An Australian jewellery chain has launched a new brand strategy after its own commissioned market research revealed it was ‘too vanilla’
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Secrets Shhh, which was founded in Noosa Heads in 2000 by Jane Meredith and Dietmar Gorlich, has just opened its Chadstone flagship store, which is a direct reflection of the company’s new fashion orientated approach.
After a year of in-depth market analysis by a design company, the jewellers, which has 21 stores across Australia and New Zealand, decided to implement a new strategy to propel it to the next level.
The store has a new interactive display which welcomes customers to the touch and feel element, in a bid to make them feel comfortable with the product.
“Our focus is to introduce a fashion forward element and our new fit- out incorporates and supports this,” Meredith said. “It also creates a fun and exciting experience for customers and importantly allows jewellery to be the focus.”
The new Melbourne store has a heightened single floating show case at the front of the store.
The layout, which allows double the amount of product to be displayed, also introduces a seating area to provide an intimate setting and offers a more personalised customer experience.
“We have been operating for 11 years and felt the timing was right to create a new look and feel,” Meredith said.
“We engaged a design company who conducted extensive market research, and feedback was that we were too vanilla, and there was confusion that we were a high end jewellery store, which was stopping customers from coming into our stores.”
Plans are now underway for the remainder of the shops to have a look-a-like makeover to match the flagship’s new appearance.
Further store location sites are also being investigated across Australia, focusing strongly on the Sydney area.
The Secrets Shhh team, which is looking at sourcing new products from France and Spain, also hopes to introduce new jewellery utilising materials such as onyx and ceramic.
Pippa Chambers