Meet the Buyer: Swoonery with Jean Z. Poh

«When I was designing jewelry for private clients, I noticed that many of them experienced similar difficulties while searching for jewelry. They were looking for unique jewelry but were only aware of a few of the major brands and didn’t want something that everyone else had. The biggest problem was that clients wanted convenience but they weren’t finding anything interesting and high-quality online. My family has been in the jewelry industry for 4 generations. My father’s company specializes in manufacturing one-of-a-kind pieces and high jewelry so I developed an eye for design and workmanship. The designers and brands we sell on Swoonery.com are chosen to make it easy for customers to discover unique designs and feel assured that they can trust the quality of workmanship. We base our selections on what the customers want while striving to reward creativity, craftsmanship and integrity in the industry. Swoonery takes a bit of a different approach. We review the new collections from our brands and select the most wearable and interesting pieces with the best value for our clients. So our selections are based on what the brands are creating. This year there are some really interesting innovations in hoop earrings, beautifully executed lariats, and use of enamel. Retailers typically take the approach of sticking to what has historically sold well for them or looking at trends in fashion and letting that influence their direction - this doesn’t always work. In the earlier situation you end up with things that look the same year after year and that gets a bit uninteresting; and the latter situation you run the risk of selecting things that aren’t wearable (palm cuffs for example) and don’t sell. Items more requested? The ones that sell the most are necklaces, earrings and rings. The actual items vary depending on designer. We have over 4,000 pieces on Swoonery so there isn’t a particular item that is most popular. Thinking about online and offline, let me say that online gives our customers access to selection whereas the Swoonery Jewelry Salon is an experience - a place for them to come, play and interact with the pieces. At the end of the day, fine jewelry is about relationships and people so it’s lovely to be able to maintain that human touch, it reminds us that helping our customers express themselves and celebrate milestones are why we love what we do. To sell jewelry well online, it’s important to be able to translate that personal relationship and understanding of your digital customer. Service, access and convenience are the key, while design, quality and social media are the most important elements to selling online. Bear in mind that technology and customer behavior changes faster now that it ever has. I think having your finger on the pulse and being able to predict where those are going; learn quickly and constantly evolve to best serve customer’s needs are what makes this journey so fun.»