Cheesy Jewelry Ads!
A local jewelry storeowner sold her stores to a larger company. The owner was ready for retirement and probably received a very good offer for her high-end retail stores. This nameless store ended up selling to someone who previously owned and sold his stores, but currently has one retail operation in another state. Being that new ownership is in place, they have made some good changes. For one thing, their company has been advertising much more, but their advertising has turned cheesy.
The radio ad went something like this: New management has retired and we have merged with X store so now we are “busting at the seams with excess inventory.” Come view our excess inventory at discount prices.
I’ve heard the saying, “Jewelers are like car salesman” many times, well you wonder why. With commercials like that, all you’re doing is saying your inventory is not worth the retail price and trying to use the excuse of offering this huge discount because of a merger. Consumers aren’t stupid.
We all end up with excess inventory at one time or another, slow-turning inventory, or inventory that’s just not in style anymore. You should and need to try to get rid of it so you have the cash to invest in new styles, but I believe it can be achieved tactfully.
- Have an annual sale every year. Offer champagne brunch or wine and cheese all day and put little tags in each showcase with a different percentage off based on the type of merchandise.
- Make it special and invite your best customers by requiring them to RSVP.
- Hold an auction. Auction off slow-selling merchandise and donate a portion to charity. You might not get as good of a return but you’ll probably get the money you paid for it and now you will be able to buy things that will sell.
- Reduce the prices of slow-turning inventory and off them as add-ons.
- Designate a showcase with a number of slow-turning pieces. Add and/or remove pieces on a monthly basis and try to draw attention to the showcase with a humorous anecdote or a cute saying, like…”gifts that won’t break the bank or leave you with an empty wallet” or “gifts that will have your wife sending the kids to grandma’s for the weekend.”
Why do some jewelers do it? What’s the reason for a cheesy radio ad…especially in a high-end store? Any answers?
M commented:
Shanu, I appreciate the dialogue about this but you should know
that we did direct mail to our existing clientele and purchased a
list to bring in new clients. If you look at this as an event, as
we are, you might feel a little different about it. This is a
moment in the history of this company that is needed to re-direct.
We are offerring great values on merchandise not just a come on for
something marked up to mark down. Again, keep watching us and you
will soon see the image you expect to come through.
Shanu S. Guliani commented:
M-Thank you for the explanation and for responding. In the long-run
I truly feel this kind of advertising hurts a company. You company
is one that exclusively carries some lines other do not or are not
selling. Not only might you be hurting your own company but you are
hurting other's in the industry. Why aren't other jewelry stores
offering discount prices on excess inventory? Every store has
excess. The point is that you are giving the whole industry a bad
name...showing that jewelry store owners (managers) give large
discounts...that's what the commercial is reiterating. I understand
you need to get rid of it...that's the only way to be able to have
the money to spend more but why not try a special event. The
company has enough $ money to buy a mailing list for $100 bucks and
send an invitation to all the new customers. That's what you wanted
right...to call in new customers. In addition, these ads might have
your existing customers looking at other local stores who also
offer discounts...these ads might put you in the same group as
"his" store. I know we are going to be neighbors but I can tell you
how to not spend the money and get a list. Email me whenever. With
best regards. shanu@gulianis.com
M commented:
Hi Shanu, I wanted to respond to your posting regarding the local
store that has cheesy ads. Being on the inside of that company I
felt that you should know a few things about what is going on,
first I do want to thank you for recognizing that there are good
changes happening here. We think that all of the changes are for
the good but you must understand that there has to be a process
that gets us from here to there and part of the process is selling
off excess and aged inventory. We completely agree that
“customers aren’t stupid” and we are not
advertising with that thought as the driving force but rather we
are offering excess and/or aged merchandise from our combined
inventories that we might otherwise liquidate to dealers. We do
have a lot of product that is minimally discounted or not
discounted in the mix also. What we did not do is supplement the
inventory with promotional product that is not truly for
liquidation that is being hawked at high discounts. If you looked
at the product and price you will see real value, the customers
have responded and sales are reflective of this. We needed to bring
in new customers whom for whatever reason did not shop with us and
these shocking ads have helped, once the customer is in the door
they get to experience the high-end customer service and atmosphere
that these stores have been known for and we build new business.
You are correct to say that there are many ways to get rid of
excess inventory and after a great deal of conversation and
analysis we decided that we needed to go this route so that we
could move out the old inventory faster and get to work on
re-merchandising and re-positioning the company in this market. We
debated the change in image that the ads were going to send but
realized that it was a short term change and would bring attention
to the company, when we get out of sale mode you will see the new
image come through immediately. This is a company that is growing
and changing; we are not going to change the service level and
comfortable ambiance of the stores but we are going to be
broadening our client base by addressing the needs of some who were
previously ignored. We felt, and still do, that moving quickly
through this “transition” time was the best way to go.
Keep watching us and I’m sure that you will understand and
agree that we are moving in the right direction. Thank you for
listening, M
