Maybe your tattoo and piercing studio has a piercer, maybe it doesn’t–but it definitely has a front desk/cash register area where you can and should showcase body piercing jewelry. Why? So you can maximize the money you are already spending on real estate for your shop!
Think of it like this. Two kinds of people come to your shop: people who want to get pierced or tattooed and people who are already pierced or tattooed. If one of these people walks in your front door and you have a nice selection of after-market or retail piercing jewelry (meaning jewelry other than that used for initial piercings), you have the opportunity to sell them a piece of jewelry. And all those friends who come along for moral support, they, too, have the chance of seeing something they might like while sitting in your waiting room.
Every sale of jewelry you make helps to pay your business expenses, helps to cement your reputation as a body jewelry destination, and helps to create profit so your business can grow. That's a win-win-win situation!
So how do you determine which retail jewelry to carry?
Start by considering which piercings your shop is doing most often. You’ll want to have retail pieces of jewelry which can be used in that piercing. If you do a lot of septum piercings for example, you could put out a display with a great assortment of septum clickers. Remember, when putting together a category of jewelry, you’ll want to have enough pieces so that your showcase tells a story. A good number is usually a minimum of 10-12 different styles. If you’re on a budget, don’t fret. Just add a few new pieces of retail jewelry to your usual piercing jewelry order each time you order, and build up a beautiful collection as you go.
Think about what kinds of jewelry clients have come in asking for. Every time a potential customer comes in asking for jewelry, make a note of what they have asked for. This will help you see patterns of interest among your customers, and help you to select jewelry for your case that your clientele will be ready to buy. For instance, if you get a lot of people asking about jewelry for upper ear piercings, stocking your jewelry display with silicone ears pierced with well-planned jewelry curations of multiple pieces can provide great eye-candy for people shopping, but also give customers ideas of how they might coordinate multiple piercings to create a true work of art in their ear over time.
Make sure you have the displays to show off your jewelry. Jewelry sells itself when it is displayed properly. It should be facing outward and upward so it catches the light–and the eye! Because of its shape, body jewelry can often lean or tilt without the right display. The good news is that easy to use and re-use displays are available inexpensively in just the right color and shape for your shop’s vibe. Whether you choose transparent plexiglass, white or black flocked displays, or even hot pink, you’ll sell many more pieces of jewelry if you thoughtfully display what you have.
Best-seller kits can help displays come together quickly and with minimal effort. Best-seller kits at Metal Mafia are made especially for your shop. We put our best-seller kits together by monitoring the styles that you and other piercing industry professionals are asking for each month to give you a starting point, but any kit is customizable. So if you see a pot leaf belly ring, and that’s not your customer, just ask your rep to change it out for something that better suits your client base–like a butterfly navel ring instead!
Remember to show your piercing customers your new retail display, and encourage them to pick a piece to change out to once healed. After all, the best kind of business is repeat business!
