The holiday season is a jewelry retailer’s busiest time of year! In addition to having twinkling lights and festive wreaths outside, you probably have more and more people milling about inside. That’s a lot of opportunity for revenue that you don’t want to go to waste! So, you need a solid sales strategy to pull customers away from their online shopping and bring them back into your store.
Find out three areas of your sales process you should implement to fit your customers’ needs, and you’ll be sure to increase your jewelry retail sales this holiday season.
Incorporate Technology
If you want to boost your jewelry retail sales during the holidays, you need to capitalize on the benefits of new and emerging technologies. Why is technology so important in your sales process? People can barely put their phones down! Technology is a huge part of daily life now, and if you’re not working the convenience of digital technology into your store and sales process, you’re missing out on a huge opportunity.
Today, a digital shopping experience isn’t just a perk – it’s an expectation. Here are three ways you can easily add technology to your sales repertoire.
- Social Media – Who doesn’t have Facebook? While there are still a few holdouts, this is the best way to stay in regular communication with your clients. Social media opens up channels for you to connect and engage your target audience. You can build interest in your brand as well as drive customers into your brick and mortar store. From promoting events to showing off beautiful intricate pieces, there are numerous ways you can bring attention to your store through social media.Consider running social media campaigns this holiday season. You can offer special sales, free cleanings, or any other perk to draw your customers in. Don’t worry if you don’t have the skills or time to create visual posts. That’s OK! You can still offer tips and suggestions that your readers will benefit from. When you stay active on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, you’ll build a presence online and ensure readers remember your name and brand.
- Tablets and Mobile Devices – Not only should you use social media for your external outreach, you should provide mobile devices or tablets to make the in-store shopping experience more appealing. Tablets are a great way to digitize your inventory and display high definition images and videos of pieces, even if you don’t have them in your store. These devices enable your customer to play a bigger role in their search for the perfect stone, allowing them to understand what are all the available options before pinpointing exactly what they want.Many companies have already adopted tablets into their payment process. Because these are tools that customers already feel comfortable using, they’ll find it a convenient addition to your own sales process. High-tech mobile devices and tablets convey to customers that you’re running a modern jewelry store, which indicates you understand the changes in your consumer base and that you can adapt to service their needs.
- Apps – A comprehensive app can offer a lot more usability and features than a website. Jewelry store apps work in conjunction with your tablets and mobile devices, and they’re a smart way to boost your jewelry retail sales this holiday season. Top jewelry apps don’t just show customers pictures of available diamonds and gemstones, they also provide search and filtering options to make finding that perfect one easier. High definition images and 360-degree views on these apps also serve to make customers feel like they’re holding the pieces in their own hands. They can see the stones themselves, without having to imagine what they might look like in a setting.
Adding new technology into an already high-stakes sales process can be intimidating. But with the right components, you’ll be able to modernize, without losing the personal aspects of your business that make it so special.
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Personalize the Experience
Every customer wants to feel like the most important customer ever, so make sure you’re creating a personalized experience for them in your store.
- Find Out What They’re Looking For – When clients come into your store this holiday season, they may not be totally sure what they’re looking for. They just know they need a gift! Before you can supply the perfect present, you need to work with them to identify what features the right piece of jewelry needs to have.
The best way to personalize a customer’s search is to have a wide range of pieces that could potentially meet their needs. Use your experience in fine jewelry to pull pieces you think they might like, based on your conversation with them and their description of their style.
However, we’ve all had those customers that just couldn’t find what they want. In that case, you need to help them create a piece that fits all of their needs. Drafting a CAD model or 3D rendering (possibly using a jewelry app) can help the customer find precisely what they’re looking for and will help them visualize a style that they haven’t been able to find.
- Develop Relationships – One area where brick and mortar jewelry stores will always have an advantage over online stores is the personal relationships it can provide. Customers want to shop someplace where they feel like they know the people selling to them, so it’s imperative that you develop a connection with your customers.
You can do this by spending time focused on each customer that comes in. Have your salespeople talk to their customers, without always being outwardly focused on closing a deal. Once you find out more details about them and who they’re buying for (without being too nosey), you solidify the relationship, build customer loyalty, and can easily make expert recommendations.
- Create a Comfortable Atmosphere – Make sure you’re giving your customer a warm, welcoming place to come shop for jewelry – an oasis from the holiday season rush! There are a few inexpensive, simple things you can do to make your store more appealing. For example, while the best light for viewing and displaying diamonds and jewelry is very bright white light, that often can feel cold and sterile. Instead, have diamond lamps or handheld lights to show off jewelry, and then simply click the lights off when having a chat. Your jewelry will still sparkle, without bright lights giving customers a headache!
Another inexpensive simple method to make your store more appealing is to raise the counters a little. This makes it easier for customers to get a better look at pieces without having to lean over too far. Customers want to discuss factors like budget or reasons for their purchase in private, so create quiet places where your salespeople can talk with customers. The more comfortable and accommodating your environment is, the more likely a customer is to come back in the future.
Make the Process Easy
Finally, in this shopping season, it’s important that you make the buying process as easy as possible for customers. Crowds and tight schedules can make holiday shopping a stressful nightmare. So, take these steps to ensure your jewelry retail sales soar during the holidays.
- Easy Communication – Missing a call or having staff too busy to talk to customers can cost you sales. You need sales people readily available to assist and advise prospects on which pieces are ideal for their needs. Make sure that communicating with staff is as easy as possible. Provide tools like instant messaging or online chat rooms through your website to answer questions. Or you can promise to answer all emails within a certain time frame (12 hours, for example). Encourage your clients to connect with you on your social media sites, and dedicate at least one member of your team to being your store’s social media guru, answering any and all questions a client might send. Make it as easy as possible for customers to connect however they’re most comfortable communicating. When you do, you’ll build customer relationships for life!
- Quick Delivery – During the holiday season, most customers have a pretty hard deadline for when they need their presents – December 25! So, it’s important that, even if a piece is custom-made, it’s ready when the customer expects it. While you can’t control if a package is delivered on time, there are a few ways you can ensure a quick delivery to your customer, like picking stones that will arrive quickly. Choose local vendors you know and trust to send what your customers need exactly when they need it. And, when you’re totally sure what the customer wants and find that exact diamond or colored gemstone, you won’t have to face the delays that come with reordering. Also, don’t forget to keep your customers informed on when their piece will arrive.
- Schedule Appointments – Another way to make shopping easy on your customers this holiday season is by offering appointments. When clients can call ahead, schedule an appointment, and avoid a wait in store, they’ll remember how easy you made holiday shopping for them and come back next year! Your customers aren’t the only ones who benefit, either. With appointments, your salespeople are better prepared to show exactly what the customer is looking for, instead of trying to pull things at the last minute. Customers want your undivided attention and with appointments, you can make this a reality, no matter how busy you are.
When you take these steps to tailor your holiday season sales strategy to the client’s needs, you’re sure to see revenue increase. Don’t let the opportunities of holiday sales pass you by. By focusing on the customers, your jewelry retail sales during the holidays are sure to beat out the e-commerce competition.