PROPS, YES. New items highlighted, no.
It was a mixed bag when we asked America’s jewelers about their display practices.
Among the results:
- Only 33 percent display prices prominently.
- 81 percent use props in their cases
- Only 19 percent have a new items case.
- Only 26 percent know their case sales per linear foot.
Display expert Larry Johnson said the results show how many retail jewelers do not appreciate the power of visual merchandising in their stores.
“The greatest evidence of that conclusion is that 81 percent of these surveyed do not feature new arrivals in their cases,” he said. “After 25 years of being an exhibitor at JCK Vegas and many IJO/RJO shows, I have heard the ‘What’s new?’ question asked of me many times more than I can count. Why would those retailers think their customer do not want answers to the same question when they ask in their store?”
Johnson says taking a professional and strategic approach to display, one that includes an understanding of human behavior and basic display principles, is one of the best ways to improve sales. “Every successful retailer in America makes visual merchandising a critical part of their focus. When our industry ignores this area, we make our jobs harder than they have to be and put our long-term continued success in greater jeopardy.”
Johnson said it was time retailers learned to stop thinking like jewelers or retailers and started seeing their presentation from their customers’ perspectives. Make your store easy to shop. Display your merchandise to enhance, not diminish, its apparent value.
“My retail jeweler friends lament, How can people buy the crap that the chain jewelry stores at the mall are selling and at those high prices?’ The answer? Those mall stores ARE doing all these things asked in this survey. These strategies work and we either get on board with them or give our competitors a free shot at our customers.”