This week, we’ve been talking to jewelry retailers about re-thinking the bridal jewelry marketplace with an increased emphasis on reaching out to the Baby Boomer generation, who have more disposable income and place a greater value on fine jewelry, than most Millennials. As a jewelry designer or brand, understanding the different generations’ circumstances and approach to jewelry is essential information for you, and for the retailers you depend upon to sell your jewelry.

Every community is different, and you cannot necessarily count on your partner retailers to have accurate demographic information about the locations they serve. Many times, retailers rely on their own impressions, based on living in the area or the observations they’ve made while operating the store. It is a good best practice to periodically review objective demographic information related to the communities your partner retailers are located in, in part to identify potential marketing opportunities.

Demographic changes can occur for many reasons. Aging happens everywhere, but the percentage of residents in each demographic group can vary wildly: some communities are grayer than others simply because people choose that location to retire. Immigration patterns have changed the demographics in some communities radically over the course of time; understanding who’s in the neighborhood matters.

For example, fully understanding the numbers of Hispanic customers who were within an hours’ drive of a partner retailer’s location prompted one brand to provide Spanish-language marketing materials; the resulting increase in traffic led to greater sales for the retailer and the brand.

Good sources of demographic information include census.gov, city-data.com, and sba.gov/content/demographics. All are free to access and are updated fairly frequently. It’s great material to look at in support of your partner retailers, as well as when you’re searching for communities where you’d like to find a store to work with.