Love is (too) patient
America’s largest jeweler, Signet, cut its forecast for the rest of the year — blaming the pandemic for why it's selling fewer engagement rings than it expected in 2023.
The company, which sold more than $3.4 billion worth of bridal jewelry in its last fiscal year, believes the pandemic stopped people from meeting their would-be fiancés, falling in love and buying a sparkly something to celebrate. One survey estimates that the average couple dates for two-and-a-half years before getting engaged, suggesting that the missing couple class of 2020-21 theory could be plausible.
That said, the initial premise — that dating was put on hold during the pandemic — is harder to evaluate. Many dating apps actually saw a boom in activity, with Tinder reporting more messages and conversations that were 32% longer in the middle of 2021.
Till debt do us part
Of course, the pandemic isn’t the only thing that Signet could blame for its expected sales slump. Marriage rates have been on the decline for years (chart), for various cultural and economic reasons, and couples are putting off getting married until later in life (chart). Of course, it doesn’t help that weddings are now so expensive, with the average wedding costing nearly $30k in the US, sending many who want to celebrate in style into debt.
