The Christmas tree gets lots of attention at this time of year. It is steep in holiday tradition. Perhaps jewelers should take a note from the Palm tree this year as a means for dealing with this very unusual economy and evolving retail customer mindset. The Palm tree is a good example because it sways in the most violent of storms and seldom topples over due to its ability to be flexible. When the storm is over and so many other trees are down, the palm tree is often still standing. Flexibility is its key to success.The Christmas tree has a long history of being focused on between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. Just like the key selling season for retail jewelers. A traditional focus brings a lot of habitual viewpoints of how to approach selling and merchandising jewelry each holiday. A focus on a Palm tree at this time of year would certainly demonstrate a departure from the past . . . just like this year’s jewelry customer who is more value oriented than previous years.

It is easy to weight down a Christmas tree with too many decorations just like it would be easy to approach this year’s selling season with the same expectations and paradigms of past selling seasons. But what would it mean to become more flexible in your ability to proactively address the needs of today’s more value conscious consumer? How might you need to change your pricing strategies or selling presentations to earn the business from more value oriented shoppers?

What would a more flexible approach to this year’s consumer look like for your store? Even a Palm tree can be decorated to carry the message of the holiday season . . . and weather the storm to still be standing for next year.

JCK