|
|
|
Study: Jewelers need to raise their digital IQs
By Catherine Dayrit
February 08, 2010
Manchester, N.H.--On Bellmans.com, the Web site of Bellman's Jewelers, visitors will find plenty of features to keep themselves engaged--ideally enough to inspire a visit to the retailer's Manchester, N.H., store.
From a video showcase of jewelry offerings to taped testimonials and a unique "video-on-flash" greeting that stars the store's owner, customers are enticed to get a flavor of the store before stepping inside.
"The Web site is important because it's everyone's first introduction to you," owner David Bellman says. "This reinforces our store as a great place to shop. We just want them to come in and then we can take care of the rest."
Intriguing the customer through interactive features has been a key driver in the evolution of Bellman's Web site. And such features might soon be more common among more jewelers--or at least experts think they should be.
A recent L2 LuxuryLab study from New York University's Stern School of Business concludes that having an online presence is simply not enough.
The "Digital IQ" study ranked 109 brands in industries ranging from automobiles to wines, attaching each with a "Digital IQ" based on search engine optimization; social media usage; brand translation--the brand's effectiveness in conveying its messaging; and medium leverage--how well it uses technology, interactivity and the user interface. It's conclusions for the jewelry industry?
"The jewelry category had the greatest number of challenged and feeble players," the study reads. "Weak traffic, poor user interfaces and limited use of social media led to low Digital IQs."
(Click here to see rankings for jewelry.)
Clearly, there's some catching up to do, but as evidenced by independents such as Bellman's and branding impresarios like Tiffany & Co.--which ranked number one among the 13 jewelry brands, and 13th overall--the industry is evolving.
According to Jewelers of America's (JA) 2009 Cost of Doing Business Report, while jewelers have been buffing up their businesses' Internet usage, they have yet to fully capitalize on the Web's potential.
Retailers currently using Web sites--including the 76 percent of retailers who indicated their usage in JA's survey--could take tips from high-ranking brands in the L2 study. List-topping brands were those with Web sites that are engaging, functional and interactive. Many are sites that promote their involvement in social media and are e-commerce enabled.
The latter functionality, which calls for not just promoting but selling jewelry online, has historically been one that jewelers have hesitated over.
"If you're looking for a particular TV or camera, they're all pretty much the same and you don't really need to touch and feel it," Bellman says. "With jewelry, really no two rings are exactly alike, and that's the problem [with selling online.]"
Yet marketers cite big potential.
"What's awesome about selling product online and finding a good market opportunity is that it's scalable and 24-7 and global," says Au-Co Mai, owner of e-commerce site Emitations.com and the former head of technology for the Women's Jewelry Association.
While brands ranking high in the L2 study were prevalently those with e-commerce capabilities, the hesitancy of jewelers to sell online is understandable, given the one-of-a-kind nature of jewelry designs and the relationship-driven business model of most jewelers.
Yet other industries have had challenges of their own and have overcome them to thrive online.
"Instead of looking at your direct competition, sometimes you've got to step outside of your immediate circle," says Thomas Harpointner, chief executive officer of interactive marketing company AIS Media. Harpointner points to Zappos.com, which sells not only $50 sneakers but thousand-dollar footwear from Giuseppe Zanotti and Vivienne Westwood.
"Critics said, 'People need to try on the shoe, the shoe needs to fit,'" Harpointner says.
Since its launch in 1999, Zappos has catapulted and, in 2009, Web giant Amazon purchased it. The reason for its success? It found ways to confront the obstacles, including implementing a 365-day return policy and free shipping.
"I think the lesson to be learned is, look at how an industry addressed a problem and overcame it with an unusual solution," Harpointner says.
While jumping online can be daunting initially, it simply has to be done.
"The first draft of anything you start is always ugly and imperfect, but you have to get that first draft out to refine it," Mai says.
Taking one's site to the next level could be as easy as leveraging the
talent within your store, or looking to local universities for eager students.
"Partner up with interns or people who are going to the GIA [Gemological Institute of America]," Mai says. "They want the experience."
At Duncan and Boyd Jewelers, the latest incarnation of the jeweler's Web site--which now features video and Paragon Lake's custom jewelry technology--came courtesy of the store's next generation.
"My younger son said, 'We need to do this, this and this,'" owner Ron Boyd says. "So I said, 'Here, you do it.'"
Boyd's son and the store manager took the initiative on the project, and Boyd says the site has been especially effective in reaching residents in tech-savvy Austin, where the retailer operates one store.
While Duncan and Boyd doesn't offer e-commerce, it's something that Boyd says might be an eventuality.
"It's hard because some of the vendors don't allow that, even though some of them do it on their own Web sites," he says. "The difference with e-commerce is security of payment and you have to be very careful with that."
At Traditional Jewelers in Newport Beach, Calif., Erik Halfacre, president, says e-commerce is something he would consider, but he's currently focused on the in-store experience.
"The brands will always supercede any Web site, and customer service will always supercede any Web site," he says.
Yet, Halfacre is exploring options that would make Traditional's site more engaging. The site currently features video, but Halfacre is intrigued by a virtual tour technology that would allow Web visitors to get a feel for the store. E-commerce might be an eventual step.
"If you're going to be adverse to change, I think you're going to be left behind," he says.
This story first appeared in the January 2010 print edition of National Jeweler.
|
|
More Market Development News
Susan Eisen, chief executive officer of Susan Eisen Fine Jewelry and Watches, is the presenting sponsor of a new jewelry exhibition featuring the work of Europe's jewelry masters slated to open March 27 at the El Paso Museum of Art. Read More
|
Daily News
Get breaking news from the industry's premier information source.
Small multi video player located on right rail of NJN site
|
Save
E-mail
Print
Most Popular
RSS
Reprints
