The convenience of shopping online and the ability to create your own ring weakens the need for consumers to visit a brick-and-mortar store. So, jewelers must create the desire for customers to visit their store and reward them with a memorable shopping experience. At Exclusively Diamonds, we've implemented four programs that have created traffic, generated excitement, and increased sales.

Clean-and-check postcards: We send a postcard to customers every six months to remind them of the importance of cleaning and checking their jewelry. This allows us to check prongs, buff the gold, and clean stones. This free service makes our jewelry look spectacular years after it is purchased. It also allows the customer to see new inventory, fill out a wish list, or make a purchase while they wait. It's important that staff work together so that while one person cleans the jewelry, another entertains and wows the customer. Customers are often limited in their time and attention, so it's important to make the most of every minute they're in the store.

Celebration Club membership: Exclusively Diamonds mails a US$ 50 birthday and anniversary gift certificate to be used for purchases over US$ 100 during the month of that celebration. This allows for self-purchases as well as gift purchases. It generates large dollar sales but salespeople must be highly trained to turn a US$ 100 sale into a larger purchase.

Event marketing: This creates excitement and sales. Our last promotion, “Color Your World,” was on a Wednesday in June. The first 100 customers received a free gemstone at the door. The parking lot started to fill up at 9 a.m. We played music and did a tailgate party serving mimosas and coffee drinks until we opened at 9:30 a.m. When we did, over 50 people were waiting in line to shop, and by late morning the gemstones were gone. Customers were so thrilled to receive a gemstone that 30 percent purchased mountings and had them set the day of the event. The excitement created a momentum in our sales as we sold color, engagement rings, a 4.00 ct. diamond ring (a woman's self-purchase), a 2.00 ct. diamond pendant, diamond earrings.

Expanded bench services: We added a third goldsmith in February and purchased a laser welder in May. Promoting our shop and bench services differentiates us from chain stores and the Internet. This expanded service allowed us to set and deliver all of the gemstones the day of our “Color Your World” party. We've increased our advertising budget to market our bench services to smaller towns in our area, boosting our repair revenues 40 percent in the first half of 2007. We're now including eyeglass repair in our advertisements to further expand our services.