If you are interested in establishing or expanding a jewelry eCommerce business, the timing could not be better. The COVID-19 pandemic has permanently altered the nature of shopping. According to an article in the New York Times, jewelry sales increased during the pandemic. Considering this, starting an eCommerce jewelry business is a smart move since it is a safe and effective way to reach customers.
The benefits of online shopping go beyond just convenience and that’s why eCommerce is important for businesses. It gives people the opportunity to discover brands they wouldn’t have otherwise come across. Here are a few steps that can help you for starting an eCommerce jewelry business from scratch:
1. Identify your Niche
When you sell jewelry online, you can reach customers all over the world with your brand. This wide market means that there is an opportunity for all retailers to attract so many loyal and engaged customers. In addition to this growth potential, there is also a lot of competition. Making your brand discoverable is a challenge no matter the type of jewelry as customers have unlimited options to choose from! Considering the crowded market, your first step should be to determine your niche, for instance, whether you want to sell fashion jewelry, body jewelry, handmade jewelry, plated jewelry, vintage jewelry, or classic gold jewelry.
2. eCommerce Business Strategy
When it comes to jewelry, there are multiple micro-niches, for instance, there is gold, imitation, antiques, and many other kinds of jewelry. As a business owner, you need to figure out what is the best product, offering the best ROI. Once you have done that, you will have to forecast the demand for your product through online tools such as Google Trends to see what keywords people are searching for on a regular basis on Google Search. Keyword Tool Dominator (KTB) can help you get data on demand for jewelry country-wise.
There are various strategies that can you then accordingly think of, for example:
- Operations Strategy:
Defining an operations strategy means determining how an organization will produce and deliver the jewelry. Each step a company takes in the process of manufacturing or delivering jewelry, and every decision regarding these operations is part of the operations strategy.
- IT Strategy
A comprehensive IT strategy outlines the use of technology to meet business objectives. The use of new technologies, such as artificial intelligence and big data, requires a lot of reliable data to be effective. Analyzing, collecting, and processing data are all part of an IT strategy. IT strategy also outlines the types of software it will use, payment gateway integration, etc.
- HR Strategy
People-centric HR strategies are a roadmap for solving the company’s biggest challenges. An HR strategy is a company’s overall plan to manage its human capital and to align it with its business objectives. All major HR functions, such as hiring, performance appraisal, development, and compensation, are guided by the Human Resource strategy.
- Branding Strategy
The e-commerce branding strategies for your jewelry business include the logo, brand colors, brand story, packaging, tagline, photography guidelines & all the other ways to highlight the brand image and credibility.
3. eCommerce Business Plan
If you’re wondering about starting your jewelry business, you require a great business plan to achieve your goals smoothly with little fuss. An online business venture has marketing as one of the most fundamental recurring expenses. In the absence of marketing, it is extremely unlikely that an e-commerce brand will succeed online. The owner of a business must first prepare a business plan so that marketing strategies, investment plans, and other plans can be clearly explained.
You should include your executive summary, market research, information about the kind of jewelry you’ll sell along with your detailed financial plan and the money you will invest in setting up the online store. To put it simply, an effective jewelry business plan should include potential revenue, projected sales (next 3 years), margins, operating costs, return on investment, tax implications, gross and net profits, and break-even sales.
4. UI/UX Design & Website Development
Online success involves more than just putting up a website. You need to understand how your customers interact with your website and what drives them to take action. It is imperative that you understand the principles of UI and UX design if you hope to convert more visitors into sales. For instance, Photograph your jewelry in a way that shows its beauty clearly and visibly. Your jewelry description should be clear, well-written, and keyword-rich. Be sure to include visible terms of delivery and your return policy. Afterall. It takes a lot more to “just put up a website” when it comes to running an online business.
If you are designing a website for your jewelry business, give attention to the eCommerce customer journey map, website features, browsing features, navigation features, eCommerce order management process flow, shopping cart features, catalog management, eCommerce payment system, cross-selling features, and much more.
5. Standard Operations Procedures
Several factors contribute to the success of a jewelry business, but the Standard Operations and Procedures of the organization are the most significant. You can use SOPs to manage various aspects of the jewelry business like:
- Inventory Control
In the jewelry business, there are numerous pieces of jewelry, stones, and other valuable items. To minimize the possibility of misplacing any of these items, all the employees should adhere to the SOPs when taking care of the inventory. You can mention guidelines in the SOPs for inventory control, for example, whenever any new stock comes in, the details should be stored carefully along with the double-check of the inventory by the concerned person in charge.
- Supply Chain Efficiency
Jewelry businesses must follow a supply chain consisting of planning, procurement, sourcing, inventory optimization, warehouse management, and logistic distribution. For this, SOPs must be set in place in order to have control over the supply chain. By managing SOPs, a company is able to avoid wastage of any kind of resources and create a smooth working environment.
- People Management
There will be a great deal of difficulty for a company if the right person cannot be found at the right time to perform its duty. In order to ensure everyone associated with the company is aware of their role, SOPs are absolutely necessary for the jewelry business.
- Safety and Security
SOP guidelines and protocol have a direct impact on the working of the business model, be it online or offline. The jewelry business has a greater risk of theft and robberies. So, if you are planning to take the omnichannel approach and run an offline jewelry store as well, you can prevent any kind of miss happening by having well-documented SOPs. The document can list specific processes for the display of the jewelry and all other activities related to the safety and security of the jewelry.
Hence, it is always important to standardize procedures with the help of SOPs, as this is very much beneficial for the jewelry business.
6. Build your Integration Ecosystem.
Jewelry businesses require several pieces of software to run effectively. Here are some of the factors to take into consideration:
- Paying through a payment processor is a safe and secure way to conduct online transactions. Examples of payment processors are Stripe, PayPal, and Square. It is important that you choose a digital payment system that is compatible with the region in which you plan to conduct business. Payment processors should also provide built-in security and fraud prevention systems so that buyers’ data is protected.
- You can maintain a real-time picture of your jewelry business operations with order management and fulfillment software. You can directly see how much jewelry stock you have in your warehouse and whether you are fulfilling orders efficiently at any given time. Your order management system can also help you provide updates to your customers and anticipate when you need more inventory.
- Marketing automation programs include email marketing, social media, loyalty program software, and personalization. A CRM stores all of your customer data so that your marketing activities can be connected to buying patterns.
- Address verification software helps make checkout easier, particularly during shipping and fulfillment. When an order is placed, your website will need to collect personal information for shipping and delivery. Businesses and shoppers can be protected against these issues by utilizing address verification software that verifies shipping details in real-time.
- Besides the above, in order to execute a successful customer service strategy, you can use a variety of tools like live chat software or chatbot, messaging centers, and knowledge hubs having answers to frequently asked questions.
7. Inventory Management
It is vital to your business to manage jewelry inventory effectively because you can minimize holding costs by knowing when to replenish them and when to buy materials for manufacturing them. If items are not replenished when necessary or if overstocking occurs, the company can lose revenue due to unmet sales targets and unsatisfied customers.
If you are selling online, it can be overwhelming, especially if you receive many inquiries and sales as you may end up overselling your jewelry. Hence managing your inventory properly is critical. By synchronizing your inventory across all of your online and offline channels and monitoring your stock levels in real-time, you will reduce the possibility of disappointed buyers.
8. Online Marketing
Keeping up with the fast-paced world of marketing and remaining relevant to your audience is vital. To drive sales and build awareness, jewelry companies should create a marketing strategy that has a high impact. You need to spend money on marketing regularly as well as offering good jewelry. The marketing solutions you choose must support your revenue goals.
You can increase sales by establishing a social media presence, creating loyalty incentives, optimizing your website, and with paid advertising. Testimonials and product reviews are also crucial components of your jewelry marketing. Through the use of digital marketing, you can build awareness about your brand and re-engage existing customers as well.
9. The Pre-launch Strategy
Using a small budget and a few customers, you should test out the software that has been implemented for your jewelry business and then conduct a pre-launch to see if there’s any scope of improvement.
10. The Launch Day
The above steps can be implemented by a jewelry business startup to launch its own brand! Selling jewelry online is a balance between technology, marketing strategy, and human operations. In addition to implementing the steps outlined above, you may also use eCommerce consulting services like YRC to start an online jewelry business. With the right technologies and process automation, you can ensure that customers are delighted with their experience with your brand.
About YRC Consultants
Wondering what percent of jewelry sales are online or how to start an eCommerce jewelry business? YRC is an experienced management consulting firm that offers consulting expertise and knowledge in the jewelry industry. Our in-house eCommerce business consultant can assist with every aspect of an eCommerce jewelry business and can improve your chances of succeeding in the online competitive market.
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