For most local jewelers, the realm of physical retail is where they are most comfortable. Setting up an online presence, which encompasses everything from an e-commerce website and social media to SEO, PPC, and beyond, can be an intimidating process. But Facebook, an online giant, proves that being in both places is extremely important if you want to draw customers into your online and offline brand.
Facebook opened a pop up shop in nine Macy’s locations across the country. These pop ups will feature goods from 100 small businesses and will help holiday shoppers find items to give as gifts. Amazon and Google have also both opened physical locations. Here are two reasons why this online and offline strategy would be beneficial for jewelers:
Be Everywhere Your Customers Are
Jewelers should think about the customer journey, which is all the ways your customer might interact with your brand from the time they become aware that you exist to the time they have made a purchase and are recommending your brand to others. The majority of the journey (pictured below) occurs online.
By opening up their own pop up stores Facebook is making brands that advertise on the platform more aware of the opportunities being on Facebook can bring to their bottom line.
For jewelers, this means that if you want to hit your customer at every stage of the journey, having an online presence is absolutely essential.
Build Credibility & Trust
Building trust is an integral part of the customer experience. With so many options, customers aren’t interested in doing business with someone they don’t trust. For these 100 small businesses who were featured at the pop up, they are essentially being endorsed by Facebook as having trustworthy products. Other small businesses interested in running ads on Facebook trust the social media giant even more because they see that Facebook is willing to pay to advertise these other brands in Macy’s for the holidays.
Jewelers—your customers expect retailers with a physical store to also have a website. Buying jewelry is a huge investment so consumers are looking for these subtle signals that you are a reputable business with quality customer service. Customer reviews are also hugely important. 91% of people regularly or occasionally read online reviews while 84% of people trust them as much as they would a personal recommendation. Getting your store visitors to leave a review after their visit can really build your online reputation.
