Sales Strategy
Thom Duma Fine Jewelers Implements New ‘Together’ Interactive Online Platform This Season | November 25, 2020 (0 comments)
Warren, OH—Jewelers and other independent retailers around the country have had to react quickly to ramp up their online sales potential in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic lockdowns. Although most of the country has reopened at least to some degree, many consumers remain wary of going out in public.
BOSS Logics, creator of the together™online, interactive platform for the jewelry industry, announces apartnership with Thom Duma Fine Jewelers, a 115-year-old luxury independent jewelry store in Warren, OH. The together platform has already been tapped by major luxury jewelry brands David Yurman, Lagos, and David Webb, and has partnered with Buyers Intelligence Group(BIG) for its vendor and retailer members.
A willingness to try new things is part of Thom Duma Fine Jeweler’s DNA. Thom Duma Sr. grew up during the Great Depression and, like many hardscrabble young men, enlisted in WWII and became an air traffic controller stationed in Mississippi. While there, he happened to notice a watchmaker at work in the window of a jewelry store. Fascinated by the precision and deftness of the skill, Duma used the GI Bill to enroll in watchmaking school. He returned to Ohio, securing a position as a watch repairman at Sachs Jewelry Store, until one day he was thrust onto the sales floor during a busy time. He proved a natural at sales, and set out to learn everything he could about business. Together with a colleague, Isadore Diamondstein, Duma bought out a local jeweler that was retiring, and the rest, as they say, is history. His son, Tom Jr., entered the business in 1980 and took it over in 1985. Since then he’s grown and expanded and added many new categories and brands and become a renowned Rolex jeweler in the Mahoning Valley area.
And like everyone else, he had to close for about seven or eight weeks during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, when Ohio’s governor, Mike DeWine (R), mandated statewide shutdowns. For Duma, that just meant finding an alternative way of doing business.
The together platform allows retailers to recreate the in-person shopping and selling experience entirely online. Its software allows jewelry associates to showcase the store’s entire inventory virtually while meeting face-to-face with customers, all on one screen. It also helps vendors present their collections to retailers, rather than sending sales reps out on the road.
With COVID case numbers on the rise again, Thom Duma Fine Jewelry has developed a new protocol, beginning on Black Friday. The store’s sales staff will be divided into two teams, alternating working from home and at the store. On days they are not at the store, they will use the together platform to make sales while working their client lists at home. Duma feels this setup will help ensure that the business continue to stay successful even while the store is not operating at full capacity.
But it’s not entirely all about COVID, either: owner Tom Duma Jr. says it’s helpful for any clients that can’t come in person at any time.
"As the owner, I have many customers who do not live close to the store, and together helps me sell to my out of town clients,” says Duma. “Before together, I would Facetime or snap pictures with my phone and text them. But together allows my customers to see my in-stock inventory and help me close sales like never before!"
Thom Duma using the interactive platform to show a customer some selections of David Yurman jewelry.
For more information, visit www.bosslogics.com/together.