Setting the price of product is one of the biggest challenges for retailers. Many jewellers take the easy way by applying a standard mark-up based on the cost of the item. While this technique is simple, it can result in…
The art of pricing
Author: Dave Siskin
The value of perception
Last night I paid $15 for a beer. Today I bought the same brand of beer for a dollar. In both cases I left with the feeling that I received fair value for my money. In fact, I actually felt…
The over-complication of diamonds
Recently I had the opportunity to browse through several Jewelers’ Circular Magazines (JCK) from 1920 and 1921. Many of the topics being discussed such as advertising, ethics and customer problems are still relevant today. If it were not for all…
Turn your customer into a Valentine’s Day hero.
Valentine’s Day is the last big holiday for selling jewellery for a quite a while. Since this holiday is all about romance and passion, this is the time for a romantic and emotional approach to jewellery sales, right? Wrong. Not…
3 ways bridal jewellery is changing
Bridal jewellery forms the backbone of most retail jewellers. Diamonds sales are driven by the need for engagement rings. Over the last decade bridal jewellery began a slow evolution. Online diamond sales are took a big bite of market share,…
Hold on folks, 2015 will be a wild ride!
2014 has been quite a year for the jewellery industry. Despite the controversies and chaos; jewellery, according to MasterCard SpendingPulse, was a clear winner for the holidays. But 2015 will be crazy. The industry is going through transformations in product,…
It’s the home stretch.
One week to go for this selling season and it should be busy. The last week before Christmas often accounts for more than 50% of the holiday sales. For some stores that is about one quarter of the year’s revenue.…
EGL International rebrands hoping for a new image.
In the wake of highly visible lawsuits, the banning of all EGL reports from Rapnet and a specific ban on EGL International on Polygon’s Cert-net; newly appointed EGL Global manager Menahem Sevdermish announced the retirement of the EGL International brand…
The Holidays have moved online
The holiday spending frenzy is underway with mixed results. Black Friday is the traditional start of the shopping season and experts anticipated record sales. Instead, according to Business Insider, Black Friday store sales dropped 11%. Cyber Monday sales were up…
Over-grading: the never ending saga!
The drama over grading standards keeps getting more interesting. It started with Rapnet dropping all EGLI (EGL International) reports from their database. Polygon’s Certnet quickly followed Rapnet’s lead. EGL USA was rightfully indignant in their response. EGLI proclaims there is no…