Hedda Schupak

Why Won't Jewelers Show Prices?
November 14, 2006

On Sunday, I went to a local jewelry store to get the batteries in my Philip Stein watch changed. While there, I asked if they had a stainless-steel bracelet for my Baume & Mercier Linea watch, a primary feature of which—like the Philip Stein—is the ability to interchange straps to go with your outfit. I’d never bought a bracelet for it and decided I’d like one.

The jeweler, who used to carry the Linea, said it was discontinued and they didn’t have any accessories for it. Horrified, I checked Baume & Mercier’s web site to see if there were any leftover bracelets. I was gratified to see the collection is still featured, so I figured it was just that particular jeweler who stopped carrying it. But I didn’t see any information at all about extra straps or bracelets.

How frustrating is that? The chief selling point of this watch (for me, anyway) is its style and versatility—but even the manufacturer’s web site doesn’t have any information about extra accessories!

Next I went to the web sites of four retail jewelers that I know are strong in watches, figuring they might have Linea accessories. Nope, not there either. No straps. No bracelets. No information about getting any, either. But I did see a few other watches I’d been ogling over the years with an eye to purchasing at some point.

Was now that point? It might have been, but none of those sites had any price information.

I nearly popped a cork. Will someone please explain the logic here?

I know the theory is to force me to ask a salesperson for assistance, so the salesperson can then begin selling me on the benefits and value and great service. I know you want to sell me up, add-on, and turn me into a loyal customer for life.

But what if I’m already convinced of the value of the product? What if I’m just trying to decide if I’m ready to buy it now or if I need to wait until the car/vacation/new kitchen/whatever is paid off?

What if I just want to know how much the damn thing costs?

You got me into your store or, in this case, onto your web site. You got me to browse. You had what I wanted. I was in the mood to buy—and you threw a brick wall in front of me. You’re not encouraging me to talk to a sales associate or to call and ask for a price, you’re sending me away frustrated!

If you think you’re keeping a competitive edge by not allowing price transparency, think again. A price-oriented customer is your customer only until someone else has a better sale. Chances are this customer will assume that if they have to ask, they either can’t afford it or they can get it cheaper somewhere else. So even if your prices are lower than the competition, you lost that sale. And if your prices are higher, you never had that sale anyway.

A service-oriented customer (which I am) is willing to pay a bit more for the privilege, except that by not giving me enough information at the outset, you’ve failed to convince me of your service, and now you’ve lost three sales instead of one.

You’re worried about competition from the Internet—which is becoming more and more of a mainstream shopping channel—but you have an edge online because of the great reputation you already built in brick and mortar.

Out of the millions of web sites available online, the customer—in this case, me—chose to look at yours, precisely because of that top-notch reputation. But instead of capturing the customer and her Amex card at precisely the right moment, your web site said “no thanks, not interested in your business.”

Will someone please explain the logic here?

Posted by Hedda Schupak on November 14, 2006 | Comments (0)