Jewelers of America (JA) has debuted a new webinar series, Digital Academy, designed to help its members tailor their businesses to a digital-first retail market.
The webinar series will take place over a three–month time frame, and each month will focus on one of three topics: e-commerce, marketing, and websites.
Amanda Gizzi, JA’s director of public relations and special events, says the idea for Digital Academy stemmed from the changing realities of retailing in the COVID-19 era. “The pandemic forced the jewelry industry to go into hyperspeed addressing their digital footprint,” she says. “At Jewelers of America, we completely shifted our own focus and spent the past year working to give our members access to data and tools to survive this pandemic.”
JA’s director of membership, Regina Ciarleglio, originally came up with the plan “to do an intensive program dedicated solely to helping retailers in the digital space,” Gizzi explains. “We listened to our members and watched the staggering growth in the digital space. This Digital Academy is 100% focused on helping jewelers be successful tomorrow and in the years to come.”
The JA team held brainstorming sessions to settle on the webinars’ topics. “We broke down all of the feedback from our members and put them together into logical, bite-size bits of information that retailers can access in limited amounts of time,” Gizzi says. “Susan Posnock, our director of public affairs and education, and Regina were then able to work their magic and pull together great speakers for this program. There are many aspects of digital—and we know that retailers are at different [phases] of implementation.”
Regardless, she adds, “One thing that all retailers have in common right now is that they’re dedicating time to digital.”
The current Digital Academy schedule is as follows:
• “Growing Stronger Online: The Jewelry E-Commerce Era,” presented by Igor Nusinovich, CEO of Valigara Online Jewelry Manager, Jan. 28, 2 p.m. ET.
• “The Best Social Media Selling Tactics for Jewelers,” presented by Alex Fetanat, founder and CEO, and Anthony Arechiga, vice president of sales and marketing, at GemFind Digital Solutions, Feb. 4, 2 p.m. ET.
• “Amazon 101: Sell Successfully on Amazon and Other 3P Marketplaces,” presented by Kristin Cherry Jackson and Rosemary Mazza, managing partners of 21C Jewelry Solutions, Feb. 18, 11 a.m. ET.
• “Planning Your Website,” presented by Stacey MacDougall, sales coordinator of WIX, Feb. 25, 2 p.m. ET.
• “From Social Media to Sale: Generate a Steady Flow of Loyal Customers,” presented by Andre’ Savoie, owner of High Level Thinkers, March 18, 2 p.m ET.
Register here for any of the sessions in JA’s Digital Academy.
(Photo: Getty Images)
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