I’ve just gotten back from a round of at several jewelry industry conventions and I have to share a story I heard from a retailer with you.
Like many jewelers, this particular retailer carries a mix of their own custom jewelry creations and several designer lines. They’ve been in business for a quite a few years. Over that time, they’ve dropped and added a few different lines, as fashion trends and industry circumstances have changed.

A customer was thrilled to discover, via the store’s website, that this retailer carried a particular line of charm jewelry. She drove a significant distance – more than 2 hours – because there were charms they really wanted to buy and not many stores carried this line anymore.

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You know where this story is going, right? The jewelry retailer in question had followed the trends and wasn’t carrying the line anymore either – but their website didn’t reflect that information accurately. The customer was disappointed, and the retailer’s efforts to sell her pieces from the ‘better’ line they’d chosen to replace the first line fell absolutely flat. She didn’t want the ‘better’ line; she wanted what she’d seen on the retailer’s website.

Expectation Management Is Your Website’s #1 Job

Your website is the heart of your business. It’s where your customers will go to learn more about your store and your offerings. What they see on your website creates a set of expectations in the customer’s mind; they begin to imagine what it will be like to shop with you based on what they see online.
This is particularly true when it comes to designer jewelry offerings. Customers who search for a jewelry brand by name have already started building a relationship with that look; they know what they want.

This is why it is absolutely essential that your website accurately reflect the experience your customer will have in the store. Check your own website: do you have lines on there you no longer carry? Are all the lines you do carry featured appropriately? If this information is not accurate, make it so immediately. It’s the first step to improving your marketing & creating more satisfied customers.

Accurate designer listings is an essential step in expectation management, but it’s not the only one. Your use of imagery, color, and copy all impact how your customer envisions your store. The best jewelry retailer’s sites present an accurate and appealing representation of the in-store experience. If you’re not sure if your site does this, it’s time for a website audit. This process will let you know if your website’s performing as it should be. If it’s not, making adjustments to your website can help you sell more jewelry – and that’s what this is all about!