Jewelry Business Guru by Cindy Edelstein

KC Designs was so busy at JA show with these big diamond rings

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More from AGTA Spectrum Award Editor's Day

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Sent from my iPhone - sorry for any typos!

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Scenes from 2010 AGTA Spectrum Awards

It was challenging to get good iPhone photos in the late afternoon light so if you want a good look at a lot of the winners see the AGTA Facebook page.

Overall there was such great quality designs ... My lasting impressions were that there was a lot of fine gems, very few moonstones which made me sad since I love them so much, ditto labradorite which has been so trendy of late, big centerstone rings, some colored pave but less than a year or two ago... And more than a few outrageously expensive jewels that reminded me of the good old days!

Overall, a great collection and I saw a lot of press taking notes. Also good to see.

Pave diamond monkey brooch was one of the friendliest entries!

This pearl ring is just perfect for someone -- bold and dramatic.

Intense gem carving and the metalwork was outstanding -- different on both sides with lots of surprising touches

Erica Courtney rocked the big rocks -- tanzanite to be exact.

Sooo much

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Notes from Retail Camp: The Future Of Social Commerce

Wish I was able to attend this great seminar -- here's the highlights of the conversation from my point-of-view.

See all points at http://fashionablymarketing.me

What  Being “Social” Does For Fashion
1.  Commerce is based on a consumer (people) driven economy; with retail, social is the underlying fabric, technology has facilitated that the two merge. With social commerce, personalization is key in this world now. Social media plays a big part in this.

3.  Consumers justify price with personalization. Brands can accomplish social successes through one-on-one connection with customers; it is imperative. By simply responding to a tweet, brands can easy do this.

5. Companies shouldn’t allow one employee to become a Twitter star; give a brand’s Twitter access to multiple people. Community members want to connect to the brand employees, not just the company Twitter account.

How do you engage people who don’t know about your brand?

Simple, your brand should have a niche. Find people who are talking about your niche.

9.  How do you want your social strategy to be shaped? Look at the people who are doing it right. Some of the brands doing social media very well:  The Limited, Diesel,  Bonobos, ModCloh, Urban Outfitters, LOFT  and Target.

10. How does a brand or retailer measure social media? Measuring social media is about measuring community and audience engagement. Software tools such as Attensity 360 can help you figure this out, too.  Social media success is measured differently based on your brands marketing/revenue objectives. You’ll now hear about “sentiment.”

11. Fashion is going OPEN SOURCE! Sites like @LookbookDOTnu @FashionStake @Polyvore and @SenseOFashion are democratizing fashion, essentially bringing in the open source model to the industry. There is an irreversible shift of the power to the consumer – consumers want the very best and it’s all individual. Democratization of fashion is redefining who influences and communicates.

 

Neiman Marcus adds flash sales

It's all the rage and it seems no one will be left behind in the flash sale phenomenon.

Neiman Marcus has added a flash sale -- called Midday Dash -- to it's retail mix via eblasts to loyal customers and available for just a few short hours.

Read my recent blog post on the whole phenomenon if you want to see and understand all the players:

LuxuryDaily.com reports:

In the future, flash sales and email promotions to dedicated shoppers
 will likely become a staple of luxury brands online, because of their
need to make shopping entertaining. Efforts such as Neiman Marcus’ sale
on Friday are an attempt at innovation and a way to generate excitement.

“This is eBay-ing it, if you will, and a lot of brands have adopted
it online,” Mr. Pedraza, CEO of Luxury Institute, New York, said. “Neiman is tapping into it — let’s see it
if will last.

“There is a lot of dynamic [marketing] going on and I think it is a
wonderful test of something that is going on everywhere else,” he said.
“A little late to the party, but its better late than never.

“They are starting to innovate now, retailers are starting to rethink
 everything and this is just one example of trying to reinvent yourself a
 bit.”

read the whole article here.

 

Great idea for an odd problem -- She said "it was in the box"

Have you ever had a client say, upon receiving your shipment, "that ring wasn't in the box."

It happens. Particularly when you ship an order to a wholesale account and there are many items to the order. And then they claim one wasn't included. You know you added it so the error must be in their unpacking.

How to prove the mistake wasn't in the shipping but in the receiving?

The best advice we'd gotten is do what the big boys do and have a video camera in your shipping room. But what if you aren't that big? And don't have a designated room?

We came across this wearable video camera and thought that this would be a great use for jewelers.

Just put the camera on your ear as you (or staff) pack your shipments to guarantee what you've put into the box.

 

How the Web Is Changing Fashion Marketing in 2010

Things are moving fast and many fashion houses are experimenting with new ways of reaching, and embracing, their customers.

 Location-based networks like Foursquare and Gowalla have been used to launch new products, reward visitors and drive traffic to new stores. Facebook is popular for new launches as well as brand campaigns -- Marc Jacobs' new fragrance Bang got it's own facebook application and encouraged people to "bang" their friends to win prizes.

Read more of these new tricks and tools on Mashable.com's blog post: How the Web Is Changing Fashion Marketing in 2010.

Ever see a Bat Mitzvah crowd surf?

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