What brands do for your jewelry store is a hotly contested debate right now.
The discussion centers around a few key points for each side.
The nonbranded camp points out the lower initial cost, greater availability to pick and choose, and the fact they are less apt to be price shopped on the Internet.
The branded side counters with prestige, quality, and restricted local distribution.
To understand the debate you first have to understand what brands do for your jewelry store.
What Brands Do For Your Jewelry Store
– Name recognition.
Branded jewelry lines come to you with a carefully crafted name recognition factor built-in.
In some cases, millions of dollars have been spent by professional ad agencies to put the impressions in the right magazine and TV advertisements.
By featuring the product in the store you instantly connect your store to that name recognition factor.
The power of the brand also helps to elevate your store’s reputation for caring for finer jewelry.
A great side note is that they will list you as an approved vendor on their web site.
– Trust.
The bottom line is that we trust brands more than nonbranded items.
Whether it is groceries, clothing, or jewelry, people place more confidence in a branded product.
Studies prove this point all of the time.
Need proof?
Buy two identical bottles of expensive wine and peel the labels off of the one bottle.
In place of the label tape on a white piece of paper with the word “Wine” written on it.
Set both bottles out at your next party.
Which bottle do your friends gravitate to?
Which is the first bottle consumed?
The same holds true for branded jewelry lines.
We are convinced that branded items MUST be better.
– Takes less time to sell.
Try selling an obscure watch line to someone.
You spend an inordinate amount of time selling the quality, durability, and craftsmanship.
Take that same client and show them a Tag Heuer timepiece.
Due to brand recognition and advertisements, they already assume the quality, durability, and craftsmanship are there.
For the same amount of selling effort, a branded line makes more sales than a nonbranded line.
Less time is spent talking about warranties as well because it is assumed that a brand will stand behind their product.
– Commands a higher price.
Brands carry with them higher perceived quality and higher esteem.
We see it in the loose diamond markets right now especially.
Two certified diamonds that have very similar proportions, cut, color, clarity, and weight can have dramatically different prices per carat if one is certified by the G.I.A.
The advantages that the right branded line brings to your store goes on and on.
We could easily segue into the positive effects on your sales team’s morale, the groundswell of the word of mouth advertising by your clients, or the fact that the right brand attracts other brands to your store.
There are several jewelry line options available to you, even so, always keep in mind what brands do for your jewelry store.
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The host of “Inside the Jewelry Trade” Radio Show – Jewelry Business Strategist – President of Four Grainer LLC. Author of the business books “A Reason To Chant,” and “A Reason to Chant – Jewelry Trade Edition.” Rod lives in Atlanta with his wife and two almost-human cats.