Since 2010, global eCommerce sales have increased by nearly 800%. In 2010, less than 5% of retail sales happened online, now that’s more than tripled to 18%. Despite this trend, pawnbrokers and jewelers have remained slow to adopt ecommerce. Common objections that these brick & mortar stores cite include:
- A belief that online sales will cannibalize foot traffic and in-store sales.
- Concerns about tying up inventory or breaking the pawn cycle
- The associated costs of managing ecommerce listings, sales, and shipping.
Recent research from Forrester highlights new data that could dispel these long-held beliefs and increase buy-in for traditional ecommerce marketing tactics, suggesting that nearly two-thirds of all sales are now digitally influenced, up from 49% pre-pandemic.
But what exactly does “Digitally-Influenced Sales” mean?
The phrase “digitally influenced sales” recognizes the fact that many of the things retailers often associate only with improving their online sales, like payment via text message or hosting live selling events, are increasingly important to any pawnshop, even if their ecommerce is small or nonexistent. In short, the lines between revenue streams are blurred as customers increasingly preview inventory digitally before coming into the store to finalize the purchase. What’s more, digital-impacted sales are predicted to account for more than half of all consumer purchases this year.
“Pawnshops can no longer sit on the sidelines when it comes to the technology that customers demand,” says Anish Desai, whose SellByText platform has gained traction and generated users over $1M in sales in December 2021. One of the early adopters, Tiffany Bayles of Avalon Jewelers in Orlando, Florida, credits the platform with processing $1.3M for her ‘Live With Tiffany’ sales during the height of pandemic shutdowns.
“It has long been clear in almost every consumer industry that eCommerce is the future,” he adds, “but now we’re starting to recognize that even stores that don’t sell things online can benefit by growing their digital-impacted sales. Any retailer can benefit from technology that enables seamless communication, customer reviews, Pay by text, and management of livestream selling events, even if their store doesn’t sell things online.
Anish recognized the opportunity for pawnbrokers shortly after launching the software in February 2021. “We joined the NPA and attended the Midwest and PawnExpo conventions to support the industry and establish relationships with pawnbrokers in a similar way to how StarGems grew to be a leader in the fine jewelry market,” he shares, “we believe in strong professional relationships.”
To contact Star Gems for more information or to schedule a demo on TextMeChat and SellByText, visit textmechat.com, call 770-394-6727 or email sales@stargems.com.
TextMeChat is a marketing partner.
