Riches in the Niches
One of the best ways to build a profitable online jewelry business is to specialize. You would be surprised how many people you can reach, even in a tiny product category. In the New York Times this morning, I was inspired to find a small ad for a Scarsdale, New York jeweler. The Village Goldsmith has decided to reach out to a wider market by specializing in dog-themed jewelry. This store is offering jewelry with hundreds of different dog varieties. (This is a growing trend: see Modern Jeweler’s Best of Breed fashion spread in the November/December 2006 issue. Pet-themed jewelry is also scheduled for a feature on the Today show on Monday, December 4.)
The Village Goldsmith’s site is pretty rudimentary but it gets the job done. And the Village Goldsmith isn’t the only one mining jewelry niches. Cliptomania sells non-pierced earrings. Another jeweler I know sells high-end medical jewelry. The idea is to go deep and narrow: although this kind of niche is difficult or impossible in a brick-and-mortar store, the web brings you a national (and sometimes even international) audience, so even if a half-a-percent of consumers would be interested in your product, it adds up to a nice potential business. So if you want to launch an online store and don’t want to invest the money to compete with Blue Nile, Tiffany, QVC, and jewelry.com, consider carrying something they don’t.