Things are tough for retailers in the UK right now, especially for jewellery retailers. Money is tight all around, and the temptation is always there to cut costs by buying cheaper stock. For jewellery and fashion accessory shops, this can be fatal.
The fashion accessory market rises and falls with the economy. Many small businesses will die before things pick back up and consumers begin spending again. So how should you combat this? What should you do?
The key to surviving and even thriving in a tough economy when selling what many perceive to be luxury items is not to work harder, but to work smarter. You need to work out where your real profits lie and invest in those items. Turnover is not profit. Number of items sold is not profit. A busy twelve hour day is not profit. You could be working fourteen hour days, seven days a week, selling lots of necklaces and bracelets, and still find yourself close to the edge and on the brink of closing down.
Our experience with jewellery and accessory retailers in the UK and across Europe has been that the segment that best survives turbulent economic times is the one that targets the middle of the road customer – the customer who doesn’t want cheap plastic accessories and stays away from expensive metals and stones. The £20-£40 customer, not the £4-£6 customer.
Though we do sell some cheap lines that would suit those on a lower budget, our best customers are still buying necklaces that we wholesale for £4-£6, and they are still buying these in large numbers. Don’t fall into the cost cutting trap of buying from the bottom of the catalogue, because if you do you’re likely to stay in that market, and you’ll be competing against pound shops and chain stores for the customers with the least amount of money. Not somewhere you want to be when spending is down.
Our fashion accessories encompass necklaces, bracelets, fashion rings, scarves and watches, and most of these items are strong sellers that command strong prices.
