For years now, I have loved magic. Not so much the elephant disappearing routines, but the close-up magic where some old object goes away and then magically comes back all shiny and new.
There is a “free but mysterious” magician on YouTube that shows you some great disappearing tricks and then, a few seconds later, shows you how it works. His revelation of the secret is both very good and also, a bit disappointing. After watching this, I now know how its done, and therefore it has lost some of the “magic”.
When I am doing a visual merchandising consulting trip (perhaps, in the store down the street from yours) and I am walking around getting my first store impressions, I usually go first to the stores bridal showcases. For most of my clients, Bridal Diamonds is their top category and any improvements I make in those cases will generate for them the most dollar returns, the fastest.
Frequently, I “blow up” (re-arrange) those cases and make the existing arrangement of those cases “totally disappear.” All too often, the existing arrangement of their bridal case is haphazard and hard to shop. I listen to a sample sales presentation given by the stores #1 salesperson and it is sometimes a bit wandering and does not flow smoothly.
It is not their fault, they just need more magic.
As I have written before in these pages, bridal cases always generate more sales when they are organized to align with the sequence of the sales presentation of the salespersons. Add some good merchandising principles and, voila! – you get sales growth. It’s not magic but it takes some effort on your part.
Here is my effort to help you!
You see, it’s time for me to do a trick and you get to be my audience. No tickets needed, it’s free. Just give me 5 minutes of your time.
Go to your bridal case and take a few overhead photos of all your bridal cases. Write down what kind of merchandise is in each case (halos, sols, bands, etc.) and send the images to me at Larry@LarryJohnsonConsulting.com. Include in your email, a time and date we can talk for about 15 minutes and discuss your layouts. It would be great if you had your EDGE “Inventory Performance by Category” report for the last 365 days (or equivalent), but we can live without it.
On the telephone, we’ll talk, I’ll ask questions, you’ll answer and in 10 minutes or so, I’ll give you FREE suggestions on how you might rearrange that case to sell more of the pieces you want most to sell – as if by magic! No sales pitch from me. No comments about your old displays being potential collectors items. We’ll use the displays you already have to implement any changes and if the trick doesn’t work and your sales do not grow (it happens sometimes), you can always put it back the way you had it.
That mysterious magician creates amazing results with sleight of hand, some props and visual distractions. I want to help you create more sales by focusing your customers’ eyes on the pieces you want most to sell and then motivating that customer to decide a ring from your showcase is the one that belongs on her hand.
Bonus! The 7th store that sends me images of their bridal cases for free analysis will get a free, signed copy of my book “The Complete Guide to Effective Jewelry Display”. (A used signed copy is currently on eBay for $197.59)
The book will magically appear in the store right before your eyes, with the help of a FedEx delivery person chosen totally by random!
I’ll also give a free, live, 30 minute Zoom visual merchandising training session for one of your morning team meetings!
Disclaimer: I’d make Jake, my elephant magically appear in your store instead, but he’s currently out on the road doing a series of trunk shows. (Sorry!)
