SILVER HAS BECOME AN increasingly important category for many jewelers over the past several years both in driving sales and providing margin. To determine specifics on market performance and help support further growth, the Silver Promotion Service fields an annual market measurement study, and year after year, the results point to silver’s strength as a key category for sales.
Here are a few highlights:
1. Silver continually delivers the best inventory turnover, surpassing diamonds, bridal and gold. This presents an opportunity to keep your assortments fresh and try new collections. Plan a trunk show and advertise the fact you have new merchandise to offer.
2. The age group buying the most silver is 20-40 years old. Be sure that your marketing plan includes this target audience. Connect with them on social media. Share news about new collections, trunk shows and events. Most brands offer great images and marketing support — use it to your advantage!
3. Offer a silver collection that is unique to your area. Why offer the same silver collections that your competitors do — why not offer a unique collection that stands out from the crowd and thereby cultivate your own following? Why be “me too” when you can offer “exclusively at”? We showcase a range of silver collections at savorsilver.com; check them out and find one that works well for your store.
4. The female self-purchase customer presents a fantastic opportunity for sales, and silver offers the perfect entry price point. This customer can comfortably buy for herself and express her own personality and style. Like all silver customers, the female self-purchase customer shops often. She may drop in to celebrate a job well done or just to treat herself. Keep her informed about new collections and styles. Once you have created a great selection of styles to meet the needs of your target audience, you need to promote your news where they will see it and keep it fresh. You need to reach out weekly to this customer; a monthly flyer or newsletter won’t do the trick. Post, tweet and repost and find ways to make it automatic.
5. Silver delivers the best margin consistently over all other jewelry categories. The majority of retailers surveyed confirm this statistic. So why not build your assortment to offer a range of collections, from classic to dramatic? Contact your clients when a coordinating piece or new collection arrives from their favorite designer. Learning to make additional offers will make the difference in growing versus just maintaining your silver business.