Perspectives from Five Stores: Jewelry and Gifts Sales Trends at Boutiques

At boutique shops, jewelry and gifts are showing definite trends this fall. For this article, store staff and owners revealed their tops tips to sell more of both categories.

At Isabella in Sunnyvale, Calif., Owner Rosemary Osorio said she is doing very well with “small, very dainty pieces, such as necklaces and earrings. People are layering these delicate necklaces in twos and threes and more.” But, Osorio reported, big is, well, big too. “I’m doing great with very large rings, as well.” And to sell more jewelry, suggestive selling and display are her top techniques. “It’s important to tell people who come in about our jewelry, to point it out to them, and then to have it displayed attractively, in a way that shows it off.” Good lighting is a factor too, she said.

When it comes to gifts, a variety of scarves, both long and short, and her jewelry items are the top sellers; gifting trends lean toward these easy-to-give items. While attractive display and personal interaction with customers also helps to boost sales of gift items, another top tip from Osorio is “We keep our gifts in a section of the store. We put our scarves, and some jewelry there as well as hair pieces.”

In Reno, Nev., at Chez Vous, boutique Owner Pamela Dolan said that all her jewelry is selling extremely well this year, from “local artists to inspirational-type pieces, with words such as ‘grateful,’ ‘hope,’ and ‘love.’ Necklaces overall are trending more popular than any other kind of jewelry.” While one specific style is not more popular than another in her store, Dolan said “There is a real trend back to gold. We are seeing more and more of that, and there was certainly a time when silver was more popular by far.” Although necklaces are a top jewelry seller, her earrings do well, too, and she just reordered Swarovski crystal earrings that are a strong seller at Chez Vous, she said.

When it comes to gift items, Dolan has a wide range of items from home décor-oriented items to baby goods. Her Capri Blue candles are big sellers as are bath and body products and scarves of all types. She sees no one trend in gifts.

Display in both categories works best when the items are cross-merchandised, she noted. “We mix and match throughout the store, although we do keep some of our more expensive jewelry items near the front register.” Dolan added that “We dress our mannequins in full outfits, and accessorize with jewelry and scarves, things like that. That really works very well. People will tend to buy a sweater, for example, and add the necklace they see on the mannequin wearing that sweater.” She said that cross-merchandising works far better than keeping items in one specific section of the store.

Heading north to Morro Bay, Calif., Gretchen Wilt , sales associate, and the shop’s main merchandiser, said that at Lavender Blu Boutique, the top trends in jewelry are “Long necklaces, especially pendants with natural stones.” In gifts, best-sellers are “scarves, candles, hats, and purses.”

Selling more jewelry items is primarily based on display in the 800-square-foot store, which is located on the waterfront. “I try to keep the smaller pieces behind glass, but the bigger, pendant-style pieces, people really like to touch them, so we keep those out and attractively hung. They are our most popular pieces anyway.” Tourists – and the store gets plenty of visiting guests, according to Wilt – gravitate toward these items as well as gifts such as scarves, hats, and wraps. “The weather here drives those sales, because a lot of visitors come from the San Joaquin Valley, where it is much hotter than here by the shore, and they want these items for themselves because the cooler weather is a surprise. They also purchase them for others.” Display is important to boost sales for gift items, too, Wilt said.

In Ruston, Wash., Amanda Enz handles marketing, operations, and styling at Purpose Boutique. Enz related that “The biggest trend I am seeing in jewelry is a lot of gold, rather than silver, and a lot of layered necklaces, one smaller and daintier, and one with a bigger, larger pendant that is longer. In earrings, hoops are always a classic, and whenever people can wear them without it interfering with their masks, they just love them. People are excited to wear statement earrings when they can.” The trends Enz sees in gifts are nothing new, with the most popular items remaining consistent for the store. “Jewelry, candles, hats, and scarves, those are pretty much the gift items we offer our customers.”

To improve jewelry sales, Enz uses social media to feature these pieces along with other products on Instagram. “In the store, we have all our mannequins fully accessorized with necklaces, earrings, and bracelets, as well as with scarves and hats. We put the whole nine

“Dainty necklaces are very much ‘in’ right now. That style is our best-selling one. People layer them in threes and fours, usually in gold. Gold is a huge trend for us here in Eugene versus silver jewelry.” yards on them,” she noted. “We also have our jewelry on a featured table with jewelry displays.”

Selling more gift items focuses both on display and on customer interaction. “All our stylists are trained to gravitate to certain items to suggest as gifts when people ask about that. We will always show our jewelry, candles, and scarves because they make great gifts.” Seasonally, gift items are placed in a special gift section during the holidays, as well.

At Gilt + Gossamer in Eugene, Ore., Retail Associate Continued on page 136

Perspectives from Five Stores

(From page 135)

Melanie M., speaking for owner Melissa Atchien , noted a jewelry trend that mirrors that of Enz and Osorio. “Dainty necklaces are very much ‘in’ right now. That style is our best-selling one. People layer them in threes and fours, usually in gold. Gold is a huge trend for us here in Eugene versus silver jewelry.” Gift trends lean toward kits and candles, she said. “We do very well with facial products, kits for Foot Therapy, a Sleep Well kit, things like that. Personal products such as perfume oil, hand cream, and lip balms, soothing luxury items like that, those do well as gifts, too.”

Her top tip to sell more jewelry is to feature these pieces on social media, where the boutique has a large following, and on the website, while in-store focusing on strong displays. “Our displays are really beautiful and draw the eye. We will also direct people to jewelry and gift items, too, if they tell us they are looking for either, and we know our merchandise very well.” She added that “We also pair our jewelry with clothing items on the four mannequins we have in the store. We change the mannequins outfits every single day, and we match jewelry to the outfits.” Displaying jewelry at a large, front-of-the-store table also works to boost sales. “It’s really the first thing people see when they walk in the store.” ❖