The website has become an essential tool for businesses, including jewelry stores and stores selling eyewear, handbags, shoes, and accessories in general. Whether your business is in retail or wholesale, it is very important to have a website as very often customers visit it before going to the store or do online research to find out about businesses that offer that product they are looking for in a particular geographic area. They also do research online to buy directly through the e-commerce website (when present). That’s why having an online presence is fundamental!
In this article we are not going to explain how to create, maintain, or give visibility to your website, because it is not possible to provide this information in an article like this and, moreover, we recommend that you rely on professionals if you really want to get results online.
Here we will just give you 10 useful tips that you can apply on your website to engage your website visitors and increase your online sales (if you have already applied them you are on the right track!):
1. Dynamic banner at the top of the homepage
In the top part of the homepage of your website insert a dynamic banner in which you give useful and interesting information to the visitor, so that they will be enticed to continue the visit or to proceed with the purchase. Some examples of messages to include are:
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New collections
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Discounts and promotions
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Best-selling products
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Slogans to be recognized and stand out from competitors
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Products dedicated to an event (e.g., jewelry or romantic accessories for the Valentine’s Day period)
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Participation or organization of events to give customers a chance to experience the brand.
2. Categorization of products
In the world of fashion and jewelry this is basic, but it is worth emphasizing its importance.
Dividing products into categories allows for a faster and quicker search for the desired product, and offering the possibility within the category to enter a series of filters for searching will make our website visitor even happier, because they will find more easily the product they are looking for.
A good division of categories and of products into filters is essential, especially when you have many products. Categories are usually divided into gender (man, woman, and kids) into type (e.g., bracelets, rings, necklaces, eyeglasses, sunglasses, etc.) and into “new collections” and “promotions” to give more visibility to some discount or new products.
3. Create beautiful photos or 3D animations
On the website, photography is essential! On both the home and category pages, products must be shown at their best with professional photos that show the product in all its beauty.
The photos posted on the homepage are usually links to the categories and can be:
- photos with the model: to show the product with a more emotional photo
- more artistic photos with a particular background
- still-life photos with a white background
- 3D animations of the product.
Once you enter the selected category (e.g., rings or sunglasses) the photos must all be still-life with white background with the products as worn or 3D animations always with white background.
On pages with many images, it is essential that the photos are with a white background with no shadows or unwanted reflections because our website visitor in a few seconds will have to analyze and choose which product sheet to open among dozens of products.
One of the reasons why you do not have sales from your e-commerce website is precisely a low photo quality which leads the website visitor to think that the product is not beautiful and, therefore, they decide not to proceed with the purchase. That is why the photography aspect is undoubtedly one of the most important when you have a website!
Do you need help getting beautiful photos and 3D animations of your products? We offer photography courses, rental and sale of photo systems to get professional photos and videos of your products.
4. Reviews in the homepage and below the product
If you have reviews, the website should show them as much as possible, so they should be placed within the sheet of the related product and at the bottom of the homepage, because reviews let the customer know that the brand is known and customers who have made a purchase have been satisfied. This will encourage new customers to trust you and proceed with their first purchase.
5. Chat at the payment stage
The chat at the payment stage is very useful as it allows you not to lose customers in the final stages preceding the purchase. Very often, in fact, something can go wrong at the time of payment or order, and for the customer to be able to get in touch easily with the company from which they are buying through a chat will allow them to feel helped and not leave the buying process incomplete.
6. Showing the products from different angles
In the product page it is a good idea to include several photographs of the jewel to show it in its entirety:
- photo with the product as if it was worn (the same one shown in the product category page)
- photos of the main angles, especially if they show details not visible in the first photo
- photo of the detail or details that distinguishes the product, for example small workmanship or engravings
- photo with the model showing how the product looks on the body
- possibly interactive 3D animations or videos of the product in motion
These results (except the photos with the model) can be easily obtained with:
- Studio4 Jewels to take photos and create videos of jewelry, gems and watches
- Studio4 Eyewear to take photos and create videos of eyewear
- Studio4 Shoes to take photos and create videos of shoes and small fashion accessories.
7. Selling through jewelry live streaming shopping
Live streaming shopping is a new selling method that is taking even more ground in the industry. It consists in a remote connection with the customer, by using a videocall software (such as Zoom, Skype, or even social networks) to show and promote products remotely, as a face-to-face meeting.
There are different methods to enable live shopping:
- Broadcasting, to communicate simultaneously with many people. Perfect for medium/low price products
- One to one, to ensure a private communication with the customer, as if they were in our shop. This option is ideal for high price sales, where listening and communication with the customer are crucial.
This new way of selling allows you not only to show your shop, but also to expose remotely your products through a direct communication with the customer. This can be done thanks to our software Easy4Pro: our technology enables you to show your products remotely, with an easy and handy user interface, and different commands for the online order entry. Other than that, through our software you will be able to take and edit professional photos, videos, and 3D animations, and take measurements of your products.
8. Easy creation of the customer profile and marketing e-mails
When an e-commerce is in place, and the visitor of your website decides to proceed with the purchase, they always have to register, and the process must be quick and easy. This can be done for example through social network accounts, without creating a dedicated password.
Once the customer is registered, all they need to do is logging into the account. Here, several information must be available, such as previous orders, delivery status of the last purchase, other products that may be of interest according to the previous orders, and the products added to cart.
A good management of the customer’s information and of their previous orders, or even the ones left incomplete, is certainly a good opportunity for the company to collect useful data to create customized marketing e-mails. You might think of sending an email when a product that has been left in the cart without completing the order is discounted; or even advising about other discounts and gift ideas for the customer’s birthday, offering a discount for that day.
These are just a few ideas of customized messages that can be created once clear information on our customers and their interests on the website are available.
9. Keywords
The search for keywords before writing a blog article or a web page is crucial for search engine placement. It is important for your activity, products and services analysis, your targets and competitors’ assessment, and to define your objectives.
It is essential to identify with your own target to find the terms that they would use for online research of your offer. Users type words and phrases in any search engine to find information on a specific subject, and your task is to intercept their needs in the same language.
Once these analyses are accomplished, the terms you found can be verified through Google research: type the words and wait for it to give you more terms. The resulting new terms can give you some new ideas.
Google Ads is another useful tool. It provides a keywords scheduler that allows you to check if the terms you have in mind are actually used by the users. Moreover, it suggests some synonyms according to other Google searches.
All these terms can be used in the titles, in the body of the text, or even in images. It allows the search engines to immediately understand the subject of the page or article, offering your website as the result of what the users are looking for.
10. A good corporate storytelling
Every website must include a web page dedicated to the brand or corporate storytelling.
This page is usually under the name of “About us”, and it aims to engage further the visitor of the website. In this page, it is fundamental to tell the origins and developments of the company, along with the mission and the guiding principles. Once this section is written in a complete and immersive way, visitors will be involved in the company’s values, and will decide whether to buy the products as they feel close to the company’s principles.
AUTHOR
Dalia Lombardi
Jewelry Marketing Expert