Two Valentine gift giving staples are flowers and jewelry.  What is interesting about flower gifting at Valentine’s Day is that flowers sell for the highest prices they will command all year long.  What causes that is simple . . . demand. Red flowers, especially roses are at peak demand. Gift givers are willing to pay more for flowers at Valentine’s Day to gain access to services provided by retail florists. Ordering by telephone and delivery service are very popular services for busy folks; saving them shopping time and greatly reduces their involvement time in sourcing a gift for a loved one. That is the key point I want to emphasize in this blog. How do you understand which shoppers desire a more entertaining shopping experience and which shoppers want a shopping experience that requires less involvement and time to select and buy a jewelry gift? Consider how you can position and present “special” or ‘featured” items for Valentine’s Day. If we follow the flower example, we will accept that we do not need to discount the product . . .  if we uniquely have what the shopper is looking for. So what are those jewelry items you carry that most strongly resonate the theme of love like heart shaped and red colored jewelry?

How can your store display merchandise for Valentine Day customers using more exciting and compelling visual methods? A very traditional approach might include the use of various props of hearts and cupids and the use of white, pink and of course red colors. However, to project a bit more excitement consider using an accenting color with red such as different hues of lavender, purple, blue, or green. A bit of surprise through color contrast can create interest and excitement. Consider how you can use the thematic shapes of Valentine’s Day and incorporate colors beyond red.

If you have window shoppers that pass by your store this is the year to put more effort into your window display. Plan now to create a window display that creates more foot traffic into the store. That means displaying your most popular theme jewelry. Shoppers need to connect the visual message that the store has the right merchandise for their immediate shopping needs. Use your historic sales to confirm what items sell best, but also plan on more shoppers who will impulsively visit the store and have no particular item in mind. What about a message in your front window display that suggests how fast a shopper might be able to enter the store and leave with the perfect gift for this Valentine’s Day?

This year Valentine’s Day is on a Saturday. This will free up more gift givers to get out and shop. This is very good news for jewelry stores! Plan to have more last minute shoppers stopping in to buy jewelry on February 14^th because it is on Saturday. 

There are two different customers that will be shopping your store for Valentine’s Day gifts. This holiday will draw some customers who are looking for a gift . . .  and that gift just happens to be jewelry. Maybe last year it was flowers, candy, dinner, a gift card or fashion. But now the shopper is suddenly considering buying jewelry. This customer may value jewelry differently from the customer that has a preference to purchase jewelry and has already decided to buy jewelry.  Be on the lookout for the customer who really just needs a gift . . .  as they will require more selling on the value of jewelry. The shopper who has already identified their preference to purchase jewelry probably has a strong sense of the perceived value of jewelry. The shopper looking to buy a gift and” it might as well be jewelry” is not so sold on jewelry and will need to be more effectively sold on the value of jewelry . . . and expect to see that shopper considering jewelry as any price range. Anticipate how to sell these two different types of shoppers . . . those that choose jewelry as their gift of preference and those shoppers who need to buy a gift and are considering jewelry to fill that need. Superior sales associates understand how to sell the perceived benefits derived from gifting and wearing of jewelry and will incorporate that into their sales presentations and demonstrations. Don’t be surprised to find shoppers with little perceived value of jewelry to also be reluctant to get too involved in the purchase. For some of these shoppers . . .  your ability to help them expedite their select ion of the right gift for the right reasons and to get them out the door the more positively they will recall the shopping experience.  What can a merchandising manager do to help sales associates find specific jewelry pieces without searching throughout the store?

One out of six Valentine gift givers will select jewelry as their gift of choice this year.  Jewelers will be competing with the usual substitutes of flowers, candy, dinner, gift cards and fashion.  How do you as a merchandiser send exciting visual messages to shoppers to get them more engaged in considering buying jewelry for a loved one this Valentine’s Day? How do you sell the value of jewelry? What sort of examples might you share?

JCK