Jane Meredith heads up the Noosa based Secrets Shhh chain and in her own words, has moved from doughnuts to diamonds; after a 20 year public service career she gave up the business suit and briefcase for a pink uniform and fondant in my eyebrows and became a Donut King franchisee.
I learned a huge amount about branding and franchising, she says. And this experience has stood her in good stead at Secrets, a business she founded in 2000 with a jeweller friend, Dietmar Gorlich.
The big secret at Secrets is that the beautiful fine jewellery for sale features simulated diamonds, rather than the real thing. But, of course, it’s no secret at all, and that’s how the brand has grown its portfolio of 19 stores across Australia and New Zealand.
The concept for the brand came when Meredith had moved on from doughnuts and was working for a high end jeweller who pointed out that only nine percent of women were in the market to purchase top quality diamonds.
I had a flash, I’m in the 91 percent, she says, and the idea of fine jewellery at affordable prices was born. She teamed up with Dietmar and sourced new stones overseas. We talked about how the concept store would look, about fonts and shopfits. I had $15 and he had just enough to fund the store.
We thought we would have three or four stores in Australia and would finance it ourselves. But customers kept asking if the brand was franchised. So we started with a licence agreement for a couple of stores then launched the franchise in 2004.
The sparkle factor
But the clean design that so appealed to customers early on had become tired by 2011 and a redesign was called for. It looked vanilla, very tired and invisible. We were putting out a confusing message; when customers looked in the window it all looked high end and they were unsure whether or not to walk in.
A major shift in the store design, seen at the flagship Chadstone outlet, has been the creation of an island counter that encourages customers to browse. Black ridging on top of the cabinets helps bring the black and white colour theme to life, while softer wall colours add a more feminine touch. Segmenting the merchandise into categories such as rings, bracelets and necklets, and gifts, has also significantly helped the stores.
Branding has been strengthened too with the proper inclusion of the Shhh element into the logo.
The redesign has made a difference. We are experiencing a 10 to 15 percent average increase in customer foot traffic based on our store counter technology and the design has increased our exposure to new first time customers by 20 to 30 percent, given the more open and inviting design.
Despite a tough retail environment Meredith is confident that the store look and layout, and the merchandise, are well positioned to suit the more cautious consumer.
Instead of a $4000 diamond ring, a customer might prefer to purchase a 1.5 carat solitaire ring for $600 from Secrets; gold stud earrings are priced from $180, bracelets cost up to $900, and then silver fashion pieces are from $90. A manufacturing partnership ensures all but one range are designed in-house and produced as an exclusive for Secrets.
Today’s simulated diamond is similar to the old fashioned cubic zirconia but is stronger, says Meredith. There are very different grades of stone from triple A down and as with a diamond, the cut makes all the difference. If it’s not cut like a diamond you won’t get the sparkle. And it needs a good setting.
Customers like to try on jewellery and that’s why the chain remains unaffected by the general drift to e-tailing; instead the Secrets website is designed for online research before visiting a store.
There will be further online activities introduced later in the year – including a program that allows the user to see what a product will look like on their hand, or worn with other items.
When the business surveyed women about the jewellery, not many were interested in whether or not the jewel was genuine. What was an important consideration was ‘how does it make me feel?’
Fabulous, not fake
Says Meredith, De Beers has done a wonderful job promoting diamonds; we are creating an alternative. Now 35 to 40 percent of the business is engagement rings. If a man’s going to buy a ring, you can be sure his girlfriend’s done a lot of work first, she says of the changing buying patterns of today’s fianc_es which sees engagement coming after the house purchase.
Customers come to us if they don’t want to spend the money [for a diamond]. They come in together or he’ll come by himself. Men are not trying to scam their partners. If we ever feel they are doing that, we suggest they go and check with their girlfriend first. We want everyone to love wearing their jewellery. It’s not a decoy, it’s something that will last.
Generation Y is not as attached to the concept of a diamond ring as previous generations of couples have been, Meredith observes. Sometimes, she adds, the choice of a simulated diamond is a humanitarian or ethical choice.
We don’t push this, she says. We’re about fun.