3. Executive Summary
JewelryU is an online business that plans to launch with $15,000 to spend. The company is a
customizable jewelry company that will brighten your inner design skills. JewelryU allows you to
customize your jewelry from the metal that you would like, to the thickness of a chain and even adds
gems to your favorite pieces of jewelry to your liking. What sets our company aside is the idea of making
a piece of jewelry your own. Our goal in this company is to allow our customers to reach full satisfaction
with a piece of jewelry that they can tell a story about. By allowing our customers to choose different
features on their pieces, this will allow the customers to make a piece the way they envision it in their
mind.
JewelryU’s goal for secondary research was to find all of the information possible about jewelry.
We looked at the target market and competitors. While researching the target market of women in their
twenties, we found that about twenty one million women were between the ages of twenty and twenty
nine. We then looked into income and education as well as some general research on females.
JewelryU’s competitors for the jewelry market are Spiffing Jewelry, Green Lake Jewelry Works,
Love Letter Charms, Urban Revisions and Lia Sophia. Each of these competitors has different features
that they offer to their customers. The key points in JewelryU are the features of our customers being
able to choose the thickness of their chains, the shape of the pendants, and the length of the chain.
We then looked into qualitative research where we wanted to get in-depth feelings about our
target market. We used a focus group to conduct this information. Our results showed us that women in
our focus group liked the idea of customized jewelry, but not customizing their wedding rings.
CBC research was conducted on the following options: prices, shipping, and types of warranties,
and features that could be offered by JewelryU. The average price for a customized necklace was $55.
Most consumers would prefer the feature of picking the type of gemstone on a necklace. Most
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4. consumers would prefer free shipping over any other type of shipping and would also prefer a one year
warranty attached with their purchase. Out of the four important features of price, shipping,
customization and warranty, the highest average came from customization.
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5. Introduction
JewelryU plans to spend just under $13,300 out of a $15,000 budget to launch their business.
The $13,300 will go towards things such as: materials to make their products, a website, advertising to
promote the business and products, packaging and shipping materials to send the jewelry to their
customers, and they also plan to buy tools to make the jewelry come together, and look perfect for the
customers.
The research objectives of JewelryU are to gain knowledge about our target customers
regarding their purchases of necklaces. In order to obtain the information, we conducted secondary
research, qualitative research, and a discrete choice survey. Secondary research was conducted by
researching our competitors to find similarities and differences between each competitor to discover
what we should offer our customers. Qualitative research was conducted by holding a focus group and
we obtained in depth feelings about our target markets buying habits and desirability of jewelry. The
discrete choice survey was a survey that was developed with questions based on the results of our focus
group.
Secondary Research
Our Goal
JewelryU is trying to find out all possible information that is available about jewelry. We will be
looking at our target market and competitors. The top competitors are Spiffing Jewelry, Green Lake
Jewelry Works, Love Letter Charms, Urban Revisions, and Lia Sophia. Our target market is women
between the ages of twenty and twenty nine. We will be looking at their buying habits, income levels,
beliefs, how they spend their money, and their demographics
Competitors
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6. Starting a new product will be tough in the jewelry industry because there are several well-
known jeweler retail sales in the United States. Due to the variety of jewelers, it will be difficult making a
name for our service because there are so many jewelers to choose from.
Spiffing Jewelry
Spiffing Jewelry is a hobby turned family business with a team of five located in San Diego,
California that began in 2008 and continues to grow. They do have a show room in their studio where
you can buy pieces of jewelry and customize or design a piece of jewelry by appointment only. However,
most of their sales must be done online. Spiffing Jewelry all started out in the owner’s home because
they couldn’t afford to buy jewelry, so they made their own. The owner received several compliments
and the people wanted to know where she bought her jewelry, but in fact it was jewelry that she made.
Spiffing Jewelry then decided to meet the needs of potential clients and started making
customized jewelry. They listened to every customers detail and tried to match their requests. Spiffing
Jewelry will only make something that is unique, and meaningful to them. They won’t make something
that is off of the internet that could be stealing the idea from another jeweler, if there’s a television
show that they love, they will make jewelry based off of scenes from that television show.
Customized jewelry is their specialty. It’s something that the company thrives on. They are more
than willing to make something that involves a customer’s child’s name, special quote, song lyric and
even important dates, such as weddings, anniversaries, and other things that are meaningful to their
customer. To place an order for a customized piece of jewelry, customers must go to their website, or go
through a website called Etsy.
Green Lake Jewelry Works
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7. Green Lake Jewelry Works is a store that has a specific niche. Everything they sell is 100 percent
customizable. They have taken out the sales people and now the only employees are jewelers. Clients
come in and consult on the jewelry and what they want their jewelry to look like. The jeweler then
designs it right in front of the client’s eyes. After the piece is drawn, that same jeweler makes the piece
that the client wanted. Green Lake has another niche market. Since they make all of their jewelry there,
they have clear windows that show the jewelers workshop. When clients come in, they can see the
jewelry actually being made. This is something that not many jewelers are doing.
On their website, clients can go to their design page and start designing their own ring and
figure out what they like and dislike. This allows the consultation between the jeweler and the client to
be shorter because the client already has an idea of what they want. Customizing online also allows you
to order online. It states that you can customize your jewelry then send it to the jeweler and they will
send comments back before purchasing. On the website there are also pictures of jewelry that the artist
have designed previously so clients get ideas from their as well.
Green Lake Jewelry Works creates all types of jewelry. They can customize bracelets, rings,
pendants earrings and pins. They however, do not make watches. Their specialty, and where most of
their business comes from is customized engagement rings and diamonds. Green Lakes does have a
section on other gemstones where you can design your jewelry a birthstone or other colored gem.
Overall, Green Lakes Jewelry Works has a specific niche market in 100 percent customization of
jewelry. They allow consultation with the actual jeweler and allow you to see your jewelry being made.
Love Letter Charms
Love Letter Charms is an online personalized jewelry business that specializes in hand stamped
sterling silver charms created with rustic 925 sterling silver. The charms can be placed on necklaces
bracelets, key-chains, and also made into earrings. Love Letters Charms was created to provide women
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8. of all ages with a personalized piece of jewelry that will spark emotions and become a keepsake, as well
as a reminder of who, when, and why the piece of jewelry was given.
The website is organized by what type of jewelry the consumer is looking for. The Necklaces,
Bracelets & Silver Charms section has pictures of the different sizes, stamps, and prices of the jewelry
you want. The Necklaces, Bracelets & Mini Charms, and the Earrings, Wine Glass Tags, Key-chains &
Accessories sections contain the same information. The prices vary by how many charms you want. If
you want one charm on a bracelet or necklace it will cost fifty-six dollars. Separately the necklace cost
twenty-eight dollars and the charms are also twenty-eight dollars unless you want a mini charm that
cost eighteen dollars. To create the piece of jewelry you can adjust the length of the chain you want, the
shape of the charm and its size and you of course can choose what you would like to put on the charm.
Urban Revisions
Urban Revisions is by Arlie Trowbridge in Asheville, North Carolina. Urban Revisions is a home
studio that focuses on glass jewelry. However in order to order a piece of jewelry from Urban Revisions,
customers must order what they would like online.
Urban Revisions uses free form, organic processes, glass and fiber. This jewelry is distinct and
unique from other jewelers because of the fact that the jewelry is handcrafted by Trowbridge and that it
is all done with glass. Urban Revisions is set in an urban setting, but Trowbridge also likes the idea of
calm, quiet, atmospheres like nature.
Urban Revisions does not use metals such as sterling silver and gold, they use glass. Also, you
will notice with Urban Revisions they do not use stones like diamonds in their jewelry; everything is
entirely made up of glass. Despite the delicacy of glass, Urban Revisions does all sorts of jewelry; they
have necklaces, earrings, rings that are entirely made of glass, as well as hanging glass vases for décor
items.
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9. One might think that because of the clear color of glass that these pieces of jewelry are boring
because glass jewelry typically isn’t colored. Urban Revisions has colors in their jewelry, the colors are
clear, gold, red, blue, yellow, lilac, and green. The colors can be transparent where you can see through
the colored glass, or they can be opaque where you are not able to see through the glass.
Lia Sophia
What is superior about Lia Sophia is that their jewelry design is different than any other
company. They produce unique and different designs that set them apart from their competition. What
is inferior about their company is that they only sell their jewelry by having “parties” where somebody
has a catalog by Lia Sophia that features jewelry that they want to sell, the person then throws a “party”
and people select out of the catalog what pieces of jewelry they want to buy. This method doesn’t make
it easy for their customers to purchase their jewelry.
Lia Sophia uses “parties” and consultants to help with their customer satisfaction. This way they
can find out exactly what the customers are looking for. Their jewelry itself is unique and different than
any other company. Their target customers are mainly woman and can reach out to anyone. Anyone can
become a part of their team and hosts their own jewelry parties. This way if someone hosts their own
jewelry party, they can invite whoever they want to.
The Target Market
Demographics
Our target market is women in their twenties. There are about twenty one million women
between the ages of twenty and twenty nine. Of those women, 14.5 million of them are employed
either part time or full time. Over six million are married, while 413,000 women are divorced, widowed,
or separated.
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10. Income and Education
Thirteen million women have never been married. Six million females have optioned a high
school diploma. One hundred thousand females have obtained an advanced degree and four million
females have obtained a bachelor’s degree. Fourteen million females do not live with their parents and
are either homeowners or pay rent. One million females between the ages of twenty and twenty nine
make fewer than $5,000 a year. The majority of females make between $30,000-$50,000 a year. Five
million females are below the poverty line.
Jobs
Four million females between the ages of twenty and twenty nine work in management or
professional organizations while five million females within that age range work in sales. Females work
the least in farming, construction, and maintenance occupations.
Beliefs
In the 2012 election, about 7.8 million females are registered voters, but only 6.2 million of
them voted. Thirty one percent of people between the ages of twenty and thirty are unaffiliated with
any religion. Forty three percent of people between the ages of twenty and thirty are protestant.
According to an article called, Why Millennials Are Spending More Than They Earn, And Parents
Are Footing The Bill published by Forbes Magazine, states that women's attitudes ages 20-29 are based
on instant gratification. If they can get a piece of jewelry right away then their attitudes for jewelry are
better because they have instant gratification. The article also stated that our target markets spending
increased by 27% in 2011.
Also, young women tend to have a story with pieces of jewelry that they own. Those stories are
stories that can be about romance, travel, friendship or celebration. All of these stories have one thing
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11. in common: relationships. This is what speaks to young women about jewelry. Women tend to wear
jewelry that speaks about who they are.
General Information
Most females in their twenties are trying to accomplish the goal of the American dream. Many
of them are getting married, having children, and buying houses. Females in the target age spend most
of their money on fashion and entertainment. Many of them have expensive purses and clothes.
According to collegestats.org, eighty percent of life’s significant events happen in your twenties.
People between the ages of twenty and twenty nine have buying habits that are extremely
different compared to people in any other age group. College aged students would rather spend their
money on movies and concerts than high culture events. Also, seventy three percent of them said that
they would like to have more time with friends to participate in leisure activities. They are also spending
less money on print reading and have spent more money on electronics. In 2001, when the internet was
just becoming popular, print media went down twenty seven percent. Since then, spending for print
media has decreased even more. People between the ages of twenty and twenty nine would also rather
watch something than have to read about it.
Reasons for Conducting Primary Research
We have to conduct primary research because secondary research is based off of information
for a particular situation. So, the primary research will only be tailored to our specific product. We also
needed to establish a customer base. From the secondary research; we were able to choose which
customers to target. We had to research our competitors to find information regarding what they offer
their customers. This helped us develop questions to ask respondents in our focus group about their
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12. buying habits in regards to jewelry. Also, from the secondary research conducted, we were able to find
out what options of jewelry to offer based off of our competitors.
Qualitative Research
Goal
To obtain in depth feelings about our target markets buying habits and desirability of jewelry.
Sample Composition
This sample was a judgment sample and we found that three fourths of the respondents in our
focus group were females, one fourth of the respondents were males. The majority of the males showed
interest in jewelry for either fashion or for their loved ones. The females wear jewelry on a daily basis
and would buy jewelry as presents for somebody in their family or close friends. Some of our female
respondents wore a specific piece of jewelry for sentimental value and to match their outfit of the day.
Roles
Donshalae- Moderator
Kelsey- Follow up moderator
Lindsey and Michael- Recorders
Results of Focus Group
The main purpose for buying jewelry is because participants got a new outfit to wear and
wanted the jewelry to match that outfit. The participants also buy jewelry as presents for friends and
family members. If buying for themselves, they tend to buy more in the summer and if buying for other
people they often buy more in the winter time because of Christmas.
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13. The type of jewelry that our male participants prefer to buy is key shaped and heart shaped
necklaces for their loved ones because it signifies love. Everyone in the focus group feels that any shapes
other than squares and circles are childish. All female participants liked to get jewelry that has their
birthstone in it as gifts from other people. They feel as though the birthstone represents them, it
represents who they are. Our participants stated that they prefer to buy more watches, earrings, and
necklaces for jewelry. Out of all our participants three had watches and six had earrings.
Feelings also play a factor in determining a piece of jewelry amongst our focus group. Our male
participants felt pretty good and felt more attractive when wearing a piece of jewelry, almost as if they
have more confidence in themselves. One participant can be quoted as they feel that they are “fresh to
death.” Another male participant also stated when he wears jewelry, he feels like “a million bucks.” Our
female participants felt more dressed up and more put together when wearing jewelry. Also, when our
participants received a compliment they said they feel more reassured that they made a good purchase.
One female participant told a story about how she gave her mother pearls and the reaction from her
mother was happy with tears, this participant felt happy and glad that she chose the right piece of
jewelry for her mother.
Also, salespeople and the store environment play a role in determining a piece of jewelry. Our
entire focus group prefers buying jewelry in stores rather than buy them online. The male participants
like to have the salespeople provide assistance and like having another opinion about a particular piece
of jewelry to make sure they pick the right one for their loved one. While our female participants like to
try a piece of jewelry on. Our participants said that when they go online for jewelry they mainly use it to
browse the different kinds of jewelry and they also like the idea of having no one around to push them
to buy something; also they said that they feel if they were to purchase something online they would
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14. purchase more. Participants also said that if there is a sale going on in the store they are more likely to
go into the store and buy a piece of jewelry.
Our participants said that they like the idea of customizing jewelry. When purchasing an
expensive piece of jewelry our female participants like the idea of being able to make small, “add-on”
purchases. Meaning, they have a piece of jewelry now, but they want to add to it, an example would be
a charmed bracelet where they can buy one charm now and down the road, they can buy another
charm and just keep adding on to their bracelet.
Customizing rings was also mentioned in our focus group. We asked how the female participants
felt about the idea of customizing their own engagement ring. All female participants did not like this
idea, they felt that it wouldn’t be personal and shows that their boyfriends wouldn’t know who they are
and it won’t mean anything to them since they chose their own engagement ring. Whereas if the male
picked the ring out himself, the girlfriend would be surprised, and the ring would be more sentimental
and personal, this would also show that their boyfriend cares and understands their girlfriend.
Conclusion
We found during our focus group that our target market likes the idea of customizing jewelry as
long as it is not their wedding ring. They like silver as a metal and don’t like mixing metals. They feel
really good about themselves when people compliment them on their jewelry. We also found when our
target market is more likely to buy and the reasons they go to a jewelry store. They stated that they
really like birthstones and pearls and if they had to pick a piece of jewelry to wear they would wear
necklaces and earrings. Our focus group gave us a peak into their feelings about jewelry in general. This
helped us obtain a broad outlook on our target market on a qualitative research level.
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15. Limitations
Some people from the focus group were quieter than others, so when called upon they may not
have expressed their true feelings because they may have been judged, so they went with the majority
of the input that was received from other group members. We were also limited to people who were in
the classroom at the time that were interested in jewelry. We would need to obtain information from
more people to get well-established, more accurate results. Also, we had very few males in our focus
group, while our target market is targeted to females, male input could always help with our results to
showcase any correlation between male and female answers.
While the focus group did answer the questions about how respondents feel and what they look
for in a piece of jewelry, it does not answer the ultimate question about what they really desire in a
piece of jewelry. In order for this question to be answered, we need to conduct a Discrete Choice
Survey. This will give us a better picture of what type of jewelry to offer because we will have an
anonymous survey that can be sent out to more possible participants rather than a limited number of
people in a focus group. With this larger number we will be able to obtain bigger numbers and better
percentages.
Discrete Choice Survey
There were many objectives to producing this survey. The first objective was to see which
combination of price, customization, warranty and shipping was the best. The second objective was to
find out which social media our consumers use the most, therefore we can target to them through that
channel. The third objective was to find general information about what consumers are looking for in a
product. Some examples would be the type of focal point (birthstone, pearl, etc.) and length of chain.
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16. There were two types of research methods used. One research method was a discrete choice
survey, where respondents were asked questions to answer to the best of their knowledge. The other
research method used was a CBC survey. The CBC survey puts together combinations of different
attributes of your product to see which would be the best combination. Sixty potential customers took
our survey, where all were female but three respondents.
With the results of our study we have found many interesting things. From our CBC survey we
found that the type of gemstone and free shipping were the two most important things. Most of our
respondents were willing to pay any price if it came with free shipping. After the type of gemstone,
available engraving was the second most important thing in the customization category. Warranty had
little effect on what price they paid or the part they customize.
Pricing is always something that consumers are concerned about. Everyone wants to spend the
lowest amount of money. However, with some combinations, the highest price ($75) was the best. The
reason was because some respondents might have pictured our brand as high end jewelry. When
comparing the three way analysis the price that kept reoccurring was sixty dollars which was not our
lowest price.
In the three way counts, a sixty dollar necklace with combined engraving and free shipping was
second highest compared to the type of gemstone and free shipping combination priced at fifty five
dollars. There was only a .03 difference between the two. The type of gemstone and lifetime warranty
priced at sixty dollars was another high three-way count. Lifetime warranty and six months warranty
percentages were the same with free shipping for sixty dollars. Lastly, if customizing the type of
gemstone with free shipping and a six month warranty was the highest at forty percent.
In our discrete choice survey, we found that not many of our respondents customize their own
jewelry. When asked the question; “what focal point would you like?” Forty percent of our respondents
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17. said they would like to have their birthstone. Round pendants were liked by fifty percent of our
respondents. We asked our respondents what length they would like their chain to be and sixty five
percent of the respondents said either at their collarbone or just below it. Respondents also answered
that they were more likely to buy a necklace on an impulse buy. The second reason why they are most
likely to buy a necklace was if it was on sale or not. Seventy percent of our respondents use Facebook
and none of our respondents use Flickr. Forty percent of our respondents said that they were likely to
give a customized necklace as a gift. However, sixty six percent of males stated that they were not at all
likely to give a customized necklace as a gift.
Overall, we only had three males take our survey out of a total of sixty respondents. This made it
difficult to compare the male population versus the female population. However, our necklaces are
targeted to females. Since we only had three males take our survey, this is a limitation that we
encountered. We also had a limitation in regards to age. We asked respondents to type in their age, but
it did not show up when we did our results. Our last limitation is that we did not ask a question on
household income therefore some of our respondents might differ based on income. Another limitation
is that we only received respondents that were from the Pennsylvania area. Therefore, our responses
maybe skewed because people in this area may think one way, whereas compared to another area.
Conclusion
In conclusion, jewelryU has gained knowledge from secondary research, qualitative research
and also the discrete choice survey. From the secondary research conducted, we discovered the
demographics that women in their twenties spend most of their income on fashion and entertainment.
With this information we were able to identify our target customers that would appeal to our company
the most. Qualitative research allowed us to find out that our target customers preferred customizing
the gemstone of their jewelry, more specifically necklaces. We also found out that if selling in-store
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18. sales, salespersons play a vital role in whether customers purchase or not. Finally, from the results of
our discrete choice survey, respondents were asked what they would prefer for a price, warranty,
shipping method, and what they would like to customize. From this survey, we found our target
customers preferred paying sixty dollars for a necklace that allows them to customize the gemstone,
receive a six month warranty, and also receive free shipping. From all of the research conducted, we
also learned that buying jewelry is an impulse buy. Based on the information we obtained from the
secondary research and qualitative research, JewelryU was able to develop a survey using the discrete
choice survey method to create a package that tailors to our target customers’ jewelry buying needs.
Recommendations
With all of the information we have gathered, we feel certain that offering a package where
consumers can customize the type of gemstone for sixty dollars with free shipping and a six month
warranty will give us the highest payout based on our results from the secondary research, the focus
group and the discrete choice survey. To follow up with our survey, we suggest conducting a worldwide
survey to make sure that we are not just catering to one geographic location. We should also target
more males in this survey and have a ninety five percent confidence rate. If we decide to go ahead with
this package, then we need to test launch our product on the web and see how customers respond.
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19. References
Religious Landscape Survey. (n.d.). In PewResearch Religion & Life Project. Retrieved February 14, 2014,
from http://religions.pewforum.org/reports
United States Census Bureau. (2010). In U.S Department of Commerce. Retrieved February 12, 2014,
from www.census.gov
20 Reasons Your 20s Are So Critical. (n.d.). In Collegestats.org. Retrieved February 17, 2014, from
http://collegestats.org/articles/2012/09/20-reasons-your-20s-are-so-critical/
(n.d.). In lia sophia. Retrieved February 13, 2014, from http://liasophia.com/regional/home
Mitchell, S. (2001). Generation X: Americans Aged 18-34 (3rd ed.). Ithaca, NY: New Strategists
Publications.
Spiffing, A. (2014). About Us. In Spiffing Jewelry. Retrieved March 11, 2014, from
http://www.spiffingjewelry.com/Articles.asp?ID=1
Trowbridge, A. (2014). About. In Urban Revisions. Retrieved March 11, 2014, from http://www.urban-
revisions.com/pages/about
Faw, L. (2012, May 18). Why Millennials Are Spending More Than They Earn, And Parents Are Footing
The Bill. In Forbes Magazine. Retrieved March 11, 2014, from
http://www.forbes.com/sites/larissafaw/2012/05/18/why-millennials-are-spending-more-than-they-
earn/
Buchanan, H. (2007, July 31). Marketing Jewelry to Women. In Future Now Market Better. Retrieved
March 12, 2014, from http://www.grokdotcom.com/2007/07/31/marketing-jewelry-to-women/
About. (2013). In Green Lake Jewelry Works. Retrieved March 11, 2014
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20. Hubbard, A. S. (2012). In Love Letters Charms. Retrieved March 10, 2014,
from http://www.loveletterscharms.com/index.html
Hair Jr, J. F., Wolfinbarger, M. F., Ortinau, D. J., & Bush, R. P. (2010). Essentials of Marketing (2nd ed., p.
369). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
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21. Appendix
Focus Group Transcript
Recorder: Michael Pletcher
1. What type of jewelry do you prefer? (rings, watches, bracelets)
a. When do you buy each? (what occasion or time of season)
• Both men and women said that they wear earrings and watches. However the
women in our focus group also wear rings and necklaces.
• When wearing jewelry, our respondents said they wear it to match the outfit of
the day, for instance, they want the colors to match.
• As for the season, respondents said that they buy most of their jewelry in the
summer time or during the winter, especially during the holiday seasons.
• Despite the fact that they own jewelry, they do not wear jewelry every day.
2. How does shaped (heart, square, round) jewelry make you feel? And what feelings do
you get when you see them.
• Respondents said that shaped jewelry such as triangles and hearts isn’t
something they would want to be and are often seen as childish and not
sophisticated.
• The feelings they have when they see jewelry depends on how much they spent
on a piece of jewelry.
•
3. How does colored jewelry affect you? (Chocolate diamonds, birthstones, etc.)
• Respondents said that they the jewelry they feel impacts them more is that of their
birthstone, chocolate diamonds and the diamond itself.
4. How do you feel when wearing Jewelry?
• Respondents said they feel somewhat classier, sophisticated and more dressed up.
• Quote: “….feel fresh to death.”
5. What attracts you to jewelry stores?
• Respondents said that they are attracted to a jewelry store when there is a sale going
on, they prefer high, quality jewelry at a discounted price.
• Respondents, mainly male like the sales associates based on attractiveness.
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22. • Respondents said they have to go to the jewelry store when they really like a piece of
jewelry and they want/have to try it on to make sure that they really like it.
6. How do you feel when you are in the jewelry store?
• Something that respondents didn’t like about the jewelry stores is the fact that when in
the store, they constantly are being watched by a sales associate, and they feel like they
have to be more careful when handling items, as they might break/ruin something
7. Is there something specific that you want to see a jewelry store make?
• Price:
o Respondents said they want to see the prices lower, or cheaper, but they want
the quality of the jewelry to stay the same as it is now.
o Some said that it depends on how much they would wear a piece of jewelry.
They said they were willing to pay more if it was a piece of jewelry they were
going to wear more often.
o The “add-on” approach with jewelry is something they’d like to see. They would
like to buy something that they can add more pieces of jewelry onto.
8. What do you look for in a sales person of jewelry?
• Respondents look for somebody who is willing to recommend a piece of jewelry,
something specific to what they are looking to buy. This also applies when looking for a
gift for somebody, they can suggest ideas.
• They don’t like/look for somebody who is very pushy for you to buy something, they’d
prefer somebody who is more relaxed and letting them purchase something in their
own space.
• Respondents prefer somebody who is professional looking, including their outfit over
somebody who is “whack” or sloppy.
9. Would you rather be able to pick out your own engagement ring or be surprised?
• Female respondents said they prefer to be surprised. They feel that their boyfriends
would know who they are as a person, and should know the specific interests in jewelry.
They also said they enjoy the mystery of what ring they chose, and it shows that their
boyfriend took time and a lot of thought into choosing the right ring. These respondents
also said that it would show more meaning if they were surprised.
• Male respondents said they like the idea of being surprised because they would need
some help from a salesperson because it is a difficult process picking out the right ring.
• Some female respondents said that they prefer the idea of picking out their own
engagement ring only if the guy has really bad taste in jewelry.
o People who opposed this said that they feel that it might be too intrusive and it
could potentially scare the boyfriend off if you start dropping hints of the
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23. engagement ring you want. They also don’t want their boyfriends to feel as if
they were in trouble.
10. Do you like the idea of customizing your own jewelry? If so, what features would you
customize?
• This idea was pretty popular. They want the ability to customize anything they want, but
they would base their idea off of another piece of jewelry they saw.
• It was compared to the idea of Pandora bracelets, nobody else will have this style, so it
unique to themselves.
• They’d like this option if only it was affordable not costly and expensive.
• They would customize the color of the stone, the style of the stone cut, and the color of
the metal.
• They like the feeling to brag about their jewelry, they’d feel proud about themselves
because this is their own design.
• They are willing to spend a little extra money to make the jewelry be more of an
expression of them.
• This feature would add more loyalty to the brand.
• This would be a way to add more traffic to the website if this feature was available, so
the store/company would be able to add more potential buyers.
11. What qualities do you look for in a piece of jewelry? Of those qualities, what are the
most important ones?
1. Price
2. Quality (high vs. low)
3. Allergies to the metal
4. Metal types
12. As college students, we have a limited income. If you had more money coming in than
you do now, would you be inclined to buy more expensive jewelry?
• Some respondents said it depends on what they want and how much they are
willing to pay.
• If the quality is there and it looks better than the cheaper version they would spend
money on the higher priced piece of jewelry.
13. When was the last time you bought, given, or gave a piece of jewelry?
• For most, the bought jewelry during Christmas time.
o Better sales, had a credit card, and were able to pay off that credit card over
time.
o Set of pearl earrings was bought as a gift.
o Atmosphere at the time was happy, they felt the need to shop, and were willing
to spend more money because they had that money at the time.
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24. • Someone bought in the summer time, specifically August, they bout a ring and a
necklace for themselves.
14. What has your experience been shopping online vs. in store for jewelry?
• Online:
o Participants said while online they browsed more than they shopped, but they
like that freedom of having nobody force them to buy something.
o There’s more of a selection to choose from online, there isn’t a set amount to
choose from like there is in stores.
o Browsing online gives the participants a preview of something they might want
before they go in stores to try it on, or even buy it.
• Store:
o Participants can get what they want and leave the store. They don’t have to wait
for the jewelry to arrive in the mail or as a package.
o Like not having to pay extra for shipping and handling.
o Participants want to know how a piece of jewelry fits them, so they go to the
store to try it on, this isn’t offered online.
• Overall, participants said they are more interested in purchasing jewelry in stores
because they aren’t willing to pay more for shipping and handling.
15. What do you usually say when people compliment your jewelry?
• If the participants were buying a gift for somebody and they liked it they feel good
about it, they got the right thing and didn’t disappoint the person they were buying it
for.
o “My mother got teary eyed because I got her something she doesn’t have. I felt
excited and happy that she now has that piece of jewelry.”
• Some people felt crappy because they spent a lot of money on the jewelry, but they felt
better after receiving numerous compliments on it. So they felt they made a good
choice.
16. What types of metals do you prefer?
• White gold, sterling silver, gold, and rose gold were answers that most of our
respondents answered.
17. How do you feel about the idea of mixing metals?
• They do not like the idea of mixing metals.
• Some said that they do like the idea of mixing metals, it feels nicer to them.
• Some stated that it depends on the metals they are mixing and it depends on the
piece of jewelry.
• Before they say yes or no, they want to see the finished product to see if they like it
or hate it.
• Birthstones match any kind of metal.
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25. 18. How do you feel about a warranty plan?
• Depends on how much the plan is and what it covers.
• Depends on how long the warranty is good for.
• They would pay a decent amount if the warranty was a life-time warranty. This option is
the preferred warranty.
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26. Focus Group: Jewelry Recorder: Lindsey Sommer
1. What type of jewelry do you prefer? (Rings, watches, bracelets)
a. When do you buy each? (what occasion or time of season)
Earrings, Necklaces They buy watches when the get new outfits. They buy like
watches in different colors and buy them in the summer time
Normally buy jewelry in the winter time if they are buying for someone else but
in the summertime if they are buying for themselves.
Out of the 15 people in the group 3 people had watches on and 6 had earrings in
2. How does shaped (heart, square, round) jewelry make you feel? And what feelings do
you get when you see them.
Key or heart shaped necklace for their girlfriend= LOVE
Most buy square and circle jewelry because they feel that other shapes are
childish.
3. How does colored jewelry affect you? (Chocolate diamonds, birthstones, etc.)
The group really liked birthstones and they get them as a gift from people.
Feel as the birthstone represents them in some ways
A lot of the group members did not know what chocolate diamonds were.
4. How do you feel when wearing Jewelry?
“FRESH” (male said) Feels like you are worth more =“MILLION BUCKS” (male
said)
Girls said they feel more dressed up if they were jewelry than if they don’t.
5. What attracts you to jewelry stores?
SALES (Everyone Said this)
Most people said that they go into stores just to look but don’t try anything on
Few people said they try jewelry on
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27. 6. How do you feel when you are in the jewelry store?
7. Is there something specific that you want to see a jewelry store make?
b. How much are you willing to pay?
Make things cheaper, but still high quality
Liked pearls
Like to be able to “ad on” things Example was Pandora bracelet
Can buy one thing then later ad on something
Not putting out large amounts of money at once.
Willing to pay more if they are going to wear it more.
8. What do you look for in a sales person of jewelry?
Like to be suggested something that the sales person thinks would look good on
them.
Liked to be recommend something when buying a gift for someone else
Don’t like it when the sales person is pushy (big turnoff)
How they are dressed and look
9. Would you rather be able to pick out your own engagement ring or be surprised?
(Women) Most people said they would like to be surprised because it means
that he knows what you like, more meaning, mystery of not knowing, thought behind
the ring is what counts, gives the man to be creative.
Also said it would be nice to customize it just for fun but they would not give it to
their significant other. They may drop hints though
(Men) They like the hints to be dropped and to be able to have a limited number
of selections of wedding rings.
Some said if they saw a picture that their girlfriend designed of a wedding ring
they may get scared and leave
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28. 10. Do you like the idea of customizing your own jewelry? If so, what features would you
customize?
Believe that customizing any jewelry besides the engagement ring would be cool
because it would be one of a kind, personal and mean more.
Even if people did not buy the product it would create website traffic.
They would be willing to pay more for a customized piece of jewelry
They would like to have the option to customize everything possible
They would be more willing to be loyal to the brand if they could customize
something and them be happy with it.
11. What qualities do you look for in a piece of jewelry? Of those qualities, what are the
most important ones?
Simple process if ordering online
Price matters
Quality of jewelry to make sure it doesn’t fade.
12. As college students, we have a limited income. If you had more money coming in
than you do now, would you be inclined to buy more expensive jewelry?
All depends on what that person wants.
Quality matters and they want to make sure that the jewelry is worth their
money
Cheaper the better as long as it is the same quality
13. Would you buy jewelry made out of non-precious metal if you knew that the look
and properties of that metal are far superior to the ones of a precious metal?
Most people like silver. Not many people liked gold but they wouldn’t mind
white gold.
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29. They did not like the idea of mixing metals and the only way they like colored jewelry
that is more expensive is if it was their birthstone.
14. When was the last time you bought, given, or gave a piece of jewelry?
Pearls can be anytime
August= rings and necklaces
Christmas is when they purchase the most jewelry for other people
They are willing to pay more during this time of the year
They will also purchase when sales are on or if they just feel like buying something
15. What has your experience been shopping online vs. in store for jewelry?
ONLINE
Like to browse and not have anyone pushing you to buy
More likely to make a bigger purchase online
INSTORES
More likely to buy in store so they can see things on and how they look
Like to get a 2nd
opinion (what the sales person says)
Know what you are getting
16. What do you usually say/feel when people compliment you jewelry?
Feel reassured that you made a good purchase
Most of the time jewelry is a gift so when people ask “where did you get it” they don’t
know
Non-disappointed
Excited to know that you have something that they like
OTHER QUESTIONS
Like to have warranty plans on expensive jewelry incase chains break
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30. Things tend to break as soon as the warranty plan is up which they don’t like
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