Last week, I had a very engaging conversation with a UCLA grad student researching, you guessed it and no pun intended, an emerging engagement ring brand. The new brand, which had to be kept from me, was considering an online storefront with a brick-and-mortar showroom.Emily asked me some great questions and we discussed everything from ring styles and trends that are emerging, the evergreen love of the diamond solitaire, and consumer habits. And, of course, lab-grown diamonds. If time would have allowed, our conversation would have lasted well beyond the hour we had scheduled. As our conversation drew to a close, she indicated that the brand was really going after simple solitaires and basic diamond jewelry like pendants and stud earrings. And I had to pause and tell her a few things:
Retail jewelers need another basic solitaire brand like a hole in the head.
The market is already saturated and Lightbox is doing the same thing with pendants and stud earrings.
Sorry, but this brand sounds boring and is going up against some stiff competition that has a lot of money to play with. Far more than an emerging, and not yet marketed brand!
What, I finally asked, is so special about them? Because, if there isn’t anything, you have to make it so with a special story, unbeatable service, you get it.As a retail jeweler, you should take a good hard look at your bridal jewelry cases before buying one more brand. Does each brand have a distinctive look? One jeweler I visited in the past did it right. They had their cases separated by designer, but they also made sure there was no overlap. One designer line was all bold and thick bands, another was feminine filigree and halo styles, a third was classic solitaires. This made it easier for the customer and the associate to pick a style to look at closer.Next, do you have a diamond ring line that offers really great quality, a lot of different price points so customers can scale up, and good profit margins? This is the brand that you should consider as your house brand, but the key is you can’t make it boring. You can’t just put your store name on it and expect that to give it panache. We recently worked with one of our clients who found exactly this type of brand. They offered great quality and a really nice margin. They wanted to sell the hell out of it. And guess what? It’s going well, and that’s because we worked with them to romance up that line. We helped them come up with a great name, created a logo for it, developed a campaign, and then hosted a special event at both of their locations to promote it. It’s helped their bridal business soar. And honestly, I have to tell you, it wasn’t that difficult. It just had to be made special.Looking for specialized help with your retail jewelry business? Contact suits@fruchtman.com and get connected to the experts in fine jewelry marketing. We can make what’s worked for others work for you.
