A lot of people dream of starting their own jewelry business. And why not? Jewelry is a popular and lucrative market that’s easy to get into and has the potential to earn you a lot of money.
But what if you don’t have any experience in the field? How can you know which apps will help you succeed as a jewelry seller?
We’ve done some research for you and put together a list of our favorite apps for selling jewelry.
Best Apps For Selling Jewelry
Editor’s note: GoDaddy GoCentral Online Store is now Websites + Marketing Ecommerce — an all-in-one solution that integrates websites, marketing and eCommerce tools with the guidance needed to achieve success.
Jewelry is one of the prettiest products to make a business out of. Whether you’re a jeweler who finds precious pieces to sell, or you’re the artisan actually handcrafting these works of art, you might be wondering about the best websites to sell jewelry.
The truth is, it’s never been easier to make and sell things online.
The barrier for entry is lower than ever, and with just your creativity, enthusiasm and a whole lot of grit, you can create your own handmade business. Below you’ll find some advice that can help you determine the preferred route for you to take in making a living selling jewelry.
So what are the best websites to sell jewelry?
Etsy.
eBay.
ArtFire.
Bonanza.
Zibbet.
In no particular order, here are five of the best websites to sell jewelry I’ve found, and a couple of pros and cons for each.
Editor’s note: Sell your products from one place on the web’s popular marketplaces such as Instagram, Amazon, Google, eBay, Etsy, and Walmart with our integrated multi channel listing tool.
- Etsy
Best Websites to Sell Jewelry EtsyYou had to know this was going to be on the list of best websites to sell jewelry, right? I mean Etsy is considered by many people to be the No. 1 website for selling handmade goods!
Pros:
Etsy claims it has 30 million buyers around the world, which is a lot of traffic for a startup like you. Lots of people know what Etsy is, and trust the platform as a place to buy handmade goods.
There are no monthly fees to keep your stuff on Etsy. Once you pay the listing fee, your goods can sit in your store until you sell them. (At least that’s the case as of the time of this writing.)
Cons:
It costs pennies to list each one of your items for sale. Even if it never sells, you are out the cash. That may not seem like a lot, but if you have a large inventory, listing all of your goods can add up quickly.
The flip side of popularity is that Etsy now has around 1.8 million sellers. That’s a lot of competition. Your stuff might never be seen on their site.
- eBay
This might not have been a consideration for you since most people think of eBay as the place to sell their junk and collectibles. However, eBay is for more than just selling your old electronics and the holiday Barbies you’ve collected since you were 10. Oh, is that just me? I digress…
Pros:
You can list up to 50 items a month with no listing fee. After that, you pay pennies per listing.
This is another site that boasts lots of active users — more than 160 million, in fact.
Cons:
Auctioning off your jewelry can be intimidating. Of course, you can add a minimum selling price to ensure you get at least the price you want for your products.
The fee for selling your item is assessed as a percentage of the final value. Be sure to factor this fee into your profit and loss considerations if you choose eBay as your selling choice.
It should be noted that these pros and cons are solely related to listing your jewelry in the auction platform. You can also create buy-it-now offers or pay additional fees to create your own store on the site.
- ArtFire
Best Websites to Sell Jewelry ArtFireThis Tucson-based marketplace allows customers to post “wanted” ads for items they’d like to commission, potentially opening another source of revenue for jewelry artisans willing to accept custom orders.
Pros:
It only costs pennies to list your goods for sale in a standard shop, and you can have up to 250 active listings.
There are no ads on shop pages and no ads on the item pages either.
Cons:
You are going to be paying at least a few dollars a month to keep your shop open. Popular and Featured Shop plans are more.
I’ve read complaints in several forums of slow loading of their site, and that it won’t open in some browsers (I personally couldn’t get ArtFire to load at all in Chrome. I had to open it in Firefox).
- Bonanza
This Seattle-based business also makes the list of best websites to sell jewelry. Bonanza, which features an $85,000 piece of haunted jewelry, also lists plenty of non-haunted jewelry.
Pros:
No listing fees and no monthly store fees. You pay a commission fee when your stuff sells. How much of a fee? Well, see my cons for that complicated answer.
You can import listings of your products from eBay and Etsy.
Cons:
You pay more to have your listings found on Google Shopping pages. The fees get complicated from there. Basic advertising adds a percentage-based fee to the final value of your sold item, but advertising fees can take that up to 30 percent of the final value. See if you can figure out what exactly their fees are on their pricing and advertising pages. Personally, it was too much math for me.
This site is still considered a newcomer, so traffic and buyers are not as high as competing craft selling platforms.
- Zibbet
Best Websites to Sell Jewelry ZibbetOur fifth pick for best websites to sell jewelry, Zibbet hails from Sydney, Australia. This marketplace enables artists to sync the inventory they have listed in various sales channels like Pinterest and other marketplaces for greater exposure.
Pros:
Not nearly as much competition as Etsy or eBay, so more chance your work will be seen by jewelry lovers.
You get your own custom domain and website that stands alone to sell your products. You pay a monthly fee to run your virtual shop, and can sell up to 50 items per month for the starter package. (If you upgrade to a pro or unlimited plan you can list an unlimited number of items.)
Cons:
You only get full customization of your site, and the ability to remove Zibbet’s branding from your site if you pay for the Unlimited plan.
Regardless of the monthly subscription plan you can only load a maximum of eight images of your items (four with the Starter package, and eight with Pro and Unlimited).
Other sites to consider include IndieMade and iCraft. I would recommend looking at all of your options, and doing research on them before making a decision.
At some point though, you might start to wonder if you should create your own online store. Let’s explore the option of your own digital space to sell your jewelry, shall we?
What about selling from your own website?
To take your jewelry business to the next level, you might have considered creating your own website. You could still promote your work on the websites listed above, but having your own digital storefront allows you to cut out the middleman, and have more control over every step of the sales process.
Speaking of steps, if you want your own website, here are my suggestions for the steps you should take in launching your virtual jewelry shop.
- Make a plan
As tempting as it is to just dive right in, the best businesses have a plan of attack. You want to think it through a little. You already know you want to sell your jewelry, but at least consider things like pricing, your target market, your break-even number, where you’ll market and more before spending any money.
Start by reading this article on what to consider before opening an online store.
- Get a domain name
OK, you’ve mulled it over and gotten clear on your plan. Now, you need a domain name to set up your virtual storefront. Lost on what name to purchase? Don’t worry! I’ve got you covered with these 10 tips for choosing the perfect domain name.
Not finding the domain name you want in .com? Look for that same name in .jewelry or .shop.
Many people find it takes awhile to find a domain name that’s just right. If this happens to you, think about one of the new domain extensions such as .jewelry. You might actually find you have many more naming options with a new domain extension. See all new the domains here.
Go ahead — try it now!
Type the domain you want to check here
- Build a website with ecommerce functionality
Selling things online requires more than is typically included in a standard website. There’s the sales process to start with, which takes a whole lot of voodoo on the backend to work correctly. Then there’s security — when you start accepting payments online, you suddenly become a target for hackers looking for credit card numbers they can steal. The best online store builders take care of all this for you.
At its most basic level, an ecommerce site:
Gives your customers a way to pay.
Has an SSL certificate to protect credit card information.
Features a shopping cart and items for sale to add to that shopping cart.
Has an area for shipping information or download functionality for digital products.
Is mobile friendly.
Best Websites to Sell Jewelry GoCentral Template
Start building your online jewelry store now with a website template like this from GoDaddy Online Store.
There are WordPress plugins that you can add to your site to sell your jewelry on it, but one of the easiest ways to sell products is by creating an Online Store with GoDaddy. It comes with an array of ready-made website templates built just for stores like yours. Payment processing, easy inventory management, shipping and a bunch of other important stuff is built right in. Best of all, you can try it for 30 days before you have to decide if you want to use it or not.
- Add images, text and a shop full of products
This is where the magic happens. You’ll add images and text that tells your story, add contact information, then fill your store with all of your inventory. Each piece should have a special listing page with details about the product, pricing and shipping information, and (most importantly) stunning photos that showcase your jewelry. - Bring people to your new online store
Once your site is built, you’ve got to get as many eyeballs as possible on it. Search engine optimization is a proven way to do this and is well worth the couple of hours it takes. Couple this with your learnings from Google Analytics to bring a steady stream of likely buyers to your store.
Don’t forget to promote your new store on the social media platforms where jewelry lovers hang out — Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, etc. Here again, you’ll need to approach this as if you’re in it for the long haul. Stay active, post frequently and respond promptly to anyone who addresses you online. This is how a following is born — one loyal fan at a time.
You can check our Digital Marketing Suite where you can find all the marketing tools you need to promote your business.
For more ideas on how to attract visitors, check this article.
Success? That’s easy — just keep going.
Many people will tell you that creating the business is the easy part — it’s the marketing and conversion that can be hard. This doesn’t mean you can’t succeed … you absolutely can! For a little inspiration, read this wonderful guide written by a jewelry maker who’s living the dream. Then work with a reliable partner like GoDaddy to unleash your work on a world hungry for beauty.
ecommerce #onlinestore #creatives #artist
Ashley Grant
Ashley Grant is a freelance writer and photographer from Tampa, Fla. She blogs at FamousAshleyGrant. Ashley attended the University of South Florida and majored in Mass Communications. Go Bulls! When she isn’t writing and taking pictures, she loves eating, drinking and traveling as much as possible. You can find her on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest and LinkedIn.
how to sell jewelry online successfully
How to Sell Jewelry Online and Build a Store That Shoppers Love
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Jewelry is a timeless and powerful part of the human experience.
According to the International Gem Society (IGS), the earliest discovery of jewelry dates back approximately 25,000 years ago. It was a simple fish bowl necklace found in a cave in Monaco.
The significance and meaning of this necklace could have been anything — a gift, a status symbol or even just beautiful decor. Even though we’ll never know the true story, the possibilities are fascinating to imagine.
From the societies of Ancient Egypt to the modern United States, jewelry has helped people express their individuality, love for romantic partners and friendship. It’s hard-wired in our human experiences to enjoy beautiful things, express ourselves, make fashion statements and pass jewelry items down to our ancestors as collectibles.
Simply put, jewelry makes us feel special — and that’s something that every human on planet Earth needs right now.
If you’re thinking about establishing or expanding your own jewelry business online, the timing has never been better.
A New York Times report from December 2020 found that fine jewelry sales were up during the pandemic due to people wanting to treat themselves.
Current forecasts suggest that the worldwide jewelry market will grow to $291.7B by 2025 — up from a forecast of $229.3B in 2019. It’s also estimated that as of 2021, 79% of jewelry sales in the United States came from non-luxury items.
These economic forecasts paint the picture for an expansive global market, with room for newcomers and established industry giants alike. The beauty of jewelry is in its diversity, and platforms such as eBay and Etsy make it possible for the smallest of businesses to find a loyal customer base online.
In this guide, you’ll learn how to step into the thriving (and growing) jewelry economy with an online store that makes you proud.
You’ll learn how to find a niche for your products, create a loved customer experience, identify a technical pathway for building your online store and create the right foundations to help your business scale.
Why You Should Sell Jewelry Online
The COVID-19 pandemic has created a permanent shift to the way that people shop.
Not to mention, public health uncertainties could create safety concerns for people to try on jewelry in stores.
With this context in mind, creating an online jewelry business is a smart move because it’s a safe and efficient way to reach shoppers.
Beyond the practical considerations of safety and efficiency, online retail creates a pathway for people to discover brands that they wouldn’t have come across otherwise.
As a merchant, you have the ability to reach customers anywhere in the world, regardless of where you’re located. Regardless of whether you are an independent jewelry designer on Etsy or part of a team at a larger brand name operation, you have an equal footing to build a discoverable store.
Keep in mind that there were demographic trends in motion even before the COVID-19 pandemic that made the case for selling jewelry online. One important trend to watch is the rise of the Gen Z shopping population.
Shortly before the pandemic began, Gen Z had already accounted for 40% of global shoppers, meaning that they are on the path to becoming the dominant spending force. These individuals have been creating a shift in the way that people of all generations make purchase decisions.
As the first generation of digital natives, this group relies on social media and online retail experiences to discover new products — a trend that has increased during the pandemic, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF).
Research from the NRF has also found that 87% of parents rely on recommendation from their children when deciding what to buy.
These trends point to a historic shift in the way that people shop for new jewelry, which is a timeless cultural staple to our human society. The key to getting started is to find the right niche and to build a brand that stands out.
Market Analysis: Trending Jewelry Brand Niches
When you sell jewelry online, there’s an opportunity to reach people with your brand all over the world. This expansive market means that there’s an opportunity for all retailers — from Tiffany and Cartier to the local costume jewelry store — to attract an engaged and loyal customer base.
The flip side of this growth potential is that there’s also a lot of competition. No matter the type of jewelry, making your brand discoverable can be a challenge, especially since attention spans are tough to capture. Shoppers have a seemingly infinite number of options to navigate their purchase decisions.
Knowing that the market is crowded, the most impactful first step that you can take to building your online store is to identify your niche. In general, most online jewelry stores fall into one or more of the following seven categories:
- Affordable fashion jewelry.
Ranging from necklaces to bracelets, rings, and costume accessories, fashion jewelry tends to go in and out of style quickly. These pieces tend to be lower in quality and longevity but highly affordable for shoppers who are looking to make a statement.
One way to stay on top of the fashion jewelry market is to browse magazines such as Seventeen, Vogue, Marie Claire, Harper’s BAZAAR, and Cosmopolitan. Influencers on TikTok and Instagram often set the tone for trends.
Fashion jewelry tends to consist of lower quality materials such as imitation metals (i.e. silver instead of platinum) and gemstones (i.e. cubic zirconia instead of diamonds). Designers will often base designs on higher-priced items.
It’s important to keep in mind that the fashion jewelry industry is diverse, however. Pieces may be as inexpensive as $5 or as expensive as $100. Individual items may be mass produced in factories or handmade from independent designers and Etsy shop owners.
“Affordable,” doesn’t always mean “cheap.” But it doesn’t mean “luxury” either.
- Body jewelry.
There’s an opportunity for jewelry merchants to make a name for themselves in the world of body piercings, consisting of nose rings, belly button rings, tong rings, eyebrow rings and more.
Body jewelry tends to be more personal than bracelets or necklaces, especially due to variations in piercing sizes and allergic reactions to metals. For instance, some people need to opt for certain types of precious metals or implant grade titanium in order to avoid discomfort.
For this reason, body jewelers will often include pieces in different sizes and metal options — both of which can influence cost. Some stores may also offer the option to customize pieces at the request of shoppers.
As an example, a single nose ring could be available in gold, sterling silver, or implant grade titanium with a straight back, L back to the left, L back to the right, screw, or curve.
Among shoppers, there is often a greater variation in preferences due to personal factors such as comfort level, health and piercing placement.
- Plated jewelry.
Shoppers often enjoy the look and feel of precious metals but are unable to afford the fine jewelry price tag. One option to reach this market is plated jewelry made from inexpensive metals and coated with a precious metal layer.
Examples of plated jewelry include sterling silver coated with 14K gold or sterling silver coated with pure silver. Nickel is also a less expensive material that gets coated with a rare precious metal like gold or silver.
If you sell plated jewelry, it’s important to maintain a close relationship with your manufacturers. For one, you’ll need to be sure that there isn’t any lead in what you’re selling, as the material is known to be hazardous and could put your store at legal risk.
You’ll also need to be clear with potential buyers that the jewelry is coated and not a true precious metal. Keep in mind that some people have allergic reactions to non-precious metals, so your transparency as a merchant is essential to ensuring a sense of safety.
- Handmade jewelry.
This category consists of “made-to-order” jewelry and includes a level of customization for every buyer. The value to shoppers is that they receive an item that is unique to their preferences in terms of material, color and size.
The drawback of handmade jewelry is that every piece creates time to produce, and production often cannot scale. For this reason, handmade jewelry tends to come from boutique retailers or individuals on selling platforms like Etsy. Made-to-order jewelry merchants tend to be solopreneurs or small business owners.
While handmade jewelry businesses are challenging to scale, that isn’t always a bad thing — there is a market of buyers who appreciate the personal touch and custom experience. Unique pieces may also command a higher price point.
- Fine jewelry.
The fine jewelry niche consists of precious metals, rare gemstones, and unique designs. Typically, pieces are made in limited and exclusive batches to accompany high price points that can hit values upwards of tens of thousands of dollars.
The allure of fine jewelry is that the materials are rare and craftsmanship is high. Fine jewelry tends to last people lifetimes and become heirlooms for people to pass to future generations.
The majority of shoppers may only make a few, if any, fine jewelry purchases in their lifetimes due to the cost involved. Wealthier buyers may buy high-end jewelry pieces more often and may be more likely to join loyalty programs.
Shoppers often consider fine jewelry to be an investment, as many pieces become more valuable as time passes. For this reason, fine jewelry tends to have high demand and resale value as second-hand pieces.
The most common examples of fine jewelry include diamond jewelry such as wedding rings and engagement rings. People also tend to buy fine jewelry for special occasions.
- Vintage jewelry.
Vintage shoppers are drawn to the allure of jewelry that has made its way through history and time to reach our modern era. Jewelry is especially popular and practical as a second-hand item due to the timelessness and durability of many pieces.
Vintage items have a strong appeal in the fashion industry due to items being unique, one-of-a-kind or special. Vintage enthusiasts tend to enjoy the discoverability that comes with finding unique items.
Because vintage items are second-hand, each item may have a unique story in terms of their previous owner, historical era or original fashion designer. These origin stories have the ability to increase the value of each item.
Vintage jewelry consists of fashion accessories, handmade items and even luxury items. Some antiques, particularly ones with an interesting story, have the potential to become more valuable over time.
Pricing is often on a case-by-case basis.
- Fair trade jewelry.
One outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic is that shoppers are becoming more ethical and conscious in their purchases. The jewelry industry, as with many others, has historically had human rights and environmental problems in its supply chains.
For this reason, brands with fair trade practices have the potential to make a name for themselves as socially responsible brands. Examples of conscious business practices include paying workers above-market wages, sourcing supplies directly from farmers, using recycled materials and partnering with local communities to create a greater sense of wellbeing.
All types of jewelry have the potential to incorporate fair trade, sustainable and conscious business practices. All jewelry companies have a role to play in creating higher standards for the industry.
How to Sell Jewelry Online in 7 Steps
The rise in available ecommerce technology means that anyone can set up an online jewelry store in a matter of minutes. But a successful jewelry business, whether you’re building a new storefront or expanding an existing one, involves creating an overarching brand strategy.
Ultimately, your store needs to leave a lasting impression in the mind of each shopper. It’s not enough to simply put your products online — every digital touchpoint needs to communicate a compelling, memorable and engaging story that makes people feel inspired and uplifted.
Jewelry is a special purchase with value beyond the cost of the item. People wear necklaces, earrings, bracelets and other statement pieces to feel good about themselves and express their personality.
The following steps will help you build the foundations for a loved digital experience:
Step 1: Gather inspiration from online jewelry stores.
Ecommerce experiences are a product of the imagination. But there is no need to reinvent the wheel, as there are plenty of existing top performers in the space.
Before building your store, take a look at what key players are already doing. With this perspective, you’ll come away inspired with valuable recommendations to integrate into your own brand.
As you go through this exercise, take a look at how different websites focus on the following attributes:
User-friendly design.
Shopping cart functionality.
Mobile optimization.
Promotional campaign management.
Seasonal collections.
Product descriptions and details.
Specifications.
Virtual try-on features.
Seamless checkout.
These attributes, together, create a customer journey that establishes a sense of empathy with your buyers. Successful online jewelry stores help shoppers feel special and enjoy the experience of browsing what they are buying.
One example that we love is BigCommerce customer Icing on the Ring, which is a 50-plus-year-old fine jewelry retailer that began as a custom jewelry store with made-to-order products.
Since moving online, Icing on the Ring has built up an inventory of more ready-made items that shoppers can easily browse and purchase with a credit card or via PayPal.
You’ll notice that the Icing on the Ring website feels like a showroom with a clear story. Visitors can browse through quality products while also engaging in a learning experience. For example, Icing on the Ring publishes educational materials about the gemstones and materials that it uses.
You’ll also notice that social media is a core part of Icing on the Ring’s website experience. Website visitors can shop for products that they love on Instagram (and browse through Instagram posts from fellow customers for inspiration).
Step 2: Build your feature wishlist.
As an outcome of Step 1, you’ll have a good idea of how to build an enjoyable brand experience for your online jewelry store. Now, you can start putting what you observe on paper as two lists: “must haves” and “nice to haves.”
From a human interest point of view, what website features will make the brand experience as successful as possible to shoppers? If you’re part of a larger ecommerce team, it may make sense to create a cross-functional group of stakeholders that include your marketing, revenue and technical teams to build a list that captures everyone’s valuable perspectives.
Example must-haves could include:
Integrations with social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram.
Prominent reviews.
1-click checkout.
Coupons.
High quality photography with multiple views.
Mobile optimization.
Potential nice to haves could include:
Seasonal collections.
Advanced payment options such as financing.
Live chat for instant customer support.
Video or augmented reality content.
Keep in mind that the lists you create, at this stage, will not be comprehensive. Rather, they offer a starting point to begin identifying your short-term, medium-term and long-term priorities.
For inspiration, take a look at BigCommerce customer Lisi Lerch, a fashion accessories designer that specializes in statement pieces. You’ll notice that the website supports its core lines of business: ecommerce sales, custom bags, and relationships with resellers. A single website experience orchestrates multiple lines of business into a cohesive and integrated brand.
Your own website will evolve over time, and as your business grows, you will start to incorporate more features to your online store.
Your goal, at this beginning wishlist-building stage is to establish a foundation for your frontend and backend operations.
Step 3: Decide whether to expand your development team.
By the time you reach this step, you’ll have a clear, tangible perspective on what you’re looking to build with your ecommerce presence. Now, you can start thinking about how to bring your ideas to reality.
The essential question at this step is whether you can do it all yourself. If your company has an in-house ecommerce team with skilled developers, then you may have a handle on it. If you’re a solopreneur looking to sell your products on Etsy, eBay, or Amazon, then you may not need development and engineering resources at all.
But if you’re looking to build something that is larger scale, more expansive and more custom than something that requires a simple design, you may need to reach out to a team of experienced ecommerce strategists and technologists for help.
At the very least, even if your team has expertise in-house, you may benefit from working with consultants who can anticipate the potential for problems before they have a chance to happen.
Working with a team of consultants, especially at the initial stages, can help you reduce the uncertainties and costs that come with bringing your vision to market.
Step 4: Select a third-party ecommerce platform.
You can think of your ecommerce platform as the central hub for your business operations. It is a command center for managing everything from your website experience to your inventory, shipping, marketing, security and compliance practices.
Ecommerce platforms are multidimensional technologies that stitch together the various components you need to run a successful and scalable ecommerce operation. Especially as your business grows, it will become impossible to run your operation without this technology.
The benefit to using a third-party ecommerce solution rather than building your own in-house is that you get better, more trustworthy and more reliable software.
When you build ecommerce software in-house, you’re responsible for managing and maintaining everything. If there is a security breach — or if there is a shift in a country’s regulation that necessitates a compliance update — the burden falls on you to make all of these changes.
Third-party ecommerce platforms have teams working behind the scenes to ensure an up-to-date, smooth solution that is user friendly and secure. Because these technology providers work with different types of stores as customers, you’ll often find the features you need to run your store bundled into the core offerings.
The key to choosing the right ecommerce platform is to identify the backend and frontend technical components that are most important for your unique jewelry business and customer experience.
Major ecommerce platforms include BigCommerce, Magento, Shopify and WooCommerce.
The right ecommerce platform should:
Support your core site functionalities.
Support the number of API calls necessary for the course of everyday business.
Support the compliance requirements of the geographies in which you sell.
Provide innovative solutions to your business complexities.
Accept the plugins (e.g. search engine optimization, social media) you need to run your online jewelry store successfully.
Integrate within your existing technology stack, including your customer relationship management (CRM) software.
Choosing the right ecommerce platform is a decision with long-term consequences to your business and so it’s important to make the right judgment call at the beginning stages.
This Guide to Choosing the Right Ecommerce Platform will help you make a decision that supports your jewelry business’s goals.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution — every business is different.
Step 5: Build your integration ecosystem.
With your core ecommerce platform in place, the next step is to integrate different systems into a consolidated technology. Most jewelry stores will require multiple pieces of software to run efficiently. Your technology stack is what enables your backend and frontend systems to orchestrate your operations.
Here are some of the components to consider:
Your payments processor enables you to process transactions safely and securely online. Example payment processors include Stripe, PayPal and Square. The key is to choose technology that is compliant with the regions in which you’re planning to do business. Payment processors should also include built-in systems for verifying buyers, protecting their data, and preventing fraud. You can read more about the payment processors that come pre-integrated within BigCommerce.
With order management and fulfillment software, you can maintain a real-time picture into your business operations. At any given moment, you have a direct lens into how much stock you have in your warehouse and whether you are fulfilling orders efficiently. Your order management system can also help you with updates to your customers and help you anticipate when you need to secure more inventory. You can see some of the order management and fulfillment apps that BigCommerce supports in its integration ecosystem.
Marketing automation and customer relationship management (CRM) software helps you build a growth layer for your core ecommerce business. The idea is to organize customer information in a way that you can build tailored marketing programs across customer touchpoints and channels. Marketing automation consists of personalization, email marketing, social media, and loyalty program software — a CRM is where you organize all of your customer data so that you can continually connect your marketing activities to purchase patterns. For specific examples, take a look at some of the marketing automation apps that are part of BigComemrce’s integration ecosystem.
Address verification software helps make checkout processes smoother, particularly for shipping and fulfillment. When someone places an order, your store will need to collect personal information for shipping and delivery. It’s common for typos to occur, which can cause shipping delays or returned orders. Address verification software can help protect businesses and shoppers from these issues by using technology to verify shipping details as correct (or incorrect) in real-time.
For jewelry businesses, especially, software is crucial for managing the many moving parts of the shopping experience. Companies need a way to track items as well as making sure that shoppers have a level of transparency into their purchases. A company’s behind the scenes technology stack is crucial for ensuring a sustainable business with the potential to scale.
Step 6: Establish your customer service foundation.
Just like in the physical world, customer service will be an important part of a jewelry business’s success. It’s common for shoppers to have questions beyond what your product details communicate, particularly with respect to sizing, materials and store policies.
With upfront customer service processes, you’ll help shoppers make more informed decisions before committing to their purchases. These informed decisions will help protect your business margins by increasing your revenues and decreasing costs that come with high return rates and restocking of items.
Customer service is a strategic investment in your jewelry business, and you can use a variety of tools to execute a successful strategy. Examples include:
Live chat software.
Messaging centers.
Knowledge hubs with answers to frequently asked questions.
Access to a personal shopping assistant.
The level of customer support that you can provide depends on the size and complexity of your business. Regardless of the level of service that you provide, the key is to be clear with your shoppers around the timing of your response.
If you’re looking for tips to build a customer support strategy using BigCommerce, take a look at this in-depth article for practical tips and software recommendations.
Step 7: Build the human-side of your business operations.
Even with the best technology in place, you need to make sure that your various ecommerce business operations have the right level of human-support.
As your online jewelry business grows, you need to make sure that you have people with the right skill sets overseeing everything in place. Based on the list above, you’ll need people who can closely monitor the following:
Marketing.
Customer success.
Online operations.
Technology.
Revenue.
At the beginning stages of your ecommerce business, one person may be able to function as a “general manager” for all of these roles. That person may hold the job title of “ecommerce manager” or “head of revenue management.”
Over time, as business functions expand, you should expect to hire more specialized people.
This individual will need to work closely with the team that oversees your physical business operations, to ensure a cohesive and unified brand experience.
Build a High-Impact Marketing Strategy
You can think of your ecommerce store as the home base for your jewelry brand. It’s a destination for audiences to visit. As with places to visit in the physical world, you need to help shoppers find their way to what you have to offer. That process involves creating an online presence that spans multiple platforms.
In marketing language, the expression of your brand through its online presence is called an “omnichannel marketing strategy.” Beyond sending people to your online storefront, your online presence can help you collect personalization data to build a more on-target, relevant and enjoyable brand experience.
Here is a template to guide you through the process of building a meaningful online presence:
- Build a social media presence.
An Instagram presence for your jewelry store is a must. Other platforms to consider include Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and YouTube.
You don’t need to be present on all social media platforms. Rather, pick several — build up each one, one at a time.
One example to consider is Icing on the Ring’s Instagram feed, which includes helpful product photography. Audiences can easily discover and learn more about the items that Icing on the Ring sells.
The brand uses a mix of static images and dynamic videos to create an engaging experience.
Icing on the Ring also encourages its customers to share their own photos using the hashtag #icingonthering.
Customers can also participate in Icing on the Ring’s social media campaigns by submitting original photography through a form on the ecommerce website.
- Create loyalty incentives.
Jewelry is often a high consideration purchase, meaning that people give careful thought to what they are buying. Especially if your brand is a fine jewelry retailer, it may take several months of browsing before a shopper is ready to make a purchase.
Given that jewelry is a high-consideration purchase, shoppers may feel inclined to compare prices and items across different brands. A rewards or loyalty program creates an incentive for people to make their purchases with your company.
- Launch a newsletter.
Sometimes, people aren’t ready to engage with your brand in a way that drives a transactional outcome. In these moments, an email newsletter is a valuable marketing channel for keeping shoppers interested in your jewelry brand and products.
A successful newsletter will be entertaining to read beyond being a sales pitch for your products. For this reason, it is important to communicate a clear value proposition for subscribing.
- Create a content marketing and search engine optimization (SEO) strategy.
Content marketing is the practice of creating branded education in the form of articles, videos and images. It is an effective strategy in today’s media-driven world where people are researching items before making purchases. Coupled with content marketing is search engine optimization (SEO), which is the practice of making content visible on Google based on keywords.
To succeed with SEO, your marketing team will need to identify keywords that are relevant to your brand and develop content, accordingly.
An example content strategy to check out is Icing on the Ring’s education center, which allows audiences to learn more about buying jewelry. As an example, take a look at the following article, which describes Icing on the Ring’s ethical sourcing practices.
Conclusion
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