For many ringing in a New Year starts on January 1st. For those that are interested in Asian culture or follow the Chinese calendar, the Chinese New Year (the Year of the Monkey) starts this week. So my question for retailers, have you made any business resolutions? If you have put your plans for the New Year in action then great! What is your plan for reaching millennials? You need to have a separate strategy for the different demographics that you hope to interact with in your store and online. Millennials and how to reach them are a common focus in the news and though out the retail industry. So how can you improve your message to refocus Millennials on your store and product? I have three suggestions broken into the store and online experience. Whether you have a presence in both or one you hopefully will get some ideas from my insights.
- Transparency: This word references many aspects of a business but my focus in this article is transparency on the price. Keeping a price secret or worse thinking that telling the potential customer to contact you for the price can end up wasting both your time and theirs.
Store: Have some of your window displays list the price or give a range. Millennial shoppers like to research and price compare, it is not a fact retailers always like but this is how it is. Jewelry is still an emotional purchase but with a little more thought than what previous generations used. An example of displaying prices is below from a jewelry store I visited in Boston.
Online: For social media the call to DM (Direct message) works for people familiar with your brand or have a personal relationship with you. For new comers to your brand or new to buying jewelry it is daunting to write if you do not want to buy right away and are just seeing what is out there. A price range would be a good start or mention where prices start in a certain category. For example, you Instagram a ring and mention that you can DM about a price and prices start at (amount). In addition, if your website has a gallery of photos but no price listed give a range or list the price for at least the low to mid-priced items. You do not need to sell everything shown online but again it helps Millennials research and become introduced to your brand. David Webb’s online site displays prices for some of their pieces even though they are not for sale online. Example pictured below:
- Informative: Sprinklr.com listed a report on, ‘Content Best Practices among Millennials’, I think the findings can be applied for online and in stores. Only putting out the message of ‘buy from me’ will not build that relationship necessary to sustain your business.
Online: Keep the message short, informative and shareable. On social media, you need to put out material that tells your story and how your product can be a part of your customer’s lifestyle. Show different skin tones wearing your product. Style your product for your audience, show your jewelry worn with jeans so your audience sees them in action rather than just telling the audience your necklace can go with a little black dress or blue jeans.
Store: Organize your jewelry by designer if you have well distinct brands that you represent. For the in store displays, list the name of the designer and a little about them. You can also show the designer’s website or display an article, that the designer has a feature.
- Patience: The graphs from another report listed on Sprinklr.com below are to illustrate the income gap Millennials still face compared to other groups.
For both online and store: Millennials are becoming the major consumer group but we are still not in the salary range or as out of debt as we hope to be. Each purchase even a small amount is a huge investment and value is a factor in buying jewelry not just ‘is it pretty’. Patience from retailers is necessary for open lines of communication with price sensitive Millennials. The world of retail, especially for jewelry is changing and it is better to start and adapt than try catch up later. I would love to get thoughts and opinions about your experience with the industry, please comment below.
Have a Happy Chinese New Year! I look forward to many more posts and discussions on this site! Please visit again soon and sign up for my email to keep up to date with new posts!
