By a significant majority, consumers prefer to shop for jewelry in stores rather than online, a new survey by TD Bank found.

According to the poll of 1,021 respondents, 59 percent said they only shop for jewelry in store, while 34 percent said they generally shop for jewelry in store.

By contrast, only 2 percent said they only shop for jewelry online (including apps), while 5 percent said they mostly shop for jewelry online.

That’s significantly lower than the percentage of consumers who buy other kinds of products, like electronics, online, says Mike Rittler, head of TD Retail Card Services and interim head of U.S. Partnerships.

Asked why they prefer to shop for jewelry in store, 87 percent said they liked the ability to see the merchandise. Another 64 percent said they liked the social aspect of shopping.

“It’s the nature of the product,” Rittler says. “Jewelry is very personal. It’s something that you are going to wear. It’s really important that you know what you’re getting.”

In addition, 69 percent said they sought the help of a sales associate when buying jewelry at a brick-and-mortar store. That also topped other categories of products.

“You can self-educate, you can read a lot, and everything else, but sometimes you just need that extra opinion to help make that best jewelry selection,” Rittler says.

Still, he says that consumers who do prefer to shop online like the ability to avoid crowds and shop when they want.

Other highlights of the survey:

– Only 6 percent of those surveyed said their last major jewelry purchase was an impulse buy. Most respondents (25 percent) said they spent one to two hours researching the item before they pulled the trigger.

– Americans like to comparison shop before making a jewelry purchase. Almost a third of the respondents said they visited three to four different retailers before buying a major piece of jewelry. Only 16 percent said they only visited one retailer.

– When choosing where to purchase jewelry, 94 percent of Americans said that pricing and sales were main factors, with 88 percent favoring selection of merchandise.

-Fifty-three percent of respondents said that price is very important when buying jewelry and agreed with the statement, “I always seek the best deal instead of buying the first thing I see.”

– Jewelry consumers want a good experience, more than consumers of other products. Eighty-five percent of consumers said an experience was important when jewelry shopping, compared to 72 percent of shoppers overall.

– Most jewelry consumers (69 percent) said they research items on retailers’ websites. Sixty percent consult information and reviews on third-party websites, like Yelp.

(Image: Getty Images)

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