(PRESS RELEASE) NEW YORK, NY — Ritani, the vertically-integrated, technology-minded jewelry company has announced the launch of Virtual Shelf, a groundbreaking, white-label application and sales vehicle for retailers that reimagines how jewelers sell and customers shop for engagement rings, diamonds, and jewelry. Virtual Shelf tackles some of the industry’s toughest challenges – such as limited physical inventory and the high costs of managing transactions and technological innovations – by providing a digital inventory of over 250,000 diamonds and jewelry items along with full-service sales processing.
The new platform takes life in the form of a user-friendly, jeweler branded iPad app that is used over the counter during the sales consultation. Virtual Shelf is designed to complement each retailer’s existing inventory by making available a digital inventory of hundreds of thousands of diamonds and jewelry items available for immediate purchasing. Should the customer choose to purchase a diamond or jewelry item from the Virtual Shelf, the retailer sets their margin and Ritani handles the entire back-end transaction for the jeweler, including fulfillment, credit card processing, fraud risk, and returns. In turn, the retailer immediately sees the transaction on their books. The customer receives the item quickly and safely via insured shipping.
In addition to the incredible selection of diamonds and jewelry made available by Ritani with Virtual Shelf, the program can also be used as a platform for jewelers to list and sell their own inventory of certified diamonds and jewelry to other program partner retailers; diamond owners can set cost/list prices and margins to better manage their inventory flow.
“The development of Virtual Shelf builds on Ritani’s steadfast dedication to helping independent jewelers implement new technologies to accelerate business,” said Josh Marion, general manager of Virtual Shelf by Ritani. “This platform stems from years of working closely with independent retailers and seeking to solve for the critical issues affecting their businesses; we believe it will have a visible and transformative impact.”
“While the industry has often been slow to implement new technology, the introduction of Ritani’s Virtual Shelf platform is a game-changer for independent jewelers like Padis and for our customers.” said Alexis Padis, president of Padis Jewelry, one of five stores in North America currently testing the system in its stores. “This app dramatically improves the sales process for our team, removes the overhead and headaches of managing the transaction, and gives customers access to more diamonds and jewelry from a centralized, nationwide repository. Plus, we are empowered to better manage our owned inventory and offer it to other jewelers on the platform so we can collectively better serve shoppers around the country.”
Ritani research has found that nearly two-thirds of people who enter a jewelry store looking for a diamond leave without making a purchase, most often due to higher prices and a limited in-store selection. By providing these small businesses with turnkey, digital access to an immediate inventory of certified, conflict-free diamonds and jewelry, Virtual Shelf empowers trusted community jewelers to offer the vast selection, competitive pricing, and modern service that was previously only available through online companies. Further, the partnership reaffirms Ritani’s significant investment in helping community jewelers grow their business using highly-coveted technological and educational tools that are typically cost-prohibitive.
Ritani will debut Virtual Shelf at the upcoming JCK Show in Las Vegas, interested retailers can learn more about the program and sign up for a one-on-one demonstration at www.virtualshelf.io.