Manager's To Do

Get Ready for the Trade Show and Buying Seasons, Launch a Chat Group for the Store, and More Tasks to Take Care of in May

Tweak your SEO for voice-based search, and while you’re at it, get your take-in procedure up to date.

Published

2 years ago

April 11, 2022

INSTORE Staff Instore April 2022 Issue

May 1-7

INVENTORY According to the WeddingWire, the No. 3 month of the year for weddings is June and the No. 4 is May. “Prepare for this,” says consultant Megan Crabtree, “Look at your current inventory selection of wedding bands not only to confirm you have all the basic essential styles in stock but also price points.”

BUYING Spend some time with your POS to determine your top five gift items for anniversaries, birthdays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day, and the winter holiday season. Share the information with staff and then quiz them regularly. A lot of these dates are coming up soon.

SALES You’ll have lots of Mother’s Day (May 8) shoppers in your store this week. Don’t forget to ask them if they’d like to pick up a little something for themselves as well.

May 8-14

BUYING Before you know it, we will be in Las Vegas for the 2022 jewelry shows. As you consider what you may be buying this year, give thought to lowering your risk by leveraging your top-selling product: Is it available in another diamond total weight, with a different center stone, in a different metal?

COMMUNICATIONS If you haven’t already, set up a group chat in Skype, Instagram, Line or some other messaging app to keep your team informed about upcoming meetings, promotions running that day, people who have called in sick, etc.

May 15-21

SALES With staff, create a list of the top 10 customer objections and develop responses for each one. Write them up and post to your internal blog or just print the list out for all staff to keep and memorize.

SHOP Address your take-in procedure. Does it protect you against claims of loss, diamond replacement, etc.? Be sure to photograph items like broken chains or charm bracelets to avoid disputes. Only rush jobs when necessary. “ASAP” is not a clear due date.

May 22-28

SEO In 2021, 20 percent of Internet searches were voice-based. Think about tailoring your SEO for voice search. On the Internet, a user might type “custom jewelers in Schaumburg,” while to a virtual assistant they might say, “What’s a good custom jeweler in Schaumburg?”

MERCHANDISING Summer will be here soon. Give some thought to a travel jewelry section (silver, gold over silver, platinum over silver, CZ, etc.) for inexpensive pieces that people can wear at the beach or in the mountains.

PLANNING Use the slow Memorial Day (May 30) weekend to make final preparations for the Vegas shows, summer events and wedding season.

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INSTORE Staff

Over the years, INSTORE has won 80 international journalism awards for its publication and website. Contact INSTORE's editors at editor@instoremag.com.

When There’s No Succession Plan, Call Wilkerson

Bob Wesley, owner of Robert C. Wesley Jewelers in Scottsdale, Ariz., was a third-generation jeweler. When it was time to enjoy life on the other side of the counter, he weighed his options. His lease was nearing renewal time and with no succession plan, he decided it was time to call Wilkerson. There was plenty of inventory to sell and at first, says Wesley, he thought he might try to manage a sale himself. But he’s glad he didn’t. “There’s no way I could have done this as well as Wilkerson,” he says. Wilkerson took responsibility for the entire event, with every detail — from advertising to accounting — done, dusted and managed by the Wilkerson team. “It’s the complete package,” he says of the Wilkerson method of helping jewelers to easily go on to the next phase of their lives. “There’s no way any retailer can duplicate what they’ve done.”