, vendor, and store
• “Holiday winners” vs “display-only pieces”

Why executives love it in December: It immediately exposes buying mistakes—overbought slow movers, underbought fast sellers, and dead inventory that will drain Q1 cash.

4) Inventory Turnover

Why it matters: Jewelry is famously low-turn compared to other retail. That’s exactly why you should track it obsessively.

Several jewelry-industry sources cite annual inventory turn commonly around ~0.7–1.2 for many US jewelry stores (and in some cases 1–2 turns is cited as typical).

How to calculate (basic)

• Inventory turnover = COGS ÷ Average inventory (at cost)

What to look for

• Turn by category (watches often behave differently than bridal)
• Turn by vendor/collection
• Turn by store location

Executive takeaway: Don’t chase higher turnover everywhere. In jewelry, you need a deliberate mix:

• high-turn “giftables” that fund the business
• slower-turn hero pieces that build brand and ticket size

5) GMROI (Gross Margin Return on Inventory Investment)

Why it matters: This is the KPI that tells you whether inventory is working as an investment, not a decoration.

Investopedia defines GMROI as an inventory profitability ratio—gross margin divided by average inventory cost.

How to calculate

• GMROI = Gross margin ÷ Average inventory cost

How to interpret

• GMROI > 1 means you’re generating more gross profit than the cost of the inventory (directionally “good”), but targets vary by business model.

What to do with it in December

• Rank vendors/collections by GMROI
• Cut or renegotiate the bottom tier
• Reallocate open-to-buy to the lines that earn their shelf space

This is the KPI that makes “retail inventory optimization jewelry” real.

6) Aged Inventory and “Cash Traps”

Why it matters: The fastest way to ruin Q1 is carrying too much inventory that won’t move without a haircut.

What to track

• % of inventory aged 180+ days / 365+ days
• Aged inventory by vendor and category
• “Aged units as % of total units” (not just value)

December action

• Create a clean liquidation plan:
  • bundles
  • targeted markdowns
  • trade/return programs where possible
  • conversion into repair/redesign offers (especially for older gold-heavy items)

7) Stockout Rate on Top Sellers

Why it matters in December: A stockout is not just a lost sale—it’s a lost add-on sale and sometimes a lost customer.

What to track

• Stockout rate on your top 50 SKUs (days out of stock ÷ days in period)
• Lost sales estimate (if your system supports it)
• Substitution success rate (“did we sell an alternative?”)

Executive-level insight: If your top sellers stock out every December, you don’t have a sales problem—you have a planning problem.

8) Sales per Transaction, UPT, and Attach Rate

Why it matters: December is the season of add-ons—matching earrings, chains, warranties, services, engraving, gift wrap.

Core metrics

• AOV (Average order value) = Net sales ÷ Number of transactions
• UPT (Units per transaction) = Units sold ÷ Transactions
• Attach rate (example: warranty attach) = Warranty units ÷ Eligible item units

What to look for

• Which associates drive higher UPT (and why)
• Which categories bundle naturally (studs + pendant, ring + band)
• Where add-ons are being missed (training opportunity)

9) Conversion Rate and Lead Response Time

Even for traditional jewelers, December shopping is heavily influenced by online discovery—then store visits happen fast.

What to track

• E-comm conversion rate (sessions → purchase)
• Appointment lead response time (inquiries → contact)
• Quote-to-close time for custom/bridal

Simple December fix: faster follow-ups win. Not better scripts.

10) Returns, Exchanges, and Post-Holiday Profit Leakage

Why it matters: Many stores celebrate December sales and ignore the January reversal.

Track

• Return rate (% of units, not just $)
• Return reasons (size, “not as expected,” gift returns)
• Exchange conversion (did a return become a sale?)

December action: tighten product data and gift receipts, and train staff to convert returns into exchanges.

11) Repair and Service KPIs (Yes, Track Them Like a Product Line)

For jewelry and watch retailers, repair/service is often the most stable margin line—and it drives repeat visits.

Track

• Repair revenue and margin
• Turnaround time
• Estimate approval rate
• Customer updates sent (and “where is my repair?” calls reduced)

This also ties directly to why jewelry reporting software matters: if repair tracking lives outside your core system, leadership never sees how valuable it is.

The executive December KPI routine

If you want one simple rhythm:

1. Pull YTD + last 60 days for all KPIs
2. Rank by category + vendor + store
3. Identify:
   • 5 inventory winners to double down on
   • 5 cash traps to clear before Q1
   • 3 process bottlenecks (stockouts, pricing, repair turnaround)
4. Turn it into January actions: reorder rules, promo rules, training, and inventory rebalancing

That’s it. December isn’t just about finishing the year strong. It’s about entering January with a business that’s easier to run.

‍