Jewelry Industry and Retail News
We permanently get informed by our friends and partners from around the Web - about news, trends and/or best practice advice, loosely related to the jewelry retail business. Therefore, we present you here the most interesting or most useful of this information every month - from the following 3 top categories:
| Trends | Sales | Tech |
|---|---|---|
| Hot new/continued jewelry trends as presented to your customers from around the Web. See what they see when they scour the Web and think about your inventory. | Marketing news and related info that you could use in your daily operations. How to get your name out there, wherever you can and get people to know about your business. |
Tools and Trends (mostly tech related) that can make your business life easier. These are tools or trends that can help your business grow, get more organized, save more money, and/or streamline operations. |
Hopefully, you will get some tips/suggestions for your own business activities from this!
January 2016
Wholesale???
Buying wholesale is a fairly simple and straight forward process. You're buying your product inventory (usually other brands) direct from the manufacturer or from a middleman supplier at a discounted wholesale rate, which you in-turn, resell at a higher price.
Buying wholesale is a lower risk business model compared to manufacturing for a few reasons. First, you're dealing with brands that are already validated on the market so you don’t run the risk of wasting time and money developing a product no one wants. Also, you don’t have to purchase as nearly as high of a quantity compared to manufacturing your own product. Minimum orders will depend on the manufacturer and product; however they're usually pretty reasonable and can even be as low as one unit.
Who's It For?
Purchasing products wholesale is a good option if you want to get up and running quickly or if you want to sell a variety of products and brands. Wholesaling provides a wide range of opportunities as there are many products available for wholesale.
Pros
Selling Already Established Products - Because you’re selling already established products helps to lessen the risk associated with purchasing inventory.
Brand Familiarity - Selling already established brands can help position your brand by creating an aura effect on your brand.
Cons
Selling Already Established Products - Selling already established products can work for you as well as against you. Because the products are available from multiple retailers, you will need to fight extra hard to differentiate yourself and convince consumers to purchase from you.
Price Control - Selling other brands means to some extent you have to play by their rules. Some brands will enforce price controls to prevent you from discounting their products. This limits your ability to have certain sales and offers.
Inventory Management - When purchasing wholesale you will likely have to purchase a minimum order of each product. The minimum order will depend on the product and manufacturer, however, you will have to stock and hold inventory as well as manage that inventory for re-ordering.
Dealing With Supply Partners - If you're carrying an array of products, dealing with multiple supply partners can become difficult to manage. Requirements may vary from supplier to supplier.
Margins
The margins for wholesale are typically good compared to Dropshipping. This method might be considered a safe middle ground between manufacturing and Dropshipping. Although each case is unique, it’s typical to see a 50% margin on wholesale goods resold at retail pricing.
Risks
Buying wholesale is a lower risk business model compared to manufacturing but still carries risk. Wholesaling will require the purchase of inventory with no guarantee that you can see it. Perhaps the greatest risk comes from figuring out how to differentiate yourself from the many other retailers selling the same products.
by Richard Lazazzera @ shopify.com
