Emailing receipts from Swim® has been very popular, with many Swim® jewelry stores finding several benefits from email receipts.

A new study entitled ‘Speciality Retailers Need to Tap the Power of Email  Communications’ reveals this emerging trend where paperless receipts are said to be the “wave of the future”.

For jewellers using Swim®, to start emailing receipts all you need to do is enter you email settings in 'utilities', 'email settings'. Then when you want to send an email receipt, click the 'email receipt' button on the sales page, rather than print receipt.

You can also do this when using Swim® from your iPad or smart phone/device.

As mentioned in the article summary, emailing receipts is a great way to increase your customer database and capture their email addresses. So once you have all those email addresses, be sure to start using them to communicate with your customers.

In Swim® you can send emails and email newsletters through the marketing scheduler tool under utilities. You can watch a video about the marketing scheduler and can also search the knowledge base under 'email' for further information.

Study confirms email receipts are the way of the future

Nationwide Buying group has shown this week that their members are all ready to innovate the retail experience.

Launching their new iPad app - Virtual Vault, the buying groups had 65 stores sign up within hours of the announcement.

‘Virtual Vault’ (created by Swim by Octahedron) is an initiative that provides Nationwide members the opportunity to present to their customers an inventory of Jewelry and diamonds worth millions of dollars. It uses iPad technology to incorporate high-quality images, a product search engine and automated emails for ordering and handling customers requests.

The iPad also integrates with Swim so members can use Swim®'s full Features including iPad point of sale with the virtual vault.

The app is available now and orders can be placed by members through Nationwide Buying Group.

I was overhearing a man talk yesterday and he was telling the sales staff at this store that 'flowers and chocolates' just don't cut it anymore. And I thought, what a great theme for a Jewelry store.

During events such as Mothers Day, Christmas and Valentine's your main competitor is not the Jeweler down the road, it is all the other products that are trying to get a piece of the gift dollar.

If you can convince the public, through your marketing, your store and through your staff that to make it special, you make it Jewelry, then you might not only make it special for your  shoppers, but also for your bottom line.

Many jewelers have been talking about the new RFID (radio frequency identification) solution and the ways it can really make a difference in the store.

To help in understanding this new solution, we have a special video for you to watch. You can watch the video here.

Business analysts report that RFID is going to have a significant, beneficial impact on the jewelry industry. In one paper '24-KARAT PROTECTION: RFID AND RETAIL JEWELRY MARKETING ”', Mr David C. Wyld from the Department of Management, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, LA USA said “RFID tracking will enable a whole new era of jewelry store management. The visibility such systems provide is not just on the inventory itself, but on the efforts and effectiveness of jewelry salespeople. ”

With the average jewelry store shrinkage at 2% (which equates to $20,000 per year for a store with $1M in inventory) it is no wonder Mr Wyld makes this conclusion.

Users of RFID have described amazing results. Jade Jewelry's annual shrinkage losses in a single store has declined from a quarter million dollars a year to zero since installing RFID-based inventory tracking, making its ROI on its RFID investment roughly 400%.

In addition to the amazing reduction in shrinkage, RFID also enabled Jade Jewelry to reduce the time it takes for staff to inventory count the store from two to three days to ten minutes.

On its 'trial run' of RFID, a Boston Jeweler used a sample of 107 items and tracked those items over two weeks. A tiny fraction of their total inventory – yet it found six missing items. One can only imagine the impact over a full year, tracking the full store inventory of 3000 items. For the store manager, the test was a 'wake up call'.

And its not just preventing shrinkage and saving enormous amounts of staff time. Other jewelers have reported significant increases in visibility and intelligence reporting.

So if RFID is so good, why isn't everyone using it. Well the answer  (until now) really comes down to price. Previously the RFID solutions available were very pricey and many jewelry stores could not afford it. Now, thanks to advances in technology, the RFID solution is very affordable (it's equivalent to the cost of barcode technology) and is a simple plug and play device that makes the implementation quick and easy.

To learn more, watch the Swim RFID video

“The ability to deliver a customer experience consistently aligned around customer needs and intentions has a significant impact on a company’s ability to create customer loyalty. In turn, loyal customers have a demonstrable impact on the top line, by buying more or buying more frequently and referring other customers to the company. In a time of economic uncertainty—when customer confidence is low and customer behaviour is increasingly difficult to predict—mastering this ability is more important than ever.”

Accenture high performance business research

2011 is all about the customer. The things that wowed the customer in the past are now taken for granted. Flagship stores like Apple are setting new benchmarks in customer experience, and consumers are now expecting that stores in other sectors follow.

To truly make a difference is to create a loyal fan base. A base of customers that will shop more frequently and spend more with you.

In 2011 it is all about becoming part of this new wave of retail experience and implementing the steps to create the 'ultimate' customer experience.

Back to basics – doing the little things right

Often we are so carried away with that 'big event' or the next marketing campaign that we forget about the little things. We forget to smile when the customer walks in. Forget to say thank you to our loyal customers. Forget to put proper job tracking procedures in place so that when customers come in we can find their job quickly, easily and without effort.

Take a step back for a second and ask yourself: what are the key essentials to get our business right every time?

Then take this list and mark how your current systems are performing in each of the essential areas. For the ones not doing so well, work out a strategy on how you can create efficient systems and procedures and ensure that these 'little things' are performed correctly every time.

As a quick guide, you may like to think about:

inventory control including ordering, tagging, identification, presentation, tracking and re-ordering

store presentation including lighting, showcases, flooring and staff presentation

Once you have the basics, you are at the starting point of creating a truly amazing customer experience.

"*Key point: the 'basics' can often be dealt with through automation, computer systems and set procedures. Don't re-invent the wheel. Successful stores are so because they automate, have strict procedures and spend less time on these areas so they can spend more time on the things that set their company apart. Be sure that you are not spending time doing the things that take computer systems a fraction of the time.

With so many ways to shop these days there must be a reason why a person would go out of their way to walk into a store to buy something. Why would I walk into an Apple store to buy an iPad that I could have bought over the internet and had it delivered?

People come out of stores like Apple amazed. The customer feedback posts on the internet are exceptional with people raving about the look and feel of the store, the service they receive, the solving of product issues and returns, and the processing of the sale.

The experience is what brings people in and is what will determine if they come back.

If we know that 'customer experience' is going to make the big difference in 2011, then the next question is 'what' experiences are the customers wanting (and are easy and quick to implement)?

There are many things you can do in your store, and we'll list some of them below. When thinking about the experience, ask yourself: who are our customers, what are they expecting, how could this differentiate our store and what would happen to our store if our competitor implemented this before us?

Now that you have your questions, lets look at the list of experiences you can create in your store today*:

Today's ultimate sales experience for the customer is the ability to have the sale processed from anywhere in the store. This is done through portable devices such as the iPad, iPhone, android phone or tablet. Enhancing the experience is the option to have the receipt emailed or sent via text message to the customer. Other 'wow' factors include the ability to update the customer profile on the spot, suggest other items to purchase based on the customer history, view and search for items that may not be in store and see pictures of those items and record items under the customer's wish list (and send the wish list to friends and family members).

Like sales, the experience is in the ability to process the repair or special order from anywhere in the store. In addition to the taking of the transaction, what's important to the customer is being able to know the status of the job (by either phoning, walking into the store or via the company's website) and, just as importantly, receiving a text message or email informing them that the job is finished and ready for collection.

In today's hectic world, clients like reminders. Email, text message, letter or phone reminders can be used for store promotions, special events and new product launches. Customers also appreciate more personal messages, such as reminders about ring cleaning, warranty renewal, updating of appraisal information and service reminders such as annual rhodium plating for white gold jewelry. Reminders show you care and when automated, the consistency and frequency make the customer feel special and appreciated.

Gift cards and vouchers are the 'easy' way to shop for many people. Customers want the ability to purchase a gift card at the store or via the stores website. The important part of the transaction for the customer (the part that makes it an 'ultimate' experience) is the ability to easily purchase and redeem the card. The easier this is, the better the experience for the customer.

Customers like belonging. They want the ability to join a stores loyalty program and receive email updates and newsletters, know what their loyalty point balance is, easily earn and redeem loyalty points, and feel they are 'special' for being part of the club. Customer experience is very much about belonging and if you are going to create a fan base, what better way to acknowledge them by giving them a name and card saying they are part of the club.

The customer experience is centred around the customer's ability to ask questions (anywhere in the store or outside) and have an immediate answer. This includes product knowledge such as stones sizes, properties, seeing a picture of the item and availability, and general knowledge such as opening hours, warranties, origin of goods etc. For multi-stores this also includes live information on availability at other stores and delivery time. The use of iPads, tablets and phones makes the knowledge experience very easy for you to implement, and even more importantly, very easy for your competitor to implement. If your staff can not give the customer the answer, that customer can stand in your store and Google on their phone which competitor can give them the information they desire and then go to that competitors store.

Seeing is believing for many customers. In the old days we used a loop to show off a diamond. Today, the old loop is out and replaced with the microscopic camera. Used for repairs (eg. showing worn claws) and sales (such as loose or set diamonds) the customer experience is enhanced as it is easy to use and creates a feeling of honesty and visibility.

Compiling all information about the customer is very important. Their experience relies on the bringing together of their sales both on your website and in store/s. Having all the data in one place is the name of the game these days, and is a must in creating the ultimate customer experience.

The ultimate customer experience is many small things done well. It is not expensive, does not require a large team of people or years to implement.

It is simply utilizing the resources that are available right now, putting those resources in place and making sure the customer knows that in your store, they can have the 'ultimate' experience.

*This sample list of experiences is based on the Swim Jewelry Software program. All experiences listed are already included in Swim and are being used right now by jewelry stores around the world. These innovative, leading jewelers are creating the 'ultimate' customer experience and benefiting from the rewards of a loyal fan base.

Swim

Some of our thoughts

Study confirms email receipts are the way of the future

New Buying Group iPad App Proves Popular

Flowers and chocolates just don't cut it

RFID making the difference for jewelers

The Ultimate Customer Experience