COVID-19 Now What The Hell Do We Do?

COVID-19 Now What The Hell Do We Do? We know you have seen these COVID-19 announcements and pages all over the internet on brands you use, company websites, and on the account pages of your utilities. It's gotten to a point where your eyes may be glazing over them, because who cares what rando-website-#65 that you bought one thing from four years ago is doing in the middle of a national crisis.

Point blank, its reassurance and it's the company reminding you they exist. It's opportunity to connect with you at the crossroads of solidarity and commerce. "We're ok, we're trying too stay in business to, hey, look at our catalog while you're home on your couch." It's an attempt at business as usual in a time when no business is usual.

Personally, we've received notices from our utility company, banks, credit cards, and every other service with messages saying something like "Hey, we are taking precautions for our employees, but we are still here for you when you want to pay your bill."

Meanwhile, we are all asking how we are going to pay our bills at all!

Here's the thing. Business isn't going back to the way it was. National tragedies change procedure, mindset, and behaviors forever. Technology addresses those changes, and the businesses who want to stay open have to adapt or they shut down.

This time, survival requires teamwork


We don't need to tell you that there's economic difficulties ahead. Everyone else is already talking about it, from INSTORE Magazine's article on "How To Recession-Proof Your Business", to Rob Bates' optimistic on "Why Hanging On May Pay Off for Jewelers", to National Jeweler's 10 Tips for Coping with Coronavirus Fallout, and Trace Shelton's succinct notes "As COVID-19 Spreads and Recession Looms, Here’s What Jewelers Can Do."

Should we even remind you that you already know the indicators that suggest tough times lie ahead? According to Question 45 from the INSTORE 2019 Big Survey we are already experiencing 10 of those indicators.

We are not fear mongering, we are trying to make a strong point. Every one of those articles mentioned above talks about survival through ecommerce.

We collaborate


It has always been our business to keep your business going. Obviously we have bills to pay, employees, and our own lives to lead; but a symbiotic relationship is what we've always strived for with our customers.

We get excited when our customers realize how freely we give our time and technical expertise to make things easier for them.

The jewelry industry has been slow—we'll say it—painfully slow to adapt to technology. You can see that in the years of market shifts, the closing of stores, the bad reviews on Yelp, and the increase in generational mistrust for the products being sold. We get it; a lot of folk don't want to deal with technology—they've been mistrustful of going online, ecommerce, SEO, and social media.

Time to listen


While we've been struggling to impress upon you our relevance, the jewelry industry has been similarly struggling with emphasizing their relevance to their own prospective clients.

We're done worrying about that, and we need you to pay attention.

Right now everyone is talking about the economic troubles, how to keep engaged with your customers, how to keep yourself solvent, will there be a bailout to help small business, what to do with your employees, etc., but no one is talking about how the world is going to change because of this.

Get ready for big changes in how we will all interact


Until a vaccine or treatment is found people will change how they act. Will you even consider attending the next JA NY, JCK, JIS, MJSA or any other trade show until this is all over? By all appearances it looks like we will have to live with 12 more months of rises and declines of COVID-19 cases between periods of the-new-normalcy and lockdown? Amazon.com is a life saver for some people right now, but even their supply lines are breaking down for imported goods.

People will keep buying online. Even after a vaccine is released for the coronavirus, there will be aftershocks of social distancing that will change how people even say hello to strangers from now on.

Your merchandise, if you ever expect it to leave your safe or your showcase, needs to go online now. Accept it. We can't afford to let you not afford to hesitate on this anymore.

You may be determining how your staff, if any, will be utilized in this transition. Perhaps one of your own staff could handle local delivery, one on social media updates, and you will likely assign someone to update your ecommerce with in-store, on-hand inventory. Virtual inventory is on hold because your supply line is cut off. You can't afford to not sell what you already have. If survival is on your mind then you need to cut back on your large inventory so you can remerchandise according to what customers will want in the upcoming times.

We make ecommerce websites


COVID-19 Now What The Hell Do We Do? Obviously you knew that we make websites for jewelers and jewelry businesses. In fact, we just launched this brand new website on March 6, 2020. This site explains what we do, how long we've been doing it, who we are, and all about our philosophy. Our pricing page details $7,000 as the setup cost for a brand new ecommerce website.

Right now our competitors are continuing their email campaigns to advertise their full price SEO and virtual inventory websites, some are still using their Google Ads campaigns to invite you to talk to them, and some opinions are even going around that you should not bother with a new website because this will all be over by the time the new website is up and running.

Well, if you choose to not act strategically with ecommerce right now then you are not reading all those recommendations from INSTORE, National Jeweler, and JCK.

So many companies are doing unprecedented things to help you figure out your future, and now it's our turn. We want to give you the digital storefront so you can stay open, and be part of the #OpenWeStand movement. You must think long term and how your business has already changed.

Like we said, we just re-launched this jewelerwebsites.com with pricing of $7,000 for a new ecommerce website. While that is the going rate for a website from us and all of our competitors, that amount is probably out of everyone's price range right now.

Therefore, we're making an offer that you shouldn't be able to refuse. What would you say to $250 per month?

Here's what we'll do for you:


  • You pick from one our themes. These are established and tested designs we stand by. You can choose color and design elements that make sense for your brand, but be assured we know where menus need to be, how pages need to be set up, and how they'll work on mobile devices. Forget about tedious design iterations and the back and forth. Let's just get on the phone and work out the website layout fast so you can get up and running.

  • We will train you quickly and help you populate the site fast. Time is of the essence. Whatever it takes, we'll push through to get you live with ecommerce.

  • You get a free copy of our expansive jewelry photography training. We've been selling this for $250 but we can't let you not have these methods at your fingertips when your showroom is going 100% digital for the time being.

  • PayPal checkout for your ecommerce. Skip your own merchant account setup. Your customers use PayPal, it's already secure and safe, and you'll save the weeks of time it normally takes get your merchant account approved and tested for ecommerce. Oh, and we don't get in the middle of your money. It's all yours. We won't take the money then send commission checks, or take a cut of your sales like other web people do.

  • We recommend focusing on the products that are under $500 to start and work from there. This is your echelon for quality product that doesn't feel irresponsible for your client to spend during this time. People impulse buy, customers make careful decisions. Plan your online inventory for the upcoming season. We are looking at Mother's Day, Father's Day, and all summer pre-Christmas buys to be different than they ever were before.

  • We will be here for you now as you put up your existing inventory, and also when the vendors start reopening and becoming more accessible. In the mean time, we'll help you pay attention to trends that will help you move your current stock. Recessions have a traditional trajectory; we've been through three of them—we know what to look for, and we'll have your back.

  • Our ecommerce platform has everything a retail jeweler normally needs to run their inventory, content management, and online sales. Don't worry about saving up for the next needed feature, it's already in there. Don't be lured into open systems like WordPress, Joomla, BigCommerce or Magento. Those systems need continual updating to keep them bug free and running. If you have experience with those other systems then you already know that every developer has their own flair for setting them up, and you'll be tied to that original developer if you really want to make changes. Thinking of Shopify? You'd be paying them $479.86 per month to get all the features we already have.

  • Are you a jewelry designer in business for less than two years? Then we have an even better offer to help you start up, talk to us to find out more about that.



Here's the deal we're offering


We will work with you personally for a dedicated hour per day until the site is launched, and we do all the backend things you don't need to be on the phone for.

We are dropping our setup fees because we need you to take this seriously, and we know right now month-to-month just feels a little safer. After your site is launched, we'll be available for your tech support needs during regular business hours. We are just an email or a phone call away.

Right now, across the country, stores have been shutting down operation indefinitely or still making that transition. You can't not think nationally, or globally, when this is happening. You will be affected, and you already are. Your materials, your products, and your colleagues are international. Just as the nation has asked their communities to support each other by staying in, and behaving responsibly, so it is the burden of the jewelry industry to do that same.

  • $250/month
  • You'll need an SSL for your site
  • No additional setup fee
  • Ecommerce
  • No yearly hosting
  • Free tech support by phone or email
  • No bait and switch; 24-month price guarantee
  • No one can predict the economy in 24-months, at that time you can keep your current plan or choose something else. We can't predict our subscription prices yet.


We are here for you, because we need you, you need us, and we know that together, we can get through this. Send us an email or just call us at 973-413-8212.



AT: 03/24/2020 11:00:23 AM  
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