Woman World Web

May 27th, 2009 by Chris Edwards

For as long as most of us can remember, the prospect of buying jewelry could be a daunting experience. Visiting the jewelers shop brought about a feeling of being at a disadvantage ” there stood the expert jeweler in the midst of all of the fine and expensive products and only he (or she!) knew the facts and figures that enabled a true value to be placed on his products. Information was handed down to the buyer as deemed necessary by the jeweler and the atmosphere was one of privilege ” in other words, you the customer were privileged to have his time granted to you so that you could be guided towards the suggested purchase.

Not only did the jeweler have all the facts on the best value for money products, he was also the only outlet where you could make your purchase. Although there was an element of competition with other jewelry stores, most of it was centered round the layout of the store and the uniqueness of the goods on offer rather than on price only. The profit margins on the retail price could be as much as 75% but it was virtually impossible for the customer to negotiate any price reduction.

But then a change in the market took place ” a change that has affected many industries and businesses and one that generates more changes almost each day. The Internet. Within a very short space of time, competition expanded dramatically. Internet businesses had lower costs, so they could afford to charge less for their products. Even more alarming for the jeweler, all of a sudden they enabled the customer to carry out some quiet and thorough research before committing to any purchase or before he was subjected to any sort of sales pitch.

Knowledge is power and the customer was no longer at a disadvantage when he entered a jewelry shop. Many could now ask pertinent questions about “technical” data such as diamond colors, carat weight and independent appraisals. Not only that, they were now in a position to negotiate lower prices and shorter delivery times because they were able to make comparisons in order to get the best deal.

This represented an enormous change for the traditional jeweler. He wanted to operate his business just as it had always been ” buy the products that were highly profitable and display them to the maximum effect in the store, greet the customer when he or she came through the door and provide some encouraging words to point him or her to the best product.

These online jewelers turned the traditional jewelry business on its head. Much more customer focused, the new online stores were prepared to offer customer the information he needed to make a decision as well as matching products to the customer’s needs. They used this approach to attract customers to this new way of doing business. Because of their lower overheads they were also able to compete on prices offering customers a good deal.

So market competition, aided by the technological development of the Internet, has responded to customer demand. Todays jewelry buyer is more knowledgeable and more demanding and this new way of doing business has met the challenge.