How Jewelry Buying Has Changed!
It used to be that walking into a jewelry store made you feel totally intimidated and at a disadvantage. After all, the jeweler had all the facts and figures about the real value of the expensive pieces of jewelry on display - and you the customer should feel privileged that they would spend time sharing some of that information with you. In other words, without their expert knowledge you didn’t have the necessary facts to make an informed decision on your purchase.
Not only did the jeweler have all the facts on the best value for money products, he was also the only outlet where you could make your purchase. Although there was an element of competition with other jewelry stores, most of it was centered round the layout of the store and the uniqueness of the goods on offer rather than on price only. The profit margins on the retail price could be as much as 75% but it was virtually impossible for the customer to negotiate any price reduction.
But then a change in the market took place ” a change that has affected many industries and businesses and one that generates more changes almost each day. The Internet. Within a very short space of time, competition expanded dramatically. Internet businesses had lower costs, so they could afford to charge less for their products. Even more alarming for the jeweler, all of a sudden they enabled the customer to carry out some quiet and thorough research before committing to any purchase or before he was subjected to any sort of sales pitch.
Knowledge is power and the customer was no longer at a disadvantage when he entered a jewelry shop. Many could now ask pertinent questions about “technical” data such as diamond colors, carat weight and independent appraisals. Not only that, they were now in a position to negotiate lower prices and shorter delivery times because they were able to make comparisons in order to get the best deal.
The traditional jeweler was faced with an enormous change. His preferred way of doing business was as it had always been - greeting the customer as he or she came through the door, providing guidance and encouragement while steering them towards the highly profitable pieces of jewelry on display.
A new breed of jewelers, and especially online stores, turned this on its head. They became far more customer focused ” they were prepared to match the products they supplied to the requirements of their customers and they were also happy to provide as much information as the customer wanted before reaching a decision. They were prepared to do this as a strategy to attract customers to this new way of doing business. They were also prepared to compete on prices, which they could afford to do precisely because of their lower overheads.
The customer now has more choice on where to buy his jewelry thanks to market competition brought about through the technological development of the Internet. Not only that, he is much more knowledgeable on the subject and more able to command the best deal because this new way of doing business has educated him.
