3 Keys to a Successful Retailer-Brand Partnership
Guest columnists Kendra Bridelle and Ashley Davis Sigman break down the importance of familiarity, story-telling, and intention.

Retailers cannot invest in a brand and expect it to flourish all on its own. Like children or a garden, a brand must be tended to and nurtured.
Brands, no matter the level of consumer awareness, rarely sell themselves. Successful sell-through comes from a multidimensional strategic plan that includes buying, merchandising, training, marketing, organization, communication and clienteling.
The retailer/brand relationship takes a significant investment of time and money at the onset.
Once product arrives at the store level, a well-developed plan will allow you to avoid “failure to launch.” That plan should involve the following steps.
Induce Familiarity
Collaboration is key! After ensuring the best assortment/price points are selected, bring together the retailer’s internal teams: inventory, merchandising, marketing, and sales.
If the retailer has multiple doors, include the owners and store managers.
Utilize the corporate brand training and incentives that are offered. Get the team excited about the product. They sell what they are familiar with so create brand ambassadors from within.
Train the staff on the brand’s history, collections, inspiration, materials and construction, warranties, and repairs. Encourage staff to have fun, touch the product and try it on. If they wear it, they will sell it.
When introducing a new brand, demonstrate how to style customers, including layering and incorporating the new line with existing brands that clients already own and wear. Get creative and role play to best understand the selling advantages.
Include members of key departments, not just sales associates. Do not underestimate the power of cross-training departments.
Everyone who works at the retail level is a potential brand ambassador so include the service department, merchandisers, buyers, inventory, administrative and marketing teams.
In peak selling times, non-sales team members become auxiliary sellers. Get to know these silent sellers!
Also, don’t forget to tap into sales incentives and employee discounts.
Many brands offer programs, discounts, and spiffs. View these as an extension of compensation to maximize pay and benefits.
If sellers make self-purchases through store or brand discounts or winning and wearing the product, a natural brand champion is born.
Tell the Story
Tell the story of the brand and its collections across multiple touchpoints—in store, online and through outside entities.
Use visual displays and merchandising, website, email, digital and in-store signage, events and get creative with editorial content creation, all synchronized for the official brand launch as well as future collection announcements.
Retailers need to regularly and consistently introduce each new brand and collection to existing clients, and they need to think beyond the showroom to do so.
Forge partnerships with local lifestyle or fashion magazines that need editorial content.
Collaborate with your community. Form alliances with regional businesses or charitable organizations, which can identify a potential new customer base for the brand and retailer.
Host an in-store or offsite event to generate buzz and create a unique experience for guests for the brand’s debut. Brands should send a representative to participate in these events.
For retailers, case space is too valuable not to perform.
For brands, they need to ask themselves, how much does it cost to do business with specific retailers? When will there be a profit?
At the end of the day, both retailers and brands are looking for their return on their investment.
Often, it is the smaller stores that are most nimble and can better implement the above initiatives. Larger, multi-door regional or major chains more often have a more difficult time meeting these challenges.
It is the store owner’s and buyer’s responsibility to ensure all parties are working together to build a successful partnership. One cannot succeed without the other.
Today’s lesson: take the time to create a rollout plan, engage your entire team, and make it a priority to shine a light on the new brand.
If these steps are taken, both businesses will grow and flourish.
The Latest

The ruby and the sapphire, which Christie’s calls a “once-in-a-generation masterpiece,” are part of the upcoming Hong Kong jewelry auction.

The two pairs of earrings, snatched from a Tiffany & Co. store in Orlando, Florida, are valued at a combined $769,500.

From striking high jewelry to miniature fine jewelry, the new chapter continues to highlight gemstones featuring its signature 57-facet cut.

Bench jewelers spend years honing their skills, Jewelers of America’s Certification validates their talents.

The jewelry giant is reducing its senior leadership by 30 percent as part of its new turnaround strategy.


The auction house's partnership with online watch servicing platform WatchCheck makes repairs convenient and accessible, it said.

The company also noted record sales in the United States and a strong performance in its jewelry category.

Natural diamonds mean more than lab-grown, but when every cut is ideal, they all look the same. Customers want more—Facets of Fire delivers.

The event, set for June 13-15, will feature educational presentations and guided visits to the state’s sapphire mines.

After the black enamel band became a best-seller for the brand, it has now launched an enamel ring personalization program.

The Austin, Texas, jeweler’s new 11,000-square-foot store is set to open this summer.

The rapper and singer-songwriter will perform at Tao Beach on June 8.

“Conversations with Chris Ploof” covers tips for men buying wedding bands, behind-the-scenes footage of Ploof in his studio, and more.

As lab-grown diamond brands pop up across India, academics are researching how to grow demand outside of the jewelry industry.

The moves are part of the retailer’s new turnaround plan, “Grow Brand Love,” which also includes emphasizing brand loyalty over store banners.

The “Rush Hour” campaign stars Zoë Kravitz in bold, wearable pieces designed to make a statement in the workplace.

Breitling is reviving Gallet, which was founded in 1826 and is known for making watches used in the early days of long-distance travel.

Dubbed the “Mediterranean Blue,” this “remarkably rare” diamond will be part of Sotheby’s May jewelry auction in Geneva.

The American Gem Society now offers a Jewelry Evaluation Advisor designation as well as an updated Certified Sales Associate designation.

Rebecca Zeijdel-Paz created more than 75 new pieces for the residency, which will be on display at Trove’s store in New York through April.

The company and its marketing agency, Loudr, were recognized for the “Make You Dance” marketing campaign.

The “Series8” and “Attesa” collections will be grouped under Citizen Premier.

David Fager, a former systems engineer at the retailer, was promoted to the role.

From retailers to designers and the media, the fine jewelry industry recognized one another’s work and looked to the future.

Eleanor H. Yeh is the recipient of the eighth annual Gianmaria Buccellati Foundation Award for Excellence in Jewelry Design.

Joseph Cavalcante takes on the dual role as the Spanish jewelry brand looks to expand further into the U.S. market.

The trade show has also upgraded its venue to the Caesars Forum Conference Center.