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Tech-focused displays

Working on the interactive display story this month gave me a fun taste of what's to come in jewelry retailing, and it’s something I'm very much looking forward to.

I love perusing jewelry in stores--who isn't attracted to bright, shiny things?--but I have to admit, I don't know that I would call it the most fun experience. I often feel slightly uncomfortable when I see that I’m being watched like a hawk, add to that, unlike in stores such as Apple, where I can test out products to my heart's content, I can't touch and feel the jewelry without the help of a salesperson.

I know that's simply safe jewelry retailing, but a few new technologies are helping to add more excitement to the experience.

 

   

At Geneva's l'Heure Asch, an interactive display located right in the store window helps to draw passersby indoors. Pressing a touch pad located on the outside glass turns the displays inside, allowing customers to see a greater array of timepieces.

Amsterdam-based retailer Ace Jewelers Group uses an augmented reality tool on its Web site. Customers who visit the site are invited to virtually "try on" rings on their own computer. They simply print out a marker item, such as a paper ring, put it on and point it at their Web cam. The user will then be able to select from various pave rings on Ace's Web site, and their chosen ring will show up on their hand onscreen, in the place of the marker ring. If customers like what they see, they can purchase the ring online or visit one of the retailer's stores. Devised by London-based Holition, retailers can use the tool on their Web sites or via in-store kiosks.

App attack

I personally don't own an iPhone and probably never will.
Instead, I have this phone called the "Instinct," which is basically Samsung's version of the iPhone and is a device so similar that it causes some people to actually envy me.
"Is that an iPhone?" they ask when I pull this sleek-looking black sheath of a phone out of my purse.
"No it's an Instinct," I say.
"Oh," they say, immediately losing interest in my generic excuse for a cell phone.
I only got the "Instinct" because it had been so long since I have upgraded my phone that Sprint practically paid me to get with the times.
And you want to know what? I don't do anything more with this phone than I did with my other phone, except pay a bigger monthly bill.
I really don't maximize the phone's potential, mostly because I'm too lazy/disinterested/busy to bother reading the instruction manual and figure out how to really use the thing.
I'll be switching back to a simpler phone (with a smaller bill) soon.
But I digress.
For those happy iPhone owners, there are at least two industry "apps" - that's iPhone speak for applications - out there already, and I'm sure we'll see more on the way.
The first jewelry industry "app" to come to my attention was what I like to call the "Rap app," because it just rhymes so nicely.
(The real name of the app is iDiamonds; you should use this name if you want to find it in the App Store.) 
Roei Kashi, son of Israeli diamantaire Moti Kashi, developed the iDiamonds app earlier this year, while still at student at Stanford University.
This useful device provides immediate iPhone access to the Rapaport price list, letting you see what the running price is for, as an example, a 1.5-1.99-carat, VVS2, E-color stone.
But take note: you have to have a RapNet username and password to have a "Rap-app" attack.
Read more about the Rap app here on IDEX.
The second industry app is by Stuller, called the "Live Diamond Try-On (brought to you by Red Box Diamonds.)"
While the title is not as snappy as the "Rap app," this is a really savvy application that allows consumers to, essentially, design their own engagement ring and virtually try it on by taking a picture of their hand.
They can e-mail, Tweet and Facebook the ring to get the opinions of friends and family, and can then use the "find a jeweler" function, which maps out the location of the nearest Red Box diamond retailers where they can go to physically purchase their virtually crafted rings.
Amazing, isn't it?
This app will be free and available to about-to-engaged iPhone users everywhere starting in late summer.
Read more about the diamond try-on here.
Then go out and buy your apps. If you need me, I'll be at the Sprint store, in search of a cheaper phone.

Selling jewelry on the Internet

Lots of jewelers attended the National Jeweler Network Online Retailing Forum at the JA New York Show a couple of weeks ago, including me.

Although I was asked to make a few remarks on one of the panels, I learned as much about online retailing as anyone in the audience.

Top honchos from Idex Online, Gemfind, Fred Meyer and Yahoo, among others, brought the jewelry retailer up-to-date on the latest Web tools and "analytics" (their fancy word not mine) to market to their best customers. If jewelers decide not to take their advice, or advice from other industry experts, shame on them.

But I think there is one more step that needs to be taken to have a successful Web presence.

Since all jewelers (er, most), will be using the Internet as a kind of catalog, won't they all be showing the same designs and styles? Won't they also be buying their diamonds and genuine stones from the same wholesaler(s)? Seems like a recipe for price competition—exactly what they want to get away from.

Maybe the answer is differentiation—different styling. The jeweler's computer screen is a window on the vast and magnificent world of jewelry design. Sourcing product from overseas is also an option. Although it's a little more difficult, margins can be much higher. Retail jewelers can even design their own styles—exactly what their customers want.

Jan Brassem is a founder of Eclipse Global Consulting LLC, a firm that assists jewelry retailers who are expanding into foreign markets and/or sourcing globally. You can e-mail him at Jan@EclipseGlobalConsulting.com.

Why does Cartier have a MySpace page?

Was MySpace's global deal with luxury jeweler Cartier the final blow in its war with Facebook?

Some say there is no competition; many users have pages on both social networking sites, and it's been noted that the alleged war is being waged by the media.

In side-by-side comparisons of MySpace and Facebook, Web and print publications that cover the technology industry tend to evaluate design, features and usability. News sources that cover business and finance beats, however, have turned the competition into a matter of class.

Initially, Facebook was launched as an exclusive Harvard University site. MySpace, on the other hand, was developed to increase the exposure of Indie music. Now that both sites have users outside of their initial niches, analysts are trying to distinguish which users go where and why.

Naturally, analysts say that Facebook, with its blue-blood background, attracts the upper echelons of society, while MySpace users are typically low- to middle-class.

Contrary to analysts' class theories, Travis Katz, managing director of international operations for MySpace, claimed in a recent Advertising Age article that its network reaches more users with a six-figure income than Facebook or Yahoo 360. Obviously, Cartier was convinced.

MySpace's successful history of promoting music and garnering fan support was probably a contributing factor to Cartier's decision as well. Music appears to be an integral part of the brand's Love campaign this year; Cartier even added 12 artists to its current list of ambassadors. Twelve additional artists are featured on its MySpace page.

The luxury jeweler may have also chosen MySpace because its word-of-mouth exposure beats Facebook hands down. On MySpace, the goal of acquiring friends on page profiles is taken quite seriously. Journalist Barbara Walters put out a plea for friends on her television show The View last year. Within days, Walters went from having 2 friends to more than 1,000.

Fashion in a flash

Last Christmas, I became obsessed with Amazon.com's Lightening Deals. Like clockwork, I would check the Web site every two hours to see if the next item to go on sale would make a great gift or had a Gold Box Price I couldn't refuse. Now the Christmas lights are stored away, Santa's back at the North Pole and I am still checking the deals at least once a day.

Now luxury retail sites such as Gilt, Ideeli, HauteLook and RueLaLa are holding their own versions of timed sales for clothes, jewelry and other accessories, according to an article on on The Wall Street Journal's Web site.

Their members-only offers have become a game to well-to-do shoppers and quite profitable for the luxury e-tailers, some of which decrease overhead costs by not establishing customer service departments.

Ideeli has found yet another way to increase revenue and boost exclusivity. It sends early sale notifications via cell phone to "First Row" members who've paid a $100 fee.

The article's author tested the service and mentioned that the incoming messages arrived at "inopportune times."

I certainly wasn’t surprised to read that she received texts during lunch and dinner. Laid-back, convenient viral-marketing campaigns simply don't exist.

He proposed with a digital gem

Bejeweled, a popular video game that rewards its skillful players with points for maneuvering gems around the screen to create a chain, recently received a good media buzz when a financial software programmer used it to propose to his girlfriend.

Bernie Peng spent nearly a month reprogramming Tammy Liu's favorite game to pop the question once she reached a certain score.

Several of the media outlets that recently reported the story quoted Peng as saying "I thought it was pretty cool, in a nerdy way."

But, I think it was unique and romantic, which outweighs the nerdiness it might have taken to pull off. Tammy obviously agreed; she said yes.

Whether it was made to you or to someone you know, what is the most original proposal you've heard?

Geek turned tech fashionista

What happened to the taped-up-glasses wearing, pocket-protector-donning geeks everyone knew, loved and occasionally teased? They jumped on the latest technology wave, rode it to the shores of success and morphed into trendsetting techies.

You're still not likely to see Internet Technologies CEO Henry Smith, once known as Hank the High-Water-Pants Wearer, sporting a sleek Swiss watch and cable link chain. He's apt to don an Oberon S-Mode Japanese LED Watch with its sci-fi appeal. And his necklace of choice is the 18-karat white gold, diamond-encrusted 4GB Snow Drive flash drive (pictured).

Today's techie can give their former taunters a lesson in what's hot when it comes to high-performance, well-designed accessories. A few smarty pants have shared their top gift picks for the upcoming holiday season:

* Hyundai W-100 Wrist Phone with a 1.3 megapixel camera.

* Gresso's cross- and apple-shaped wood and diamond necklaces with a 1 GB USB drive inside.

* Pretec 1GB i-Disk Vogue.

* Signature, Pioneer and World Traveler watches from National Geographic.

Bid on this diamond, please!

Many retail jewelers view e-commerce sites—and online auction sites in particular—with a skeptical eye.

But some are discovering how to use these sites to their advantage. For example, Maryland-based Mervis Diamond Importers recently announced a partnership with auction site Bid4Assets.com to sell older diamond jewelry. They will offer "last season's" diamond earrings, pendants and necklaces for a deal.

Company owner Ronnie Mervis said the move allows his three-store business to reach a new, national audience.

In theory, these sorts of partnerships are a win-win for retailers and the sites they choose. The jeweler has a new and easy way to cash in on the e-commerce trend; the sites get more credibility by associating with brick-and-mortar sellers who have a good reputation.

The challenge for jewelers is in balancing traditional sales with new information-age ways. Can an independent retailer successfully negotiate the new channels without undermining the old ones? The answer could be a matter of survival.