I just got home from the Atlanta Jewelry Show, and thought I’d share some thoughts and discoveries with everyone from the show. Here’s what you missed if you haven’t been to a trade show in a while.
First and foremost…They are fun!
The really cool thing about a trade show is the interaction with your longtime friends and business associates. I’ve got friends in this business that I’ve known for 43 years. Many of those friends I’ve only seen face-to-face 43 times – always at a trade show.
A jewelry trade show is a hands-on experience. Most days I’m at the point that I don’t want to look at another piece of jewelry on a phone or computer screen. I don’t care how many pics you take, and how many angles you shoot it from, you never really capture the essence of the piece. Being real jewelers, we know the only way to evaluate, and assess, a piece’s true quality and workmanship is to hold it in our hands. A jewelry trade show is a full blown, hands-on, experience.
We’ve all bought jewelry from a company that had great photography but bad manufacturing. At a jewelry show, vendors can’t Photoshop their way into your showcases. They have to do it with the actual quality and style they claim in their advertising.
I stopped by the Anna Zuckerman Luxury booth over the weekend. Anna sells a really cool line of affordable jewelry in classic styles. I picked up a ring that looked like it could sell for $10-$20 thousand dollars. Yet the tag read $199 retail, and $49 wholesale. And, she has hundreds of beautiful styles, all at $49 wholesale. She uses only precious metals, and all of the simulated gemstones are carbon coated (diamond crystalline) that allows the gemstones to reflect light with a dazzle that rivals real gems. I asked her how the pieces held up over time. Every person working the booth showed me pieces they had all been wearing daily for over a year, proving Anna’s pieces truly do stand the test of time.
Like you, I see Anna’s ads here in the paper, but the ads don’t do her pieces justice. Images in ads can be enhanced. Photoshop can’t correct something you’re holding in your hands. Be sure to see Anna’s line in person at your next (or first) jewelry show. You’ll become a believer.
Another cool reason to go to the shows in person is discovering that one little tidbit of information you’ve been seeking for years. While perusing the Stuller corral, I met Jacob from B&D, Stuller’s laser service, and support company. I discovered that B&D has an extensive laser repair department. And, they will attempt to service and repair all brands and all models. You can call their office and talk to a real laser repair technician. Whatever your issue, they’ve seen it before, and can likely solve your problem.
If your laser needs parts, B&D will ship them to you on memo (just pay the S/H fees), and then they will walk you through the installation on a video call. If the repair is successful, they’ll bill you for the parts. If not, just send them back and they’ll continue troubleshooting with you until it’s fixed.
But, what if you’re not comfortable removing the cover off of your laser? If one is available, B&D will ship you a loaner laser to use while they are repairing your laser. You only need to cover the cost of shipping, usually around $500 each way. If you don’t know how to crate and ship a laser, they can walk you through the process, or even coordinate with one of their logistics partners to crate and ship your laser to them for service.
So, the next time the red light thingy, doesn’t do what the red light thingy is supposed to do, call B&D and talk to a professional laser repair tech who will know how to get you back up and running in no time. Call them at 401-781-4810.
In today’s world, it’s all about technology and I hate that. I’ve wanted to write a column for a couple of years called; “No, I Don’t Want to Download Another App”. But, I know I’m in the minority so I’ve refrained. The ‘big thing’ that everyone was talking about at the show was how to get into your customer’s phone.
I spoke with a young lady who was a buyer for her family’s store. She was telling me that she got her first phone at the age of 13, and has not been without it ever since. Now her generation is in their 20s and 30s, and they are the customers we are all targeting. If you want your message to reach them, you’ve got to get into their phone.
As I’m wandering the aisles, I see a booth that advertised ‘Sell-By-Text’. Since texting and cell phones go hand in hand, I stopped in. And of course, it’s a brand new, creative concept, brought to you by Anish Desai from Star Gems. Anish is always on the forefront of new ways to use technology to sell jewelry. And like always, he hits it out of the park with this one too.
Most jewelry stores have guest registries and wish lists. Sell-By-Text creates an easy way to get those wish list items into the phone of their significant other a few weeks before a birthday or anniversary. Let’s be honest, most husbands would like to get that text and just pick an item from it, right from their phone, rather than go shopping. And, because they know it’s something she really wants, they can feel confident that they’ll hit it out of the park on her birthday. Contact Anish and his incredible team to learn more at sales@StarGems.com, or call 770-394-6727.
Another cool, innovative booth that I encountered was the BitOfMe booth. Russell Mefford, a 3rd generation jeweler, has come up with a really cool concept using QR code technology. He can engrave a custom QR code on a piece of jewelry which you can scan with your phone (see, it’s always the phone) to hear an audio playback.
You can put it on medic alert bracelets so the EMT’s can hear instructions. You can put it on pet tags so if someone finds your lost pet, they can hear your voice coming from the phone of the person that found them. A soldier had one engraved on the back of his dog tags with his wife and kid’s telling him how much they loved him.
Something that was really touching was a lady who told me that she was going to do this with a new Christmas ornament every year, so she could go around the tree and hear all of her kids and grand kids telling her Merry Christmas from the various years. To learn more about BitOfMe, contact Russell@MeffordJewelers.com to see about becoming the exclusive BitOfMe dealer in your market.
And lastly, while checking out the countless numbers of vendor booths, I kept hearing about ‘Tiffany’ being at the show. Of course, my first thought was; ‘What the hell are they doing here. We’re not worthy.’
Turns out, the Tiffany that everyone was talking about is one of the new marketing superstars in our industry, Tiffany Bayley. Tiffany, owns two brick and mortar stores in Orlando, Florida Avalon Park Jewelers and Alafaya Jewelry and Watch Repair, she has written a book called; ‘Thrive with Facebook Live… The Complete Guide to Virtual Success’
Tiffany shows you how to go ‘live’ on all of the social media platforms to build better relationships with your customers and drive sales. I sat down with Tiffany and she told me to tune in to ‘Shop with Tiffany Live’ at 7:00 pm EST on Wednesdays. I asked her where? She said, everywhere! Her show is on all of the social media platforms out there so do yourself a favor and check her out this Wednesday. If you’d like to get a copy of her book or learn more about her coaching services, contact Tiffany at 407-897-0551.
After the last couple of years we’ve had, do yourself and your team a favor and go to a trade show this year…because they are fun!
The post The Retailer’s Perspective: It’s Showtime (Again)! appeared first on Southern Jewelry News.
from Southern Jewelry News https://ift.tt/jypUbP0