Based on that, I draw the conclusion that there is another difficult year ahead of us. For quite a while now, we have been observing a decreasing trend in the purchasing power of our clients, who comprise mostly of foreign tourists, in the BORUNI chain of shops in Kraków. As we were looking for a chance to extend the range of our products and increase the turnover we reached for jewellery with Swarovski crystals, in the lower-price range, preferred by the clients. However, it quickly turned out that there actually isn't any alternative for amber: foreign tourists visiting Kraków, about 75% of whom buy amber jewellery, perceive this stone as typically Polish and they don't want products that can be bought elsewhere.

 

Amber jewellery - which until recently used to be quite common and easily available - is becoming more and more exclusive due to its price. However, in order for it to become really exclusive, there would have to be small supply combined a strong desire to posses the stone, among the purchasers. That is rather not feasible in the next few years, taking into account the heavily saturated market, the large number of production and trading companies as well as the lack of coordinated activities aiming to improve the image of amber.

Another factor that has a negative influence on selling amber products is the flood of mass produced, low-end jewellery - cheap, colourful, and commonly available. When a woman is faced with the choice between the real jewellery - original, made of better quality materials, but more expensive; and this mass produced low-end jewellery: trendy, colourful and cheaper - she will usually go for the latter. We stand no chance in this competition, considering the high prices of raw materials and our overheads.

< Prev		Next >