Perosi—a frequent speaker at MJSA Expo, JCK Las Vegas, and other industry events, as well as the author of the popular Golden Nugget blog on digital strategies (jwag.biz)—first began exploring the internet's capabilities in 1988. In started programming in 1994, and ultimately developed what he calls the Junior Jewelry CMS (content management system), "the only dedicated CMS for the jewelry industry that also includes high level SEO (search engine optimization) features."
The CMS was initially targeted toward retailers, but after discussions with the late Cindy Edelstein of the Jeweler's Resource Bureau, Perosi outfitted it to include features relevant to professional jewelry designers as well. One key feature is the easy development of "line cards": Visitors to a designer's website can create an account (either wholesale or consumer), pick selected items to build a "card" (see Figure 1), then ultimately purchase items directly from that list.
The CMS also helps designers better manage their inventory (see Figure 2) as well as develop better customer relationships: It records each customer's buying habits, and that information can then be used for more targeted marketing and outreach. Perosi adds that the new features work well not just for designers seeking wholesale accounts, but for retailers selling direct to consumers—the "line cards," for instance, could just as easily be "wish lists," with retail prices rather than wholesale.
Perosi says the CMS offers a selection of website design templates, all of which can be customized to fit a company's brand look. The cost for the basic software and installation typically is $1,100, which includes an hour of one-on-one training and nine hours of training videos. (Yearly hosting is also available for $299.40.) MJSA members receive a 10 percent discount on those prices. Members also can hire Sapphire Collaborative's expertise to help them manage and optimize their website, at the discounted rate of$360 monthly.
For more information, contact Travis Searle, MJSA membership manager, at 1-800-444-MJSA (6572), ext. 324, travis.searle@mjsa.org.
Sapphire Collaborative's Jewelry Jr. CMS enables designers to create line cards as well as monitor inventory with ease.
