On Display: Setup Magic

Don’t fall into the same-old thoughtless presentation of your cases.

BY LARRY JOHNSON

Published in the July 2013 issue.

Setting up the showcases in a jewelry store each day before opening can easily become a mechanical effort, done without thought in a mindless sort of way. Take the stuff out of the bins, place it in the showcase more or less like it was yesterday and lock up the case before you unlock the front door. Easy enough, but is the lack of conscious thought costing you sales? Probably. Successful jewelers have an intention to their showcase layouts.

Here are a series of easy steps to ensure your displays don’t fall into a same-o, same-o, sub-par presentation that diminishes your sales.

THINK PRESENTATION

Change your mindset from “getting it all into the showcase,” to “presenting the jewelry.” Jewelry is a precious thing filled with emotion, bought with anticipation and excitement. Don’t display it like socks. Make it look special. It is better (and far more profitable) to display 50 rings in a case attractively, than to display 100 rings in that case poorly. A common mistake is thinking you are offering a big selection. You are, but you are demeaning the perceived value of what you are showing.

CLEAN UP

One great thing about bright lights in a showcase is that they illuminate the jewelry. Unfortunately, they also shine a spotlight on that raw fabric edge on the platform you banged against the case edge last year. People do notice these things that you might not even see anymore. Clean your displays with products like Simple Green and K2r spot remover. Vacuum the showcases. Clean the inside of the glass. Toss any displays that have outlived their stay. Rewrap old floorboards that are soiled.

SEE WHAT THEY SEE

Be sure you can see all the jewelry from the customer’s perspective. Have someone stand on the customer’s side of the showcases and confirm that all the goods are visible. Sometimes things like signs, big props and oversized neckforms can hide adjacent pieces in a case.

REDUCE DISTRACTIONS

Get rid of nonessential items unless they are helping you sell and present your goods. Effective props and signs that communicate selling points should stay, but determine if the other stuff is helping or distracting.

DE-COLOR YOUR WORLD

As more vendors offer complimentary displays with their lines, the number of colors in some showcases has multiplied to rainbow proportions. Shoot for a maximum of three colors in your cases. Then make the colors you do show mean something. The only role of the displays is to present and help sell the merchandise.

WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO BUY?

Show the pieces you want most to sell in a different manner. The more people who see a piece, the better the odds are someone might buy it. Place it on a small sign or display near the back center of the showcase, as that is the “sweet spot” where most people will look.

TOO MUCH IS TOO MUCH

Nicer pieces deserve to be on individual displays. Putting five necklaces on a single neckform not only diminishes the beauty of the pieces, it deters your staff from showing them to clients. They will not want to do the work involved in putting the piece back, so they will avoid taking it out.

AVOID “RUNNING ON EMPTY

The absolute worst sign you can have in a showcase is one on a ring plug that says “Sold.” When you place sold tags in a tray to mark an empty slot, you convey the idea to your customer that your goods are picked over. A 12-ring tray with four sold tags in it says the best one-third of the selection is gone. Put the remaining eight rings in an eight-ring tray and instantly, you have a full selection. (Note to self: If it sold once, maybe I can sell it again if I order a replacement!)

If you can establish the practice of applying these good display ideas to your showcases on a regular basis, soon they will become the habit, and the daily practice of setting up the store in the proper way, will become your new norm.