Mesmerizing is the word that comes to mind when watching the home shopping television networks. The sales pitches are almost hypnotic, as one watches a jewelry designer enthuse about a piece — how it is made, what inspired the design and perhaps, most importantly, telling how to wear it. Shopping show hosts pull out the sample swatches showing how a piece will look when worn with a variety of colors, all the while slinging juicy adjectives about how fabulous the jewel looks with everything. Models wear the pieces to show scale and how the jewelry looks on the body. It’s enough to make anyone reach for a credit card and run for the phone to take advantage of those “four easy payments.” That is the power of the home shopping networks… the ability to show and tell with a real expert in a relaxed setting. Knowledge is power and power is confidence and confidence leads to buying. Depending upon the channel, the home shopping networks boast a viewership between 95 million and 160 million households, all empowered with knowledge from watching the networks. The shows are aimed at the female self-purchaser, women who know the brands they like when they see them. And while they buy from television, they will also follow a favorite brand to retail and purchase there as well. It’s a great brand builder for individual designers, but it is also good for the industry. Consumers who are armed with knowledge are more inspired to buy jewelry. Information takes the fear out of the purchase. With the growing success of the home shopping networks, it’s a lesson we can all take to the bank.
Article from the Rapaport Magazine - October 2010. To subscribe click here.