There's good news and bad news this holiday season. The good news is some of you are going to get it together, get that engagement ring and (ideally) propose to that special someone who you're hoping to spend the rest of your life with.
Because, based on social chatter, it looks like more people are expecting to get engaged this holiday season.
We can see in our first chart a pattern for Tiffany ($TIF). Tiffany chatter appears to have peaked recently, toward the end of 2017, and it still generated nearly 100,000 mentions on Facebook ($FB), gauged through the social network's Talking About Count, as we closed in on Christmas 2018. This year, chatter has been rising steadily with the holidays approaching, once again, and could eclipse last year's tally.
Then, there's a resurgence in chatter around Valentine's Day, in 2019 no less! This is likely for when the people who realized they wanted to be married and didn't understand they needed to propose by Christmas, got their act together and made their significant other their fiancee. And we can probably bet on that being the case again in 2020, too.
And while Tiffany is the standard-bearer for premier gemstones and rings, expectations are growing downmarket, as well.
If he (or, she) hasn't gone to Jared, the Signet-owned ($SIG) retailer of all things sparkly, then they ought to get back in the car and head straight to the mall. Because Facebook Talking About Count for the US-based jeweler is shooting up and could beat last year's chatter volume. With a little under 300 locations, that could put both Jared execs and Signet shareholders in a great position when the jeweler announces earnings next in 2020.
Our neighbors to the north are no different - in fact, social chatter sounds like Canadians that engage with Peoples Jewelry on the social network are even more pumped for this holiday season than their American counterparts. The chain - also part of Signet's jewelry conglomerate - has around 150 stores in Canada, and already, this year's Facebook hype has eclipsed prior years'.
According to one estimate, the average cost of an engagement ring is up about 25% since 2011, so at this point between the increasingly eager significant other, and forward-looking expectations, most people thinking about getting married should quit with the cold feet, and just get on with it already. You've got less than two weeks to go...
About the Data:
Thinknum tracks companies using the information they post online - jobs, social and web traffic, product sales and app ratings - and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales.
Further Reading:
- 22,842 Coffee shops of America: An interactive map
- The United States of Breakfast: A map of Dennys vs IHOP
- IHOP's social media numbers are better than ever, and it's all because of burgers and beer