Articles and News
TECHNOLOGY RE-IMAGINES THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE AT TWO BY LONDON | August 04, 2012 (0 comments)
At Two by London in Manhasset, New York, Scott and Jessica Udell use technology to intrigue, educate and sell to their customers. The Centurion recently spoke with Scott about his new store.
“We moved very quickly on this new store,” said Udell. From concept to opening, the timeline was a year and two months. “Not much sleeping that year,” Udell jokes today.
From the Two by London website: ‘Two by London, The Engagement Shop at London Jewelers, is a visionary new concept store with a modern, innovative take on that age-old quest for a truly unique diamond engagement ring. If you're ready....so are we.’ The Udells and staff certainly are ready.
“Our store concept allows the customer to be very hands on, keeping the customers engaged throughout the process,” said Udell. “When you walk in, we have open ring displays with prototype rings that can be tried on, as many as the customer likes, before they interact with an employee. This gives the customer freedom to try to every shape and style and see how it looks on her hand.”
At left: Two by London’s take on an open ring display where customers can try on rings to their heart’s content. At right: A Stuller photo of a similar type of display, showing the wire and pulley system that is under-counter in the Two by London store.
The showcase was specially designed by Udell and Stuller, similar to a prototype that Stuller shows at trade shows. The rings use a pulley system to allow the customer access. Once the customer finds a ring she likes, the design can be modified by a CAD system that can to fit the customer’s preferences. The system can also provide a sketch for the customer. For those wishing to design their own ring in this manner, the turnaround time is five days, with the bulk of the work done in the on-premise shop. Two by London’s inventory also includes plenty of live inventory for those customers who wish to wear and walk out with a new ring immediately.
The shop area is underneath the sales floor, on the basement level. “We encourage visitors there,” said Udell. “They can see where their ring is through every part of the process.” Seeing their ring in the molding or casting phase is another way that Two by London offers an interactive experience.
Innovations continues throughout the store. “All our microscopes are hooked up to cameras and monitor/screens,” said Udell. “When we show diamonds, a customer doesn’t have to look through a microscope to see the stones – they look at a large screen right next to the microscope.”
Two by London also features iPads and touch screen computers. “Right now, the iPads are for research and viewing prices,” said Udell. “Soon we’ll offer checkout on them.” When the store closes, the iPads are charged at night in a secure location after cleaning.
Another Interior view of Two by London. At center, between the showcase at left and the computer screen, is the open ring display piece, modified to fit Two's specifications.
The touch screen computers are used to help educate customers. “Every single computer has educational elements to it,” said Udell. “Customer can view videos that we shot ourselves. A customer can sit for over an hour and learn about various products, scrolling on a monitor and watching the touch screens.” Udell, using a video team, shot videos on various categories including diamonds, gems, gold, platinum. “We were fortunte enough to have access to our own jewelry factory and a diamond factory,” he said. “We used mining footage from DeBeers, but we shot the rest of it ourselves.”
Currently, the videos are used exclusively in-store and are not on the Two by London website. “We use them to drive traffic in to the store,” says Udell. “When we revamp our website, we’ll offer an abbreviated version online as well.”
Two's website.
The store’s new website should be up and running soon. “We’ll be adding e-commerce and a shopping cart along with other features throughout the site,” said Udell. “All this time, we’ve been working on our instore experience. We haven’t been geared to be online, but we’re heading that way in the next month or so.”
Creative use of technology has changed one very traditional tenant of the sales process: selling over the counter. At Two by London, “There’s no behind the case selling; everyone is on the same side,” said Udell. “The employees don’t lurk. Our layout is similar to an Apple store. Our salespeople work next to the customer, never on a different side of the counter. It’s different than your typical jewelry store.”
While technology has changed quite a bit about how Two by London operates, a few things have stayed the same, namely traditional advertising. “Radio is going very, very well for us,” says Udell. “We’re also running movie theater ads that are very effective.” Along with that traditional advertising, Udell also uses various online avenues. “We’re active on Google, Facebook, and Pintrest. Our activity on Pintrest is unbelievable! When we pin a piece of inventory, we’ll get inquiries via email in the hundreds for the next few days.”
So how does Udell spend his time with the new store and London Jeweler’s five locations? “I split my time with every location we have. Two is my baby, but London Jewelers is just as important in growing every aspect of the business.”
And for the Two by London concept? “We’re looking to open stores in other markets. We’re excited to roll that out.”
The Two by London storefront.
Technology and jewelry combine in a smart, fun way in the Two by London store, as the happy customers can attest. Of course, as with any jewelry store, caring for the store itself is, especially one with a good amount of technology is its own challenge. Was it worth it? ” Yes, it was absolutely worth it!” said Udell.