H.Samuel

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Introduction

H.Samuel accounted for 13% of Group sales in fiscal 2009 (fiscal 2008: 14%), and is the largest specialty retail jewelry brand in the UK with an approximate 5% share of the total jewelry market. It serves the core middle market and its customers typically have an annual household income of between £15,000 and £40,000. The brand has nearly 150 years of jewelry heritage. It sells a broad range of gold and silver jewelry, an increasing proportion of diamond merchandise and a wide selection of watches, including Accurist, Citizen, DKNY, Fossil, Rotary, Seiko and Sekonda. It also sells an increasingly focused range of gifts and collectables such as Nao and Swarovski.

H.Samuel had 352 stores at January 31, 2009 (February 2, 2008: 359) and is represented in nearly all large and most medium sized shopping centers with an increasing focus on larger centers. Since September 2005 it has had an e-commerce capability, http://www.hsamuel.co.uk/, which is the most visited UK specialty jewelry website (source: Hitwise).

H.Samuel sales were £250.3 million in fiscal 2009 (fiscal 2008: £256.7 million) and e-commerce sales grew strongly but remain small in the context of the division. The average retail price of merchandise sold in H.Samuel was £48 (fiscal 2008: £44), and sales per store decreased to £0.718 million in fiscal 2009 (fiscal 2008: £0.722 million).

Merchandising

In fiscal 2009 diamond jewelry accounted for 22% of H.Samuel’s merchandise mix, up from 21% in fiscal 2007. This helped increase the average unit selling price to £48 from £42 over that period. Since fiscal 2007, sales of gift and other items have declined to 12% of the total from 14% (see table below).

Merchandising initiatives to increase further the differentiation of H.Samuel stores and to reinforce the brand perception as a specialty jeweler continue. Key volume items were further developed to drive footfall. These items take advantage of H.Samuel’s buying scale and offer consumers an attractive price while achieving a satisfactory gross margin and are promoted in marketing and point of sales material.

H.Samuel merchandise mix (excluding repairs, warranty and other miscellaneous sales)

Customer service  

Customer service is an increasingly key point of differentiation for H.Samuel and therefore staff training remains a priority. Historically the brand’s customers self selected merchandise from window displays and primarily required a ‘cash and wrap’ service. In 2001 this began to change as a more customer oriented store design was implemented. This is reflected in an increase over time in diamond jewelry and watch sales in the merchandise mix, and a rise in the average selling price.

Merchandising initiatives to increase further the differentiation of H.Samuel stores and to reinforce the brand perception as a specialty jeweler continue.

In fiscal 2009 H.Samuel used television advertising supplemented by advertising in national newspapers and catalog distributions during the Christmas season. For the remainder of the year, a series of themed catalogs displayed in stores, mailed directly to targeted customers and distributed in newspapers were the primary form of marketing.

Marketing
In fiscal 2009 H.Samuel used television advertising supplemented by advertising in national newspapers and catalog distributions during the Christmas season. For the remainder of the year, a series of themed catalogs displayed in stores, mailed directly to targeted customers and distributed in newspapers were the primary form of marketing. The H.Samuel website has been transactional since 2005 and its performance has been encouraging, although its sales are relatively small in the context of the division as a whole. In fiscal 2009 the “H.Samuel helps you say it better” television advertising campaign was developed further and an increased emphasis was place on customer relationship marketing. Also there was an increased level of promotional activity reflecting the challenging retail environment.

Store design
The H.Samuel store portfolio is nearing the end of a radical refit that started eight years ago. Previous to that, stores were designed for a shopper who made a choice from a window display. The changed format is designed to facilitate the sale of merchandise with a higher average selling price, particularly diamonds [and watches], and therefore allows an increased focus on customer service and greater convenience in presenting merchandise to customers. The clear internal layout by department enhances the ability to provide appropriately trained specialist staff in each area.

The format uses low level displays, which act as service counters for jewelry, particularly diamond ranges; wall display cases are used predominantly for watches, gifts and lower value jewelry items. The refitted stores are also much more open and inviting. While the design was based on the Group’s US experience, it was adapted to H.Samuel’s merchandising and customer requirements.

Further evolutionary changes to the design have been made during the refit program. These include improved presentation of jewelry, particularly in wall showcases; more clearly displayed branded merchandise such as watches; and more effective use of in-store signage.

Real estate
In fiscal 2009, 15 refits or resites were completed (fiscal 2008: 16). At January 31, 2009, 251 stores, accounting for 77% of sales, traded in the more customer oriented store design.

Two refits and resites are planned in fiscal 2010. In future, the cost of store refurbishment is expected to reduce significantly as the structural costs of removing window based displays, to create the more customer oriented store design, will not be repeated. In addition, the period of time between store refits is expected to be longer for the customer oriented store format.

H.Samuel has increasingly focused on bigger stores in larger shopping destinations, where it is better able to offer more specialist customer service and a wider range of jewelry and benefit from the more customer oriented format. This reflects the changing shopping patterns of customers. The number of H.Samuel stores in smaller markets has therefore declined as leases expire or suitable real estate transactions became available. Over the last five years there has been a reduction of 46 stores.

(1) 53 week year
(2) Including only stores operated for the full financial year