What Kind of Person Is Your Store?

By Jennifer Heebner, Senior Associate Editor -- JCK Online, 9/1/2003 2:00:00 AM

For jewelers who are ready for a serious store-image reality check, Fruchtman Marketing, Toledo, Ohio, offers some guidance in the form of a quiz. Ellen Fruchtman, president, offers her clients a longer version of the quiz below so jewelers can determine why they are or aren't attracting their "ideal" customers.

Fruchtman created the quiz—which personifies stores—because "people [shoppers] feel connected to businesses they like and respect," she says. "If you look at your store as a person, you'll get a clearer understanding of why certain types of customers patronize your store."

After answering the questions, she suggests, look around: Is your idea of your brand or image consistent with who is actually shopping in your store? Fruchtman says that for some jewelers, the quiz is truly a wake-up call. "You may think your store is upscale, but if you look around and consistently see a different sort of clientele, then your store's image and inventory are saying something else."

"If you want young engagement ring shoppers as store friends and you've got 50-year-old shoppers in your store, then [a 50-year-old] is exactly the type of person you project," she says. Her advice to test takers: Think about responses over a week's time, really observing who walks into your store. Notice the number of men, women, and their ages. "Then you tell me who's walking into your store," challenges Fruchtman. "That's who your store is attracting."

For more information about Fruchtman Marketing, contact Ellen Fruchtman at (800) 481-3520.