Specialist of the world of jewelry, my meetings are always enriching! I recently had the pleasure of interacting with Selen and Benjamin, Interior architects and Designers based in Istanbul. The combined views of Le Sens du Détail’s founder, expert in jewelry with Selben Studio, Interior Design professionals, allow us to sketch out the physicality of tomorrow’s jewelry stores.

Let’s open together the doors of a world where woo the senses and dreaming are the keys!

Cozy interiors, cozy shops : the interiors of sales areas is undergoing a profound change. Jewelry stores are no exception to this facelift: how to redefine the codes of jewelry for a more uninhibited atmosphere?

Assessing the universe of sensitivity

The jewelry market has always conveyed codes that evoke timelessness, transmission, emotion, confidence and history. However, these codes move and grow richer. Like life, always in motion, jewelry and pieces of jewelry are also the fruit of the organic matter transformation shaped by the fingers of the creative craftsman. Sublimated raw materials and embodiment of luxury, jewelry now adopts the codes of change where consumption gradually becomes an assumed and responsible act, a conscious choice.

Beyond the pleasure of shopping, consumers are increasingly looking for the support of a project, a community, and values that give them social responsibility well beyond the acquisition of an object.

The world of sales undergoes profound changes

The health crisis we are going through is having an impact on the jewelry sector as on other sectors too : it is an accelerator of consumer trends which is accentuating a deep change. Thus, we are witnessing a transition which embodies new consumer expectations, and which takes place at the heart of the consumption system. The habits, the state of mind, and the very ideology of the act of purchase are being rethought: we are experiencing a paradigm shift.

Concretely, the typical landscape of jewelry stores could be as follows:

Generally, the boutiques are multi-brand sales areas with a surface area of ​​around 100m², which can accommodate between 5 to 10 brands offering a range of precious jewelry but also appealing products (silver pieces, 9 and 14 karat gold pieces).

Beyond this factual description, there is a general asepsis: the contents of jewelry are similar; we very often find the flagship pieces of the great houses, sure values ​​but little originality. The interior design of the store, reflecting a traditional customer relationship between seller and buyer, remains generally classic and unattractive to younger customers.

However, today the in-store experience is no longer confined to the act of purchasing. The new luxury’s consumers want to live an experience and discover new concepts or special atmospheres: it is time to turn the page and experiment to amaze and convince.

The ideal client:

Women mainly remain the active segment in this market. Today, generational marketing integrates generations X / Y / Millennials / Z into a panel of consumers. These generations are committed to values as described above and recognize themselves through a multitude of cultural affiliations. They play at shaking up codes and mixing up brands and genres: the customer is now uninhibited, her budget is not the only value she gives to the product.

The act of purchasing is a source of pleasure but she nevertheless wishes it to be responsible and as symbiotic as possible. The traditional store, as described above, therefore no longer corresponds to this new type of customers.

A strong jewelry identity

Remarkable, it must hook and engage consumers beyond traditional products and codes

Shake up the codes without breaking the rules

The perception of luxury in its conventional approach is manifested by the timelessness of "unquestionable reference" brands, which inspire confidence and reassure by their traditional roots.

These solid foundations should nurture innovation and creativity which will give life to a truly innovative concept. Consumers must have a point of reference to feel at ease, and to better detach themselves freely from it.

Drawing out the theme

A multibrand store must harmoniously bring together the different brands and products. Those will become its genetic structure, onto which the overall concept will be developed and grafted: your own theme, your story.

The visible part of the store, its layout and its style constitute a declension of this identity, but a beautiful decor does not replace the background, on which you have to build without being afraid to frighten customers. In its “intangible “side, the store will appeal to curiosity, divert consumers from their path and affect them emotionally: this heart of the concept will make the reason / unreason balance, a source of pleasure, resonates most strongly.

This is the very essence of brand identity: the goal is to capture your purpose and seat it comfortably in the back of the consumer's head. These axes, reflections of your store’s DNA , are enriched by an interior design that conveys this “raison d'être”: the store reflects a personality, far from neutrals clichés - without risk, but also without taste.

4 Key factors

Four pillars to understand the sales space and the evolution of expectations associated with it.

1 / Invite to unique experiences

Always keep in mind capturing the traffic. The particularity of the route can be intrinsically linked to the characteristics of sale point, and very different depending on the chosen location (airport shopping, shopping center, shopping street, unusual place).

The "angular" layout is most often used in the large jewelry houses, its implementation more expensive. Not seeing stock subconsciously suggests scarcity to customers and therefore a “more spontaneous” purchase decision.

Nevertheless, a "classic" sales format leads to prejudices that it is interesting to question, to break away from austere codes and to ease entry into these spaces, to democratize without depreciating?

We can rethink space in an unexpected way:

• Pleasant reference to the aesthetics of an apartment, where each micro space evokes a memory, an art piece, a type of activity with which consumers can connect more easily.

• A multi-faceted place in perpetual mutation adaptable to the seasons, different craftsmen and events (eg. St (_) ry store).

• A library where you go in search of stories.

• A café, sushi bar where the pieces are presented on a conveyor belt.

•  A tea room where we exchange around material, beauty, creation, art and poetry.

• A laboratory space where we take part in the history and creation of the jewel

• The workshop, where jewelry is created to make the invisible visible.

2 / Breath in emotion

By entering the store, each visitor should experience feelings of security, exclusivity, but also fun, neat aesthetics, a real sense of detail and attention.

The interior design of the store materializes these feelings - it goes through the five senses (lighting, acoustics, scents and textures), the human relationship (the services offered by the store, the customer relationship with the staff) and finally through the impalpable general atmosphere, fruit of the previous criteria and transparency with sincerity of the concept. A subtle and sincere combination of these elements will arouse the senses and animate the thrill of emotion of the customers.

The first impression when the customer comes through the door is crucial. It determines in 7 seconds whether you have succeeded in captivating and convincing the customer to enter your world.

• A differentiating product offer

Digital technologies offer capture possibilities for ultra-personalized creations. Providing this service to customers allows enriching their experience in a unique way by transforming a drawing, for example, into a jewel set with stones using 3d modeling techniques.

Much more than a simple jewel, you transform the precious material to materialize and sublimate a unique memory that can be transmitted.

• Welcoming security

The entrance to the store is a "mission statement" - it is a visual affirmation of your goals. The first point of contact between the customer and the merchant, it must be welcoming, evoking comfort and communicate a positive and trusting atmosphere.

• A natural force

The integration of natural elements, a touch of greenery or nature can really transform the entrance of your store to make it an intimate and enchanting place.

3 / Digital Integration

Today, digital is an integral part of the act of purchasing: as “consumer - actor”, customers inform themselves abundantly, which is often a prerequisite for making a purchasing decision. This is why the information available on the internet must reflect, and extend the values ​​and mission offered by the physical store. This is how the client, transformed into a conscientious detective and eager for differentiation, will be able to appropriate the values ​​that are important to him and with which he relates to (resemblance, belonging to a group or community).

Digital media are great ways to develop your communication and support a concept. They allow rapid and efficient changes over the entire consumer journey, which must be perfectly fluid. The communication policy of the physical store must reflect your concept from end to end, from the store to the website and vice versa.

Digital platforms are real amplifiers that inform, attract and arouse curiosity. The physical store embodies the concept, place of all expectations, experience and emotion.

Hence the importance in the jewelry sector of treating interior design with care and without fear of innovating in order not to disappoint the consumer.

• Educational consumer journey

We could link and parallel the consumer's journey with the creation of a jewel through a digitalized educational approach. Communicating about the steps prior to the product from various sort of specialized work can be unique and engaging in preparing for the act of in-store purchase.

• Digital in-store support

Using artificial intelligence or a question form to find the ideal jewel according to your temperament or what you want to express. The jewel that will help you complete, strengthen and amplify your personality.

4 / Take part in the circular economy

Consumers are increasingly aware of the fact that each piece of jewelry has an irreversible cost: extraction of raw materials, impact on local habitats and greenhouse gas emissions, human workforce cost far from cozy shops.

The integration of the 4 Rs (Recycle, Redo, Repair and Reuse) is compatible with a fresher approach for jewelry market and even luxury. From a sustainable design of the store, the choice of brands highlighted, services, packaging - all facets of store management can be considered:

• minimize the consumption of non-renewable energy

• promote the sourcing of environmentally friendly and responsible materials

• limit the use of non-renewable resources

• protect and conserve water (usage of grey water)

• improve the quality of the indoor environment

• optimize operating and maintenance practices (installation / dismantling)

Minimalist approaches rightly focus on the essentials and sometimes seem to be the most logical solution to addressing these concerns.

However, be careful not to become too “sanitized” because if you fail to feel the human hand, this will results in a loss of the senses and therefore of emotions.

The ultimate goal ? 

Searching for symbiosis

The new generation of jeweler should integrate this symbiosis between Nature and Man rather than opposing them, for the respect of new generations and the evolution of ways of thinking.

Photo credit :  The Jessica McCormack Townhouse, 7 Carlos Place, Mayfair

MoodBoard :

• Jewelry gallery in Jessica McCormack’s boutique Townhouse COURTESY OF JESSICA MCCORMACK

• Entrance photo Credits to Sharyn Cairns

• Los Angeles-based Etsy shop credit CaitlynMinimalist

• Studio Oliver Gustav_Photography Credit Stine Albertsen

• Story@Macy’s