Now's a great time to think about what you do in store, to make it really stand out.

There are so many tools in Swim to help with your marketing. Here's a quick list of the ways you can use Swim to really make your store stand apart, grab your customers attention and increase your sales:

iPad in the store The iPad is the latest craze, and as with any new craze, those that are the first to implement it will see the full rewards. You can use Swim on the iPad, just as you would on any other computer.

Plastic Gift Cards The plastic gift cards are usually associated with large retail chains and companies. If you go to the post office there is a rack dedicated to gift cards for cinemas, hardware stores, department stores etc. By having plastic gift cards displayed on your counter it can increase your profile and make shoppers aware that it is something you provide. The cards are particularly useful for Christmas time and during other special events. The gift cards are printed with your store logo and details, and are tracked through the system

Loyalty Card The loyalty program is another great tool for customers. You can use the loyalty program with the personalised plastic loyalty cards and you can use the program as a frequent buyer program where customers earn points and can redeem the points.

Automated Marketing, Text Messaging and Emailing Clients The automated marketing makes it easy for you to stay in touch with customers. You can use it to email or text message your clients. 

Direct Mail The customer letter area of  Swimallows you to be personal with clients and send targeted direct mail letters. For suggestions and how to information, search on 'direct mail' or 'letter' in the knowledge base

Valuation with Picture, Quotes with Pictures Sometimes the little extras we do with clients make a big impression. Things such as providing the clients with a printed valuation with picture when they pick up their Jewelry or a printed quote with picture when clients are looking at Jewelry can make a great impression on the client.

Website Websites are a fantastic communication and marketing vehicle. If you have an existing website, from Swim, you can link all your stock so that it displays on your website and the sales and customers from the website can come down into Swim.

Diamond Search It's always nice to be able to provide clients with on the spot pricing. So for clients who are looking for a particular diamond, the diamond search is useful in allowing you to see what is currently available, and provide the client with an on the spot price. The diamond search allows you to select the source, either the Rapnet diamond list (for rapnet members), or the Nationwide Diamond Network (for nationwide members). If you are not a rapnet member and wish to use this feature, then you will just need to sign up for Rapnet and then enter your username and password into Swim

Messages on the sales receipt Sometimes its the unexpected that captures the customer. You can use the footer on sales receipts to send a nice, unexpected or different message to your clients. A great way for you to leave a good impression in your clients mind, as they leave the store.

For further details or how-to's on any of the information above, or to find out how to use the online support centre (including the knowledgebase and online campus) please email support@octahedron.com.au

Investing in a POS system is an important step for any jeweler. The right POS software can improve customer satisfaction, increase your bottom line and enhance staff productivity. The wrong POS system can be disastrous, leading to lose of sales, customers and event staff.

When purchasing a POS system, you must choose the best system for your jewelry business. There are many POS systems on the market, so before you choose a system you will need to do some homework.

When comparing POS systems you need to ask a few questions:

What industry is the POS system originally designed for?

Does the system cover all your core business operations? Including sales, repairs, custom makes, manufacturing, appraisals, memo stock, job tracking and costing, buying group statements, sales and catalogues and customer special orders.

What are the extra 'nice to have' featuresthat may make a difference to your store?

Does the system have an extensive customer database including birthdays, anniversaries, buying preferences, age group, finger size and spousal information.

Does the software company provide support by friendly, professional staff, and ongoing training that is easily accessed by your staff now and in the future.

What is the company background? Do they understand the needs of the jewelry industry and have first hand knowledge of jewelry store workings. Are they dedicated to the future growth of the jewelry industry.

As you know the jewelry store is not like other retail stores, therefore the POS system you use should be made for your specific needs.

POS systems can be grouped into two types: high volume, minimum value systems, and low volume, high value systems. We will explain the difference between these systems. Firstly, high volume systems are designed for many sales per day of low value items with no customer information attached. They also expect quick stock turnover and purchasing of the same products regularly. For example a fashion accessories or gift store would need a high volume system as it makes many sales per day of nominal value and no customer information is generally gathered. In addition the stock in a fashion store moves quickly, with the owner purchasing the same stock on a weekly basis.

In comparison, a jewelry store needs a low volume system as it makes fewer sales per day and needs to record customer data. In addition, stock turnover is slower, with many items only stocked once or twice.

Jewelers need a system where they can gather, analyze and makes sense of all forms of customer data. Having the ability to know who your customers are, their buying habits and how to target the right customers is essential for all jewelry stores. In addition, jewelry stores need comprehensive stock details, with the ability to record, report on and search fields such as metal type, weight, length, stones, stone setting, bandwidth, bandstyle, pearl type etc. Without jewelry specific details the POS system is only performing half its task.

In other words, a jewelry store needs a POS system that was designed, from the ground up, for jewelry stores

Choosing the Right Software Package for Your Business

A special new Rapnet Diamond Search feature is available within the Swim.  The feature allows Rapnet members to search for Diamonds from within Swim.

The new feature allows you to give your clients a quick, accurate and customised service. While using your point of sale and inventory management program you can search for diamonds for quotes, custom makes, inventory items, replacement costs and many other day to day functions within the store.

The search results are live from the Rapnet website, and allow you to search by standard diamond fields such as shape, carat, color, clarity, cut, lab and price per carat.

To use the feature in Swim, you must have a Rapnet membership.

About Rapnet: Rapnet is the world’s largest diamond trading network with daily diamond listings of over 510,000 diamonds valued at over $3.7 billion. Rapnet is an exclusive professional trading community with sophisticated search engines that gives buyers and suppliers direct access to hundreds of thousands of diamonds in over 70 countries. Its members include the most important and powerful diamond dealers in the world. For further information or to apply for membership, please visit www.rapnet.com

After reading Seth Godin's blog the other day about being 'the same', we asked you what you do in your store to be different. Here's some of the replies that have come in so far:

(As a note, the comments are just pasted in verbatim from the original replies.)

- One off makes and letting clients know that what they purchase from us they won't see elsewhere is how we show clients we are different

- We use the automated text messaging to really differentiate ourselves. we use it to text message customers on their birthday, anniversaries, when jobs are ready to be collected and for all new customers a week after their first purchase. Our clients love the interaction without the  interruption of a phone call & it keeps us top of mind

- To compete with the other stores selling Pandora, we let clients know  that their beads purchased are all kept in the system, so  when their friends and family come in to purchase a gift for them, they can be assured they are buying a different bead, and we can let them know which beads the client has highlighted on their wishlist as the ones they want next. Very successful in ensuring our clients and their friends and family come back to us, rather than the 100's of others selling Pandora in store and online.

- We differentiate ourselves by knowing our customer. We record  everything from metal preference to finger size to who they shop for.  What this does is make the purchase intimate, and we make it especially easy for a spouse to buy. For example when a husband comes in we suggest  items that will match his wives existing jewelry (as we have it all on file), and we can provide it in her exact finger size and preferred metal type. This is a real winner, especially at Christmas and Mothers Day.

- We focus on special makes, and have a three quote system. a low, medium and high price for the same item, based on stone quality. The formal quote is presented to the customer with a picture of the design/item and the three price options

- We use the cad cam software at the front of store to design the clients piece while they are there

- We use the Swim Jewelry Software VIP loyalty points program to track and award secret shoppers. While the concept has been used for some time now by general retailers, no other  jewelers in our are area are doing it

Things that make your Jewelry store different

The loyalty program feature has been very popular with Swim users, and is by far one of the best marketing tools you can use in your business

When using the loyalty program feature, you can choose to also use customer loyalty plastic cards or smartphone card. If you would like to learn about having your own plastic loyalty cards printed with your stores logo and details, please email support@octahedron.com.au

Swim also provides a loyalty program white paper 'how to guide'.

Swim

Some of our thoughts

How to make your store stand out

Choosing the Right Software Package for Your Business

Rapnet Diamond Searching in Swim

Things that make your Jewelry store different

Swim Frequent Shopper loyalty program