Recently, jewelers from all walks of life have thronged the online space to sell their merchandise. The reasons are not far-fetched. First, entry barriers are practically non-existent, as transactions can flow unhindered globally within record time. Also, there has been meteoric growth in the online jewelry industry as a lucrative means of earning online, and it seems we have barely scratched the surface.
Projections reveal that in 2025, the jewelry market is expected to hit the $500 billion thresholds, a juicy prospect for potential investors. However, while the potential of joining this market seems boundless, it is pertinent to understand how to start an online jewelry business in 2021.
This article brings you to terms with all you need to know about investing in an online jewelry business.
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Define your niche
If you are delving into the jewelry market for the first time, you must carve a niche for yourself. This involves a lot of brainstorming, where you are likely to ask yourself or your team questions ranging from the type of jewelry you wish to sell and your target audience. This way, you can have accurate information about who your ideal audience will be, their age distribution, gender, and financials.
Carving your niche gives you an idea of how to go about your business and can act as a form of the master plan.
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Decide which platform suits your business best.
After you have carved a niche for yourself, the next phase is to decide which of the numerous online platforms suits you best. This requires a lot of planning, as the internet is a broad place, and you have to figure out a wide range of options, including selling on your online store, social media, and popular online marketplaces. Each has its benefits and the audience it appeals to.
If you want to use an online store, it is often necessary that you are an experienced seller. However, if you seek a quick means of getting your products across a large customer base, you can use an excellent online marketplace like Amazon, Etsy, or eBay.
Finally, social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc., can also serve as a free platform to reach a large audience. However, you are not restricted to picking just one platform, as you can leverage each platform to reach your target audience.
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Create your store
While the platforms mentioned earlier can help you garner potential customers, setting up a platform where you can directly influence and interact with your customer should remain a key objective. The steps to creating your online store are as follows.
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Check out existing sites: As you set out to establish your platform, you should research some of the top-selling jewelry online stores. This way, you can gain useful insights into their operations and how you can improve your practice. For example, if you are from Dubai, you can check out the stores from the Gold Souk market.
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Decide how you want to model your website: In this context, you have to examine the technical aspects of the business. As you are concerned about the technical functionality of your platform, you will carefully examine the following: friendly UI, High-resolution product, SEO enabled, amongst others. In the same manner, you should consider available payment options for your website. Here, you examine flexible and easy-to-use options to integrate as payment platforms. Some flexible payment options include credit card, PayPal, etc. If you have these features in place, you can always be sure of the seamless functionality of your site.
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Build a solid customer base: While you attempt to build a functional site, you must build a solid customer base to flock to your site.
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Figure our shipping and delivery: As an online jewel seller, you will be receiving waves of orders across the globe. Therefore, you must have a structure in place that can always convey products to your clients within record time. You can integrate popular shipping and delivery options like FedEx, or you may choose to have your in-house sales order delivery platform to get products to your customers.
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Once your site is live, you need to create a process that ensures a seamless flow of interaction between you and the customers, especially as they explore your platform to check what you have to offer.
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Continue to innovate
It is one thing to keep your site afloat, and it is another to keep it engaging. For example, let’s consider art deco inspired engagement rings. These exceptional rings hold many sentiments and memories for the person. As a jeweler selling your items online, it is pertinent that you continuously develop engagement strategies to keep your customers. Furthermore, always develop new ideas that will give you the edge you need in an expanding market ecosystem.
Author's BIO: Lori Wade is a content writer who is interested in a wide range of spheres from wedding design and fashion trends to wedding business and sharing her ideas. If you are interested in relationships, weddings & fashion, you can find her on Twitter and LinkedIn.
