After enduring nearly two months of lockdown to slow the spread of COVID-19, jewelry retailers around the country are poised to reopen their stores amid a vastly changed landscape.
Last Thursday, JCK held a webinar sponsored by Jewelers Mutual to help store owners prepare for the weeks and months ahead. Titled “10 Things You Can Do Right Now to Prepare Your Business for the Post-COVID-19 Recovery,” the webinar—led by editor-in-chief Victoria Gomelsky—covered topics such as messaging during the crisis, educational resources that retailers can take advantage of during the downtime, and post-COVID-19 jewelry trends sure to drive demand over the coming holiday season.
One of the key takeaways was the importance of maintaining a connection with customers during the crisis, through social media platforms, email newsletters, even handwritten notes.
“Use caution in your messaging, but do stay in touch,” Gomelsky said. “If you’re sponsoring a local food bank or you’ve connected with your local hospital and are providing meals from a local restaurant, all that should be shared. It’s tricky because you don’t want to be seen as marketing yourself in the traditional marketing sense.”
The best thing retailers can do right now is make sure they’re set up for e-commerce. Jewelers who have traditionally considered their websites to be marketing platforms or nice-to-have complements to their brick-and-mortar stores are now realizing that online sales are critical to staying in business.
Gomelsky urged jewelers who are equipped to sell online to promote items that are affordably priced and work as gift options—such as pieces for Mother’s Day on Sunday—and to add a chat button to their sites, so customers who are stuck at home can easily connect with salespeople.
“There are things to sell during this time—just take great care in how you position them,” she said.
The conversation also covered burgeoning jewelry styles expected to emerge this fall, such as “a general trend toward maximalism and exuberance because we haven’t had occasions to dress up or wear jewelry for so long,” according to JCK’s All That Glitters blogger Amy Elliott. “Like literally dressing like Liz Taylor in Cleopatra to go do your grocery shopping.”
In closing, Gomelsky shared tips on how retailers can use this unprecedented time to “hit reset.” From stocking up on face masks, alcohol wipes, and Purell to creating a YouTube channel or taking a deep dive into the sustainability movement, now is the perfect time to make lasting changes to your business.
After all, a recovery is inevitable.
“What does the world look like ‘post-corona’?” Scott Galloway, a professor of marketing at the New York University Stern School of Business and a public speaker, author, and entrepreneur, recently asked on his Prof Galloway blog. “The question itself is telling. Our species’ superpower is cooperation, and our strength as Americans is our optimism. The question itself is recognition of one comforting truth: Crises always happen, and they always end.”
Didn’t have time to join the webinar or want to share it with a colleague? Watch the recorded session.
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