How Retailers Can Fix the 5 Major Pain Points of Buying Jewelry Online
Jewelry doesn't exactly lend itself well to online shopping. When you visit a jeweler, you're able to see the product you're purchasing. You can hold it in your hands, look at it from every angle, see how it fits, and ask the jeweler for help with any questions you might have.
That experience isn't exactly easy to come by online. People all too frequently have to make their jewelry purchases on faith. While that may be acceptable for more affordable ornaments, that doesn't exactly fly with pricier items like engagement rings.
Finer pieces of jewelry represent a huge financial commitment. They need to be able to trust that the jeweler they're purchasing from is above-board, and that the product they're buying is authentic. As a retailer, it's your job to provide them with that assurance.
That begins with an understanding of their most common bottlenecks and frustrations — so with that said, here are the five biggest pain points online shoppers face when buying jewelry online.
#1 The inability to try before you buy
Even if a piece of jewelry looks good in lifestyle photos, that doesn't mean it will be a good fit for whoever intends to wear it. In a brick-and-mortar jeweler, this problem is simple enough to address. All a customer needs to do is ask the jeweler, and they can likely try a product on.
This is a touch more difficult to swing where digital sales are concerned. Even having measurements will only get a customer so far. After all, it's not enough to know that a product will fit.
They also need to know that it will look good on them.
#2 Slow order processing
The jewelry industry has become somewhat notorious for its order processing times. This is understandable to some extent. If someone's ordering custom jewelry, they're doing so with the expectation that it's made right.
With that in mind, they might be willing to accept the notion that their product is simply ready when it's ready. Unfortunately, e-commerce giants like Amazon have sort of turned this expectation on its head. Customers have all gotten used to short delivery times, often receiving a product they ordered a day or so after they made their purchase.
This means that more often than not, when a customer orders a piece of jewelry and it takes ages to show up, they may grow frustrated enough to not purchase from your brand in the future.
#3 Trust issues
How does a customer know you're offering a fair price on your jewelry? How can they be certain that your products are really made out of the materials you claim? The short answer is that they can't.
When you purchase something from a licensed jeweler in person, they'll typically have some sort of professional certification that puts your mind at ease. Certain pieces of jewelry may even come with certificates of authenticity. Neither of these measures translate especially well to a digital storefront.
The end result is that customers might be skeptical about your prices, believing them to be far too high for what you're selling.
#4 Poor product protection plans
As we mentioned earlier, jewelry can be a huge commitment financially.
The problem here should be obvious. What happens if a customer orders a piece of jewelry and for some reason it doesn't fit? What if they order something and receive a defective product?
Does your jewelry have any sort of warranty regarding damaged, lost, or stolen items? If the customer somehow damages their purchase, will their only choice be to visit a jeweler for repairs? Most importantly, what components are protected and for how long?
As a retailer, you need to know the answer to all of these questions.
#5 Safety and security
Fraud runs rampant on the Internet. It's a sad reality we'll all have to accept one way or another. As a result, most people buying jewelry — or really, any big-ticket item — online are already going to have their hackles raised. And not just because they doubt the quality of a product as mentioned earlier.
It's all too easy to get burned by a scammer. All it takes is a single slip-up, even if you're confident that you know what to look for. Some people have taken this perspective to its natural extreme and trust absolutely no one.
And even people who aren't especially paranoid are going to think twice about purchasing from a company that seems even the least bit sketchy.
How to improve the online jewelry shopping experience
The problems with buying jewelry online can ultimately be boiled down to a few key takeaways:
- Without a means of trying on a product, a customer has no idea if they're making the right purchase.
- People are wary of giving out financial information, particularly to a brand they know very little about.
- There's often no way to verify that a product is authentic or from where the retailer sources its gems.
- Processing times are incredibly slow, and likely a source of endless frustration for customers.
- Warranties and return policies are often needlessly restrictive or narrow in focus.
The solution to some of these problems should be rather obvious to you. Find ways to streamline order processing and fulfillment, include trust badges on your website, and if possible find a way to allow even people without a credit card to purchase from you. Beyond that, make sure you offer a generous return policy and warranty.
As for the other challenges, Tangiblee can help. Our immersive shopping and augmented reality solutions are trusted by some of the world's top fashion and luxury brands. Through features like Virtual Try-On, we can help give your customers all the motivation they need to purchase from you.
To learn more about how Tangiblee can help your business improve sales, schedule a free demo here.