Those good-for-nothing jewellers down the street!

The economy is the first of the “big three” competitors that we battle.  The second category of competitor is other jewellers.  When analyzing your competition, include retailers in your local market area, higher-end retailers in larger centers nearby, and the internet.  You actually need different weapons to battle each of those three tyrants who constantly work to rob you of your well-deserved market-share.

It’s pretty simple to gain intel on your local competitors.  You can put on a rubber-nose and glasses and shop them, you can listen to what your customers say about them, or you can just get to know them as colleagues.  Almost every market loses higher-end sales to a larger centre.  Unless you’re a top jeweller in Dubai, Hong Kong or New York, there are always more luxurious and more exclusive places for the top consumers in your market to go for things that you can’t effectively supply.

Competing against the internet is EASY.  Okay, it’s easy for armchair quarterbacks like me.  Fact-is that that online jewellery purchases are on the rise.  According to most estimations, it seems the volume is plateauing.  Competing against the internet requires a focus on in-person service, and getting away from branded product.  More and more I hear complaints that popular branded goods are being price-shopped like never before.  Once the client knows the designer and model-number, they can make it all-about price.  Further to in-person service, you must offer unique selections and niche-product in order to take power away from the internet.