{"id":5785,"date":"2018-02-01T14:39:00","date_gmt":"2018-02-01T09:09:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gjepc.org\/solitaire\/?p=5785"},"modified":"2021-06-09T11:21:27","modified_gmt":"2021-06-09T05:51:27","slug":"strong-us-holdiay-sales-spread-cheer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gjepc.org\/solitaire\/strong-us-holdiay-sales-spread-cheer\/","title":{"rendered":"Strong US Holdiay Sales spread cheer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

US-based brand strategist DAN SCOTT touches upon various aspects of the American jewellery industry \u2013 last-minute holiday shoppers who helped spike 2017 US jewellery sales, DPA\u2019s efforts to attract the millennial with diamond stories, the online versus offline debate and more.<\/em><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Optimism. The mere thought of the word makes us smile. A positive business mindset is always easier to possess when good news about your industry is flooding your inbox. That\u2019s how jewellers welcomed an abundance of happy headlines for US jewellery and watches last year. It\u2019s exciting that 2017 closed strong, and this report shines a bright light on those successes. Not a spotlight of praise, rather a revealing light, including what may be lurking in the shadows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After two consecutive years of declining fine jewellery and watch sales, Mastercard announced US retail holiday numbers were up 4.9% in 2017, compared to the same period in 2016. While this spike represents the largest year-over-year increase for the jewellery business since 2011, analysts from Gartner\u2019s L2 Group caution that the jewellery industry must ignite its own inspiration for growth. L2\u2019s warning was noted at a conference, in bold at the top of a report and the opening line in their report on YouTube, yet didn\u2019t seem to make headlines. I\u2019m including it here as they\u2019re trying to help the industry, not hurt it. Think about this, if we remove the sales spikes in the last two months of the year, many would label 2017 sales as \u201caverage\u201d at best. The categories below represent select challenges the industry must address for the benefit of all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Diamonds versus diamonds<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Some 150 million US marketing dollars were invested in 2017 by diamond producers. These funds are aimed to heighten mined diamond awareness and evoke strong relationship-focused feelings from the target audience \u2013 America\u2019s millennials. The year 2018 is poised to push the \u201cReal is Rare\u201d slogan that started as an almost invisible soft launch in October 2016. This new slogan is attempting to be the modern-day answer to \u201cA Diamond is Forever\u201d. De Beers\u2019 Forevermark owns that tag now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tag line \u201cReal is Rare\u201d is primarily seen within lush commercials and does give one reason for pause. It is, after all, the first time in years that the diamond industry is investing serious time and funds into a new message. And the message has some confused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the record, any tag line would struggle to compete with the powerhouse cachet and staying power of the renowned De Beers slogan. Debuting in 1948, the tag line was awarded \u201cSlogan of the Century\u201d and decades later it is as memorable as it was over fifty years running. The slogan spiked and sustained diamond demand, motivated buyers to purchase larger centre stones and ignited decades of diamond fashion frenzy<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enter the Diamond Producers Association (DPA), a group comprising the world\u2019s seven largest mining companies with one goal for 2018: Sell more natural diamonds to millennials. Given the mine to market challenges and less millennials getting engaged or married, whatever their key performance indicators (KPIs) are, it will take a lot more than a great slogan to move the needle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year revealed an overall reduced US diamond demand that started in the first quarter and despite a healthy trend for stones in national stores in and around malls across America, sales averages were\u2026 average across the board. Emerging markets such as Houston, Dallas and Miami with other metro areas in the Bible Belt are due to increase in 2019. B2B and B2C US purchasers ordered smaller stones in 2017 compared to recent years, while volume was a bit higher than average, total weight and revenues were slightly below expectations. Also, last year new B2B and B2C diamond trust and trade issues surfaced, such as the inclusion of manmade stones masquerading as naturals in mixed parcels which shocked the industry<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Selling online<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Offline or Online: Many independent jewellers still struggle to embrace both. An oil and water relationship seems to keep jewellery retailers separated from a new youthful customer base and the ability to sell product while you sleep. Still, for many, the concept of selling anything online is a tough conversation to have and a tougher reality to manifest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Larry Brows, a seasoned, Northeastern fine jewellery sales executive, represents loose diamonds, platinum and gold private label and luxury bridal brands. He has been doing so for over 35 years. Brows offers an interesting comparison of online to off: \u201cSome of today\u2019s jewellers believe that having an e-commerce site means they have skin in the game. The reality is an online store is akin to operating a physical location. If your traditional store doesn\u2019t provide the right styles, neglects the product presentation or creates the slightest challenge for the consumer to complete a purchase, that store may soon be having a sale \u2013 A \u2018going out of business\u2019 sale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brows is right. Find the time or find the agency to create a scalable site. Attach one or two of your social platforms. Start small, but start. Take a page out of Saks Fifth Avenue\u2019s playbook. From 2010 to 2017 the number one store for all of Saks nationwide was Saks.com and it\u2019s labelled as a door not a division. \u201cWe have our strategy sessions for .com and we have the same break outs with traditional stores \u2013 .com is a store it\u2019s our best selling store,\u201d stated Jenni Fitzpatrick, demi-fine senior buyer. \u201cSaks.com is the fastest and finest way to test market, survey, promote, and sell.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strike the term \u201cWeb Site\u201d; and add the term \u201cOnline Store \/ Experience\u201d \u2013 online is sometimes dismissed as a \u201cnecessary evil.\u201d Those who think that way will cringe when they learn that in December 2017, Amazon sold a watch every 1.5 seconds!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s shoppers will probably visit your online store before they walk into your door. \u201cWe see this especially in bridal,\u201d noted Walter Bauman, owner of Walter Bauman, from one of his Northern New Jersey\u2019s fine jewellery locations. \u201cCouples will walk in with printouts of the rings. We appreciate the educated customer, they know what they want and we\u2019re learning more about them as they learn about us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dilemma of sales staff<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Imagine you just hired a new, truly remarkable sales person. He won\u2019t accept a salary and will only be paid when he sells. He\u2019s never late for work; in fact, he seems to live in the store. Such people certainly look the part and constantly stand ready and waiting with their fingers posed to enter the next transaction. Then, as you watch in utter disbelief, shopper after shopper walks into your store \u2013 none of them greeted. The sales person doesn\u2019t even lift his head. Perhaps the person who just walked in is one or your finest customers, excited to once again buy. Still the sales person does nothing. Even when the shopper has their credit card in their hand and standing right in front of the sales person pointing at the exact item they want, snapping pictures of it and on social media to their friends, the sales person stays frozen and doesn\u2019t utter a word. Without a welcoming greeting and no communication, the shunned shopper departs \u2013 confused, probably irate and dashing off to buy elsewhere. Here\u2019s the wake-up call: You did hire that exact sales person and you put up with them every single day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Think of the time you invest each week within the store as you open with a set of keys and the \u201cdigital store\u201d you open with a few keystrokes. To many, that site is expected to sell items on its own. Yet, just like social media, if you allow any digital property to be dormant or \u201ctake a vacation,\u201d you\u2019re taking a vacation away from profits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Santa Claus effect<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Something magical occurs in the closing months of every year. The minds and actions of the jewellery industry suddenly change. In fact, the closer to the end of the year, the more adventurous and creative we seem to get. Shop windows and in-case displays gain newfound attention, the music playing in the store is turned up a notch, sales people seem more conscious of how they appear to shoppers. Everyone that walks into the store seems like a slightly better prospect than all the months before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I call this the \u201cSanta Claus effect.\u201d We\u2019re all guilty of this change in mindset during the holiday season. We\u2019re conditioned to put on our bestselling caps during November and December. Since this specific holiday is built around gifting and it is at the close of the year, we tend to take more risks hoping for more rewards. To prove this point, think about your sales mentality during equally important holidays such as Valentine\u2019s Day and Mother\u2019s Day. While the intensity seems lessened, there is a positive sales energy and sense of hope during those time periods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s take this a little deeper\u2026 It\u2019s midJanuary. The Santa Claus effect has worn off. People seem lazier; less motivated and sure enough, sales reflect such. We expect it to be slow and slow it is. As humans, we programme ourselves to act on whatever thought we plant in our heads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So if it\u2019s January, we lean on past months\u2019 memories, the stories that tell us all \u201cJ\u201d months are \u201cslow,\u201d and so the days drag. Then, out of the blue, a shopper strolls in and in a couple of minutes purchases a high-ticket item. While exciting, that specific sale in a non-holiday time is written off as a good day; a lucky day; a one-off. Now, take the same exact scenario and place it in the Santa Claus effect. The sales team is recharged for the entire day or longer. The next shopper they meet could be another high-ticket purchaser and they almost expect them to be. They are motivated to sell and sell better. I\u2019ve witnessed this where sales people simply start looking to see who they may call or email that didn\u2019t cross their mind when they were counting their freckles as the second hand of time nudged on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there\u2019s only one takeaway you gain from reading this, please make it this: don\u2019t wait for good news to make a headline. Those headlines only make press when people like you create a story worth documenting. And if you think your inbox displaying lots of good news headlines makes you feel good, then reading your own headline will make you feel great.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

US-based brand strategist DAN SCOTT touches upon various aspects of the American jewellery industry \u2013 last-minute holiday shoppers who helped spike 2017 US jewellery sales, DPA\u2019s efforts to attract the millennial with diamond stories, the online versus offline debate and more. Optimism. The mere thought of the word makes us smile. A positive business mindset…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5788,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[107,79],"tags":[],"thb-sponsors":[],"class_list":["post-5785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-retail","category-viewpoint"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nStrong US Holdiay Sales spread cheer - Solitaire magazine is a International jewellery magazine - India\u2019s leading B2B gem and jewellery magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow\" \/>\n<meta name=\"googlebot\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"bingbot\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/gjepc.org\/solitaire\/strong-us-holdiay-sales-spread-cheer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Strong US Holdiay Sales spread cheer - Solitaire magazine is a International jewellery magazine - India\u2019s leading B2B gem and jewellery magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"US-based brand strategist DAN SCOTT touches upon various aspects of the American jewellery industry \u2013 last-minute holiday shoppers who helped spike 2017 US jewellery sales, DPA\u2019s efforts to attract the millennial with diamond stories, the online versus offline debate and more. 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