If 2025 taught jewelry retailers anything, it’s this: you can’t “inventory” your way out of a selective shopper.

National Jeweler summed up the year with a headline that hit a little too close to home: gross sales up +4.7%, units down -5.6%, average retail sale up +10.9%—a classic “price up, units down” year.

When shoppers buy fewer items, the stores that win don’t just sell. They execute—better conversion, better follow-up, better discipline. And National Jeweler calls out one bright spot that’s doing more than “helping”: repairs and services were up more than 14% in the same dataset.

That’s not a cute side hustle. That’s a signal. In 2026, repairs aren’t “extra.” Repairs are strategic—because they:

• stabilize revenue when units soften
• drive repeat visits (trust brings people back)
• protect customer relationships (and reviews)
• create steady cash flow you can actually forecast

But only if you run repairs like a system. Otherwise, “more repairs” just means “more chaos.” Let’s talk about how to turn your repair counter into a real profit center—without turning your team into full-time status-update specialists.

Before we move ahead, if you'd like to upgrade your jewelry & watch repair software, try Luxare. Contact us here or book a demo directly.

First, what makes repairs a profit center?

A profit center isn’t just “we charge for it.”

A profit center is something you can:

• handle consistently
• track end-to-end
• measure for efficiency and margin
• scale without breaking service quality

If your repair workflow depends on:

• one person’s memory
• a paper tag plus a prayer
• or the customer calling you for updates…

…it’s not a profit center. It’s a stress hobby.

And yet repairs can be meaningful revenue. One industry explainer estimates repair services often represent 10–25% of a jewelry store’s revenue (average ~15%), depending on how intentionally the store runs repairs. That’s not pocket change. That’s payroll, rent, and peace of mind.

Why repairs matter more in a “price up, units down” year

When units are down, your business starts behaving differently.

National Jeweler’s column explains that traffic pressure and selective shoppers mean retailers have to work harder for each sale—and that 2026 is shaping up as a “sorting year” that rewards execution. Repairs support execution in three big ways:

1) Repairs bring customers back in the store

A purchase might be one visit. A repair is multiple touchpoints:

• drop-off
• approval
• pickup
• and often: follow-up cleaning, inspection, resizing, another fix

Retail is math. Visits matter.

2) Repairs build trust (and trust sells jewelry)

If you can handle something sentimental and expensive with care, you earn the right to sell the next piece.

3) Repairs create stability when discretionary buying softens

National Jeweler explicitly frames services and repairs as a stabilizer when discretionary purchasing softens—because it supports repeat visits and relationships.

So yes, repairs are strategy. But strategy dies in a messy workflow.

The real problem: repair bottlenecks (not repairs)

Retailers don’t usually lose money on repairs because they can’t do the work. They lose money because the workflow leaks—slow approvals, missing details, unclear timelines, avoidable rework, constant follow-ups.

Here are the four bottlenecks that usually wreck repair profitability:

Related Read: The Jewelry Repair and Watch Repair Market is Growing

1) Intake: “We’ll remember it”

You won’t. (No one will.) A scalable jewelry repair intake needs structure:

• customer info + preferred contact method
• item description (metal, stones, watch model, etc.)
• condition notes (including existing damage)
• photos (front/back, prongs, clasp, chips, engravings)
• requested work + promised timeline
• estimate range + approval method

If intake is inconsistent, everything downstream becomes a guess. And guesses are expensive.

Quick win (today, not someday):

Create an intake checklist and make it mandatory. Every employee. Every repair. No exceptions for “it’s just a quick sizing.” “Quick” repairs are where chaos multiplies fastest.

2) Approvals: the silent turnaround-time killer

Repairs often don’t take that long at the bench. They take long in limbo:

• “We need to confirm the price.”
• “Customer hasn’t picked up.”
• “We left a voicemail.”
• “They texted back, but I didn’t see it.”

Meanwhile, the clock keeps running, and your turnaround time gets blamed on the bench.

A repair profit-center rule:

No repair should be waiting on approval without a timestamped, trackable next step. If you don’t know how long approvals take on average, you can’t improve them.

3) Updates: when customers become your project managers

Customers don’t love calling for updates on their own jewelry. They do it when the process gives them no confidence.

If your shop gets “Is it ready?” calls every day, that’s not just annoying. It’s a sign you’re spending labor on communication that should be automated and consistent.

The goal:

Proactive updates at key moments:

• estimate sent
• approved
• in progress
• ready for pickup

This one change can cut inbound calls dramatically and improve reviews (because customers feel taken care of).

4) Turnaround time: fuzzy timelines create friction

“Should be about a week” is not a timeline. It’s a wish. In a “selective customer” environment, execution matters—meaning clarity and consistency matter. The more your store scales repairs, the more you need:

• standard repair types
• typical turnaround by category
• vendor/bench SLA expectations
• exception handling for rush jobs

Turnaround doesn’t improve by hoping harder. It improves by measuring and tightening the workflow.

The scalable repair workflow (drop-off to pickup, without chaos)

If you want repairs to behave like a profit center, the workflow has to be boring. Boring is good. Boring is scalable. Here’s what “repair done right” looks like in a retail environment:

Step 1: Standardized intake (with photos)

• capture the same fields every time
• attach photos to the repair record
• document condition clearly

This protects you and reassures the customer.

Step 2: Estimate sent in a consistent format

• itemized when possible
• include expected timeline
• include approval method (text/email/in-person)

Consistency reduces back-and-forth.

Step 3: Approval captured + status moves immediately

• approval logged
• status changes automatically
• internal assignment is clear (in-house vs vendor vs bench)

This is where many retailers bleed time.

Step 4: Repair tracking through production

• status visibility for staff
• timestamps for each stage
• exception flags (delays, parts needed, customer not reachable)

The goal is “any team member can answer any question.”

Step 5: Ready notification + pickup process

• customer notified proactively
• pickup is fast (no “wait while I find it”)
• record closed cleanly (notes, charges, warranty/aftercare)

The end of the repair is the beginning of retention.

What to measure if you want repair profitability (AEO-friendly)

If you’re optimizing repairs, these are the metrics that matter:

1. Repair volume by type (resizing, prong tightening, watch sizing, battery, etc.)
2. Approval time (estimate sent → approved)
3. Average turnaround time (drop-off → pickup)
4. Rework rate (how often does a job come back?)
5. Repair gross margin by category
6. Inbound status calls per week (yes—track it for a month)

The fastest way to improve repair profitability is usually reducing approval delays and improving status visibility—because it shortens turnaround and cuts labor spent on follow-ups.

Watch repairs: the underrated retention machine

If you sell watches, you already have a built-in service relationship:

• sizing
• battery replacement
• strap changes
• servicing coordination
• cleanings and inspections

These aren’t just repairs. They’re visits. And visits are opportunities:

• to rebuild relationship
• to introduce new arrivals
• to attach add-ons
• to create repeat customers

If your watch services are currently managed “off to the side,” unify them in the same workflow. Fragmentation is how things fall through.

Where Luxare fits: Repair for Retailers

If the Luxare angle is simple, it’s this: Make every repair trackable from drop-off to pickup.

Luxare’s Repair for Retailers is built to help stores:

• standardize intake (including photos + condition notes)
• manage estimates and approvals cleanly
• track every repair status end-to-end
• improve customer communication and updates
• reduce bottlenecks and turnaround-time drift
• turn repairs into a predictable operational system

In 2026, National Jeweler’s data-backed point matters: when units are down, services and repairs help stabilize results and build repeat visits through trust. Luxare helps you operate that reality—without chaos.

Quick FAQs

Why are repairs important for jewelry retailers in 2026?
Because industry data showed a “price up, units down” environment in 2025, and repairs/services were a growth bright spot (+14%), helping stabilize results and drive repeat visits through trust.

What makes a repair department profitable?
A standardized workflow: consistent intake, fast approvals, clear status updates, predictable turnaround, and tracking of margin and rework.

What are the biggest repair bottlenecks in a jewelry store?
Inconsistent intake, approval delays, unclear customer updates, and fuzzy turnaround times—all of which increase labor cost and reduce trust.

How much revenue can repairs contribute to a jewelry store?
Some industry-facing estimates suggest repairs often account for ~10–25% of store revenue (average ~15%), depending on the store model and how repairs are managed.

The bottom line

In a year where customers are more selective and units are under pressure, execution becomes the strategy—and repairs are one of the most practical ways to stabilize revenue and earn repeat visits. But repairs only behave like a profit center when the workflow is designed to scale.

So if you want a simple 2026 goal:

• fewer bottlenecks
• fewer status calls
• faster approvals
• cleaner tracking
• happier customers
• and repairs you can actually rely on

That’s the difference between “we do repairs” and “repairs run the business.”

‍

‍

Want to learn more about how repairs can keep your business steady? Contact us here. You can also book a demo here.

‍