Buying groups get set for Melbourne Fair

Melbourne Jewellery Fair organiser Gary Fitz-Roy says he expected there to be some confusion in the first year about the way the joint fairs operate. 

 

“Of course some people still don’t understand that gift visitors don’t get automatic entry in the jewellery fair. While our visitors [jewellers] can enter the Gift Fair without additional registration, we must validate and approve any gift visitor before they can enter the Melbourne Jewellery Fair,” he explained. 

 

Under the joint promotion agreement, registered jewellery fair visitors with photo ID will gain automatic free access to the gift fair however, once approved, gift fair visitors will receive a badge that clearly identifies that their business is predominately a gift store that may sell jewellery.

 

At the time of publication there were 29 first-time exhibitors attending the event, which has been extended to three-days (from 2-4 February), and Fitz-Roy believes the combined event will present suppliers and retailers with a range of new opportunities.

 

Australia’s three jewellery buying groups are all participating in Melbourne with Leading Edge Jewellers conducting the most comprehensive program for its members. 

 

 

Leading Edge has planned a full schedule and will be hosting a major three-day conference prior to the fair from Wednesday 30 January to Friday 1 February at the Langham Hotel in Melbourne. 

 

The group’s managing director Josh Zarb told Jeweller he expected more than 70 members to attend the conference – the biggest turnout on record for this time of year.  

 

The event will feature a series of seminars and workshops, including a presentation by specialist retailer David Jenkins; a members’ forum that will review an intensive session the group held on Christmas and December trading; as well as a session focused on staffing issues, which will be hosted by Zarb. 

 

There will also be a “Strategy from Summer” event that will look at the group’s marketing campaigns with a specific focus on its members’ online presence. 

 

In addition, the group will be launching an update to its digital solution, which now incorporates a business-to-consumer focus.

 

“We already have a direct marketing vehicle and website offering for all members but we’ve made modifications to our own system to work with our supplier base,” Zarb said. 

 

“It’s intended that the business-to-business sector will launch into a retail-friendly space so that we can start benefitting from business-to-consumer as well.” 

 

On the social side, Leading Edge has organised a dinner and tickets to OVO by Cirque du Soleil for its members and suppliers while a members-only dinner will also take place on Wednesday 30 January.  

 

Showcase Jewellers director Michael Mishevski says while the group is launching the second phase of its retail management program in Melbourne, the group’s major focus will begin at the Brisbane Jewellery Fair in March. 

 

“As far as Melbourne is concerned, we don’t have a pre-conference function facility or anything like that. So we’re attending the trade fair more as exhibitors than anything else,” Mishevski said. 

 

Showcase will, however, be launching its retail management program at the fair. 

 

The project, which has taken 18 months to hone, covers various policies and procedures required for running a jewellery store.  

 

“We’ve been working very hard on producing what I believe is a world class training program,” Mishevski said. 

 

“It handles everything that you could possible think of to run a jewellery store, including training manuals on how to meet and greet customers and how to handle lay-buys.” 

 

The program will be available through a variety of media including printed hard copy, online and DVD editions.  

 

Stage one of the program focuses on operational issues and is targeted more towards staff members. It was launched at the JAA International Jewellery Fair in 2012.  

 

Nationwide Jewellers is using the fair as an opportunity to promote all its 2013 events. 

 

Managing director Colin Pocklington says the group will be issuing gift bags to all members that will include information regarding its diamond safari to Botswana in March, a conference with keynote speaker David Geller in May and diamond sales training with Shane Decker at the JAA International Jewellery Fair in September.

 

“It’s about making sure that our members have booked in for the conference and they know about David Geller and also that they’ve booked for the training at the Sydney fair with Shane Decker,” Pocklington said. 

 

In other news, Nationwide will be launching two websites for members in the next few weeks. The first is a group site and the second is one specifically for its members that will feature an online showroom targeted at consumers.