How to Establish Trust and Connect With Customers...Continued

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4. Make it easy to get in contact and be responsive. Do so in a way that suits the customer:

• Provide a variety of contact channels, including email, phone, click-to-call, contact form, social media, live chat/ messaging, and consider options like video chat.

• Ensure responses, regardless of channel, are as immediate as possible. This means all channels must be checked very regularly, as customers demand immediate gratification, and attentiveness is expected.

There are some unique but important considerations for selling jewelry or luxury items online when the physical product cannot be touched and experienced in-store. In particular, sizing and delivery are foremost concerns for consumers shopping online.

To help:

• Provide clear size guides, reference size cues such as pictures on a model or other visual measurement tools to indicate size. Perhaps provide a virtual try-on experience, where the customer can at least see themselves “wearing” an item.

• Ensure you have a clear and fair returns policy. This also ties back into the issue of trust, because if a consumer knows they can easily return something, they’re much more likely to trust you enough to make the purchase. If they have to return it and that process is handled smoothly, they’re more inclined to buy something else, either immediately or later on.

• Make sure your returns process is intuitive to provide flexibility to the customer.

• Delivery can present a barrier to the immediate satisfaction of purchasing in a physical store. Offer fast delivery options, including same-day delivery if possible. This provides the nearimmediate gratification of shopping in-store, and reinforces your personal service/trust factor.

• Security and safety of delivery are also key consumer concerns, especially with high-value items. If you’re not delivering the purchase yourself, use a trusted and well-known carrier that will ensure all appropriate safety and security measures are adhered to. Reputation of those you choose to work with is another important factor in trusting you.

• Provide alternatives such as BOPIS (buy online, pick up instore) or delivery to offices, or establishing an exact delivery/ pickup time so customers don’t have to worry if they’re not home.

Finally, with COVID-19 expected to be with us for some time longer, here are De Beers’ tips for signaling the safety of your physical store to all customers:

• State the steps you are taking, ensuring you are in-line with local guidelines, and highlight where additional steps have been implemented. For example, this could be as a temporary banner that inserts at the top of all your web pages until closed by the user.

• Consider some visual reinforcement of the safety steps with photos, where appropriate.

• Consider a by-appointment arrangement to reduce crowds in-store. Limited capacity might be mandatory in your area anyway, but this can also add to a feeling of specialness/ personal service.

• Highlight safe and easy collection and/or delivery methods.

Offer alternatives to a visit or a

• Following a phone, video or chat consultation, create a shortlist of potential products (which could be tried on instore or potentially at home for selection).

By Hedda Schupak, Editor, The Centurion