A recent editorial in JCKonline by editor Rob Bates described the lessons learned by China’s largest retail jewelers as they come out of the COVID-19 lockdown and get back to business. Taking a cue from their experience, I think we can reflect on how our own COVID crisis will change the way we do business once these difficult days are behind us.

Convenient technology grows in popularity

It’s fair to assume the technology that we are relying on during this crisis will become a constant part of life for most of us going forward. Videoconferencing, for example, will likely become the “new normal.” Even stubborn technology holdouts like my grandmother are now using Zoom meetings and FaceTime like a pro. These kinds of tools are making it easy to keep in touch and foster connection when getting together in person is not possible.

Online shopping is another area of tech experiencing a big COVID-19 surge. Since people are confined to their homes, they are turning to their computers and mobile devices to order everything they used to get in a store, from groceries to furniture to, yep, you guessed it – jewelry. Although people will likely go back to shopping in brick-and-mortar stores after this crisis passes, some might prefer the convenience of shopping online. If you can build out e-commerce on your website or other ways of connecting with your customers virtually, it will help your business now and in the future.

A chance to reflect and reimagine

For retail jewelers who are currently working remotely, it makes sense to take advantage of this time and consider ways to improve your business. A silver lining of this crisis is that you have the chance to explore the things you’ve always wanted to do but didn’t have time for, given the demands of your day-to-day operations. If we’re honest with ourselves, the jewelry industry has lagged behind others when it comes to using the latest technologies to modernize our operations and enhance customer experiences. Now is the perfect opportunity to see how you might be able to reinvent your retail business and build new and stronger customer relationships that will be flourishing when the time comes to reopen your store.

Free technology to help your business

At BriteCo, we believe this period of temporary store closings can be an opportunity for retail jewelers to take a closer look at their way of doing business. In fact, our entire business model is built on offering retail jewelers free appraisal software that you can use to save time and make more money by automating and streamlining labor intensive tasks.

Whenever you finalize an appraisal on the BriteCo platform, your customer gets an email with a copy of your appraisal for their records. A moment later, BriteCo sends the customer a text or email offering instant insurance coverage, based on the appraisal value. It’s all electronic (though you can print your appraisal for them if you’d like) and makes for a super convenient customer experience. The BriteCo personal jewelry insurance policy is backed by an AM Best A rated global carrier and delivers replacement coverage up to 125% of appraised value with no deductibles.

In the event of a claim, BriteCo sends the customer back to your store for replacement. No preferred networks and no insurance hassles. In one recent example, the customer was able to file her claim for a chipped stone engagement ring online and get her local jeweler to make the replacement, all within one week. Plus, every time one of your customers fills out our 2-minute insurance application on their smartphone or home computer, your store gets a $15 referral bonus.

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