Jewellery designer Stephen Webster said jewellery sales via social media will pick up after COVID-19 and conglomerates will increasingly muscle into retail.
Speaking in an NAJ-National Association of Jewellers webinar, Webster also said there will be an increase in “emotional purchases” of jewellery when society emerges from the lockdown.
“Jewellery purchases through social media will pick up post-COVID,” he said in a Q and A session after talking about his career, which has included designing jewellery for rock stars such as Madonna, Pink and his brand’s former ambassador Christina Aguilera.
“I think you will see more democratisation of jewellery. It will be more accessible. It has got to feel that it is relevant to people’s lives. E-commerce is the way to go. We’ve all got twitchy shopping fingers.”
Webster also said that corporations would play a bigger part in global jewellery retail.
“Conglomerate jewellers will come out stronger because of their dominance of the sector,” he said.
“They are very sophisticated. They will vacuum up what is there.”
Webster, who is staying at home with his family at his house by the sea in Kent in southern England, said customers will forge new emotional ties with jewellery.
“You will see a lot of emotional connections with jewellery,” he said. “It’s always there.”
