Both the way small businesses are run and the types of jewelry there have changed drastically in just the last few decades. From digitized records, to new types of piercings, to lab-grown diamonds and more, there’s a lot that older business owners need to catch up to and young business owners need to learn before they start. Below are a few business tips specifically for small business owners who run jewelry stores.
Professional Website Design
Authentic jewelry is often expensive, which customers have come to expect. It’s important to have a website that looks professional. If the jewelry prices are high and the website looks cheap, then customers may worry that they are being scammed. There are two basic ways to make any business website look professional: to use a template or hire a web designer.
Hiring a web designer is self-explanatory, so let’s move on to templates. When building a website, you will most often need to go through a website builder software or website, such as Wix, WordPress, or Weebly. On any of these websites, there will be a list of free and paid templates that website owners can pick from.
It’s best to pick your template before starting to build your website, as changing a template on an already created website may change what pages the website displays or how the website as a whole operates. From there, most templates are customizable. Usually, this means that you can change the website’s colors, the pages are displayed in the menu, and just about anything else on the website that is editable.
No matter how you create a website, make sure your site has an SSL certificate before you make it public. This certificate tells shoppers that it is safe to shop at your site. It is also harder for hackers to steal information from websites with an up-to-date SSL certificate.
Point of Sale Software
When it comes to selling jewelry online and in-store, it’s important to have safe and reliable point-of-sale software. There are plenty of options for jewelry stores and small businesses in general.where it says When it comes down to it, business owners would do well to pick a POS that was specifically made for jewelry shops, like Jewel360. These POS often include inventory management options, analytic reports, and social media options.
Some POS will also have the option to be integrated into a website. This means website owners could use the same software they use to run their brick-and-mortar business on their website. This can save time and money, as well as make it easier to keep track of sales. When possible, it’s usually easiest to have all of your sales tools in one place.
Certificate of Authentication
If people are spending a lot of money on a product, they will want to make sure it is worth it. One of the best ways to prove that a piece of jewelry is “real”, as in, made of real gems or stones, is to have a certificate of authentication. Jewelry shop owners should be able to request these from their suppliers. Suppliers sometimes will send these certificates at the same time as the gems, but if not, then the shop owner will need to ask for one. If a vendor is unwilling to give these certificates, then it may be time to drop them and find one that will.
Having these certificates are not required by any means, but simply helps to make a business look more legit. Of course, they are not needed for all types of gems. Customers will not likely ask for certificates for cheaper pieces of jewelry.
Lab Grown Options
Many customers these days are opting for lab-grown diamonds and other gems because they see them as being a more ethical way to source gems. This is because most gems need to be mined. Many miners are not paid well and some gem sources still use slave labor. Lab-grown gems, on the other hand, do not use underpaid or slave labor.
Under the microscope, lab gems are almost indistinguishable from gems found in nature. If it’s difficult to see differences under a microscope, then it will be impossible to see with the naked eye. Of course, you will still need a certificate of authenticity to prove that the gems are lab-grown.
These four things are not required for a small jewelry business owner to have, but they sure are helpful. Try to use all of these to improve your business if you can. The more you put into your business, the more you are sure to get out of it.
