Digital marketing has taken over every single industry over the last decade. In order to keep up with this ongoing trend, luxury brands have also started embracing the opportunities of the connected and mobile world. In particular, the shift in how fine jewelry is being sold draws a picture of how even unlikely industries can take advantage of e-commerce and online sales.
The online presence of the fine jewelry market currently only accounts for 4%–5% of the total value of the industry. However, this number is on the rise and it’s estimated that online sales of fine jewelry will make up 10% of the market by 2020 as more luxury brands establish their presence and begin selling their pieces online.
Why Sell Jewelry Online?
With jewelry being a billion-dollar online marketplace, why wouldn’t you want a slice of that?
Because jewelry is a consumer product, it knows no boundaries! Jewelry appeals to both men and women no matter their age (or culture)! With this in mind, you know that you’ll never run out of buyers.
Jewelry was one of the earliest product categories to be sold successfully online. It certainly ticks a lot of the boxes for a product that can be sold profitably online: small size, low weight, high value, very visual and so on. The Blue Nile, founded in 1999 and the largest online retailer of diamond jewelry, has annual sales of just under half a billion dollars.
When people buy jewelry, they buy an experience. There are many emotions involved when someone buys a piece of jewelry. While other expensive purchases (like cars) depreciate in value, fine and diamond jewelry do the opposite. Jewelry is unique in its many positions as art, fashion, investment and an expression of personality, relationship and status. It offers many varied opportunities for online sellers.
Multi-channel online selling provides several strong advantages over the single brick-and-mortar store. In a traditional store, it can be hard to create a long-time connection which will establish trust. With online purchases, we often see five to eight rounds of communication between the seller and a potential customer before the purchase is completed.
An additional advantage is the ability to show potential buyers how a gemstone, sapphire, for example, can be transformed into hundreds of different designs. Using 3D modeling and rendering, it is easy to generate images and descriptions for all those designs without wasting the buyer’s time. The buyer controls the information that they want to see, without the need for physical items. Not only is your audience wider, but your content is also more accessible and dynamic
Jewelry is also hugely diverse: We at GemEye cater to the diversity
Sellers can offer rings, necklaces, bracelets, anklets, or belly rings, just to name a few. Each of these products can be made from hundreds of different mediums such as gold, diamonds, gemstones, shells, beads, and more!
In fact, jewelry is so diverse that if you start digging into the multitude of options, you may find your head spinning. For each unique piece comes a unique design and so on. Take a look at the image below for a better insight.
GemEyeTips To Follow Before Setting Up Your Store
To be honest, it’s going to take more than following a few well-known jewelry blogs and typing in keywords to rank your online store.
At GemEye we have tailored a one-stop solution for jewelry online brand looking to expand. Our IT solutions and jewelry branding through jewelry image retouching techniques have managed to take the industry a notch higher. How? Because of our industry-specific experience, we know the details that need to be incorporated to make sure your target shoppers can’t have enough of your jewelry items.
Create your own jewelry niche. Without a specific niche, your online store might be a flop. Doing this won’t restrict you, it’ll keep order within your store. Just like clothing, people shop for specific staple pieces of jewelry. If someone is looking for a statement necklace, they’re not going to rummage through bracelets, earrings, and chokers to find the perfect one.
Wear some of the jewelry you plan on selling. Why? So you can see what it feels like. A good rule of thumb: If you can’t wear it all day, your customers won’t be able to, either. It’s also a good idea to take pictures of you wearing it.
Create deals your customer won’t be able to pass up. These deals may include an earring and necklace set, or a trio set (earrings, necklace, and rings). Be sure to include the price for the set as well as the price for each piece separately. If you’re selling the set for $29, and want the set to look more appealing, write something like “Or, purchase one for $18!” That alone sounds like a good deal, doesn’t it?
Even More Tips For Selling Jewelry Online From GemEye
Now that you’ve got a good idea on how to start up your online store, as well as what you’d like to sell, we’re going to offer you some pro tips to keep your store up and running.
Don’t worry, these tips are free of charge!
Tip #1: Say No To Fake Products
There are so many suppliers out there currently selling cheap products. Here’s the problem, though: If you’re caught selling knock-off items, you could have your website shut down. You could even face prosecution by the original brand owner!
Even if that doesn’t happen, your customers will still be unhappy and won’t come back.
Think about it – would you rather buy items at a higher cost to please your customers (and keep your store up and running), or buy dirt cheap knock-off items and get tons of negative reviews?
The answer should be simple: stay away from fake products.
Tip #2: Give Your Buyer a Reason to Choose You
Selling jewelry online can get pretty competitive, as we talked about before. It’s vital to think of a way to differentiate yourself from the hundreds of other sellers before you get started!
Selling fair trade items is a great way to do this. Fair trade jewelry is made by artisans who work under safe and humane working conditions.
These workers are also are paid a fair wage for their work. Another great thing about fair trade jewelry is the fact that it’s also made without child labor and is crafted using environmentally sustainable methods!
If you labeled your jewelry as “Fair Trade” and explained what that meant to your customers, they’d go crazy over it. Knowing that they’re buying jewelry from a reputable source is something they’ll pride themselves on.
Tip #3: Make the Best of Our Digital Marketing Efforts
Facebook campaigns will quickly become your best friend. Because you’re able to target consumers according to certain demographics (age, gender, and location) you’ll be able to reach a multitude of people whether they’re currently connected to your business, or not.
You’re also able to set a strict daily budget as well as select how long you want your advertising campaign to run.
Tip #4: Consistency
Sharing posts on social media is vital to keeping your business in the loop, but you have to share content daily!
This means you have to constantly post pictures, blog posts, and simple status updates on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.
You’ll end up saving a lot of time by putting posts in the queue.
Tip#5: In-Depth Product Information
While you obviously don’t want to overwhelm buyers with huge paragraphs for each item, you’ll want concise and descriptive information for each piece of jewelry.
Most people want to know what they’re getting ahead of time and, if anything is unclear, most won’t reach out to ask questions.
By providing the materials used in designs up front, your customers will know exactly what to look forward to. You can even add why you love the piece!
More information also includes making sure your policies are easy to find so there’s no confusion about returns, exchanges, etc., later on.
Finally, strong product descriptions can improve your store’s search rankings.
Below are 5 unique ways in which GemEye helps your online jewelry brand in the global jewelry market
Enhanced brand image
The online presence of a luxury brand can add to the overall brand image, reinforcing the branding and style that is already present in a physical store. The content presented on a jewelry site, along with its User Interface (UI) components and User Experience (UX) patterns can make or break the first impression users leave with after visiting a jewelry website.
Delivering an impressive application to consumers allows jewelers to drive brand awareness and grow engagement with a wider audience, reaching beyond their brick-and-mortar stores. The brand continuity that flows from in-store to online helps establish a loyal consumer base, regardless of the engagement point.
Our state of the art It solutions help your brand and store have a seamless operation helping your brand image grow.
Increasing product accessibility
People use their mobile devices at all hours, wherever they might be. Building a mobile site allows jewelry makers and sellers to provide consumers with access to their pieces on the fly. Having a convenient, mobile option available helps to make jewelry shopping accessible to even the most socially awkward consumer.
At GemEye we integrate accurate business logic into a digital solution serves as both a marketing tool and as a sales engine, converting potential leads into paying customers. By means of calls to action (CTAs) such as “Join our email list”, “Reserve”, “Add to wishlist”, “Add to cart”, “Contact us”, “Book a display”, “Subscribe”, “Shop now” and more, users are encouraged to interact with the site which, in turn, provides them with an engaging, yet comfortable shopping experience.
At GemEye, our years of jewelry experience has taught us that an accessible quality jewelry will always be a hit with its target shoppers online.
Knowing Modern Shopping Trends
In today’s highly digitalized world, purchasing power exists directly in the hands of consumers via a handy mobile device that is constantly with them. Shoppers have become accustomed to doing their own research, often thoroughly reading product descriptions and reviews before committing to making a purchase, especially a more expensive one.
We help luxury retailers make use of tools and insights from the multi-screen world have an increased opportunity to bridge the gap between the tech-savvy online consumer and the offline retailer.
Creating targeted marketing campaigns
Fine jewelry is oftentimes purchased or received as a gift (43%) than as a self-purchase (22%), according to Jewelers of America’s 2017 Fine Jewelry Industry Consumer and Retail Market Report. For example, in terms of Google search volume, Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and Mother’s Day are the occasions when the highest number of people search for jewelry online.
Appealing to self-purchasers can become a powerful move. We at GemEye target the next generation, millennial women especially who are also high earners that help increase the market share and encourage people to buy outside of the traditional holiday seasons.
We at GemEye combine business goals with digital solutions helping jewelers boost sales while delivering brand continuity and new ways to engage with consumers. Through personalized digital marketing campaigns, luxury jewelry retailers can highlight new, similar, or special offers to entice customers to come back. They can also alert consumers to last calls for orders and can keep new and old clients interested in the brand via regular newsletters that are delivered right to their inbox.
If jewelers choose to embrace e-commerce to complement brick-and-mortar’s strengths, increase digital promotions, and potentially create a national online campaign, they can remain competitive and see future growth since mobile-friendly sites worldwide get top rankings from Google. The search engine has adjusted its algorithms where mobile-friendly sites are prioritized, while sites that are not mobile-friendly see a negative impact on their rankings.
Offering multifaceted buying experiences
While clients appreciate the service that an offline jewelry store provides, they also enjoy their online interaction with a luxury brand. An increasing number of clients seem to even prefer the digital option to do their shopping!
Our digital marketing strategies at GemEye and tools allow jewelers to keep their client base up to date with all of the products available, both online and in-store. We also help retailers identify high-value customers that deserve special attention, allowing them to adjust their product supply and offers based on actual client feedback.