Some BOLD ideas to help you increase your Christmas business this year.

Last year was Doom & Gloom. This year was predicted to be the "Second worst year of doom and gloom".

But retail analysts say that this year won't be as bad as predicted. With much of the country unemployed, there's still over 85% of the country working. Although many have lower incomes, they are still out there.

Your Christmas will be better than you expect for a couple of reasons:

1. The biggest reason is Americans just can't NOT SHOP. Remember Christmas after 9/11? It was strong for many jewelers.
2. The stock market is always a predictor of things to come. Last year in May/June the market started to tank and the world started its collapse in September. Things are getting better, slow as it is.

So here are some ideas to try:

1. Thanksgiving is coming up. If you get this Polygon newsletter in time, send a holiday basket to the home of your best 25-50 customers from last Christmas season. Just say “Here’s thinking of you, hope your family has a Happy Thanksgiving.” Why? When these customers have THEIR family over for Thanksgiving, everyone will ask “Where’d you get that beautiful basket?” My Jeweler gave it to me!

2. Send out “no strings attached” $50 gift certificates to your customer list. Consider sending it to anyone who has shopped your store in four years. Why four? If you only send it out to those who shopped last year or the year before you’ll have forgotten a “cycle”. Not everyone buys jewelry EVERY YEAR. This might be the year.

3. Advertise how to give “Free or near free” jewelry this year. Your customers can trade in their old jewelry for new! You’ll be “two keystones”. You’ll make the money on the sale of jewelry and then when you sell the gold you bought from them, you’ll make another keystone.

4. Always have a discount case.

5. Buy at a market some baskets, like you’d use at Easter or take on a picnic. Fill it with some jewelry of different price points. Mark them “Bundled Savings” for your family, office, and friends. Have in the baskets an array of jewelry. Give it a 25% discount, call it savings. Have gold items, silver, maybe jewelry cleaners, etc and have baskets at price points:

a. $99
b. $149
c. $199
d. $249
e. $499
f.  $699

You’ll be amazed how many people (especially men) will buy them, just to take them apart and “regift” them individually.

6. If you have never tried a strong commission system, no matter what you pay now, pay the staff an additional 7% on selling anything from the discount case. During the Christmas season pay the staff an extra $20 if they sell an ADD ON to a sale at the time of the sale and the add on has to be $125 or more. That is the same as giving the customer 16% discount, but it goes to the staff.

7. Would you pay $400 to increase Christmas business? You can buy a 32” TV for under $500 now. Go buy Two of them and set them up in the lunch room, one for sure turned on. Give one of the TV’s away to the sales person with the highest total sales during Christmas. Give the other to the person with the single highest sale at Christmas. This way a #2 or #3 salesperson could get a TV by the mere fact of selling a single high ticket item.

Be positive this year and you’ll have a positive Christmas season.


David Geller
Director of profits
www.jewelerprofit.com