WHEN APPROACHING new ways of marketing, retailers must completely change their philosophy and overcome a lifetime of ingrained habits, says Dominick Gabriel, senior vice president for Gabriel & Co.
It’s a tall order, Gabriel admits, but a challenge worth taking on.
Gabriel believes that adjusting to rapid changes in marketing methods can make a dramatic difference in an independent retail jeweler’s business success.
“I want to help the retailer understand how to position his retail operation for the 21st century, and to be very successful,” Gabriel says.
Gabriel will discuss the topic, “Combining Brick and Mortar With Omni Channel Marketing,” at 10:15 a.m. April 18 at the SMART Jewelry Show in Chicago.
While many retailers are shutting their doors, others are reporting phenomenal business, and are growing and expanding their stores. “Why is this happening?” he asks. “Why are some growing and some suffering, and going out of business?”
Much of it is due to the retailer’s ability to adapt to change that’s occurring at previously unimaginable speed.
“In 80 or 100 years nothing much changed in retail,” Gabriel says. “The malls changed and that was disruptive, and the catalog came along.”
So retailers advertised through the media that was available to them at the time: billboards, radio, TV and newspapers.
“You would advertise on the radio something unique about yourself — like you’ve been in business for 30 years — or put it on a billboard, and you hoped you’d attract the right people to come into your store,” Gabriel says.
After all, how many options did consumers have?
Advertising was local. Shoppers had perhaps half a dozen sources of jewelry in a city of 100,000.
“Customers saw X amount of styles and for them that’s what the jewelry market was composed of,” Gabriel says.
Now that consumers have access to a whole world of jewelry online, retail jewelers can succeed by viewing the changing marketing landscape as an opportunity and not as a competitive disadvantage.
“The social media opportunity is tremendous,” Gabriel says, and the possible reach of your brand is global. “If you live in a town of 100,000, you can target a much bigger audience. You can reach millions. Small companies become big companies overnight if they understand their brand and their target audience. Know who you are.”
Too many jewelers, he says, have been slow to recognize that their customers’ shopping habits have completely changed.
In the past the consumer didn’t have a lot of options, so they had to fit in with what the local retailer offered. Now the retailer has to fit in with the consumers to make a sale.
“When the retailer fits in with the consumers, then the business could go viral,” Gabriel says. “It blows up, because every person on average knows 250 people.
“So if you learn how to fit in instead of forcing your consumer to fit in with you, then you can go viral. If you serve them the product that you want and they love it, then they share it.
So the goal, when it comes to omni-channel marketing, should be to find a niche — figure out which consumer to fit in with and go for it.
By combining a strong online presence and servicing customers in brick and mortar stores, jewelers can stay relevant and anticipate selling trends.