Whether you are selling luxury jewelry or luxury jackets, the art of storytelling is an important one that helps a shopper make the leap of faith that this object is EXACTLY what they've been looking for all along.
Michael unpacks a recent online purchase he made on Huckberry for their Flint & Tinder Flannel Lined Waxed Jacket and the subtle storytelling elements they used that really connected with him, and draws comparisons to how jewelers can employ similar tactics when selling jewelry on their websites.
Whether its a healthy mix of in-studio and lifestyle photographs, a demo video, or just ample product information, the devil is in the details. Discovering a passion for storytelling can help shoppers fall in love with your products.
Check out the jacket: https://huckberry.com/store/flint-and-tinder/category/p/55166-flannel-lined-waxed-trucker-jacket
Learn more about our sponsor NIVODA: https://nivoda.com/intheloupe
Send feedback or learn more about the podcast: punchmark.com/loupe
Learn about Punchmark's website platform: punchmark.com
Whether you are selling luxury jewelry or luxury jackets, the art of storytelling is an important one that helps a shopper make the leap of faith that this object is EXACTLY what they've been looking for all along.
Michael unpacks a recent online purchase he made on Huckberry for their Flint & Tinder Flannel Lined Waxed Jacket and the subtle storytelling elements they used that really connected with him, and draws comparisons to how jewelers can employ similar tactics when selling jewelry on their websites.
Whether its a healthy mix of in-studio and lifestyle photographs, a demo video, or just ample product information, the devil is in the details. Discovering a passion for storytelling can help shoppers fall in love with your products.
Check out the jacket: https://huckberry.com/store/flint-and-tinder/category/p/55166-flannel-lined-waxed-trucker-jacket
Learn more about our sponsor NIVODA: https://nivoda.com/intheloupe
Send feedback or learn more about the podcast: punchmark.com/loupe
Learn about Punchmark's website platform: punchmark.com
Welcome back everybody to In the Loop. What is up everybody? My name is Michael Burpo. Thanks again for listening to In the Loop.
Speaker 1:This week we're doing things a little bit different. I'm going to do an episode of Breaking Down the Best and, as ever, I'm breaking down a website that I thought was amazing and a purchase experience that I thought was great, and, after interviewing a couple of people that are prominent listeners for the show shout out to Alex from Keeper Jewelers I learned that the best thing I can do when I do a Breaking Down the Best episode is outline a couple of things that are actionable for our clients or for people in general, and not just outline things that are great about the development of a website, but more like what I'm seeing as a consumer, that is actionable by the you know, the actual retailer themselves. So for this one, I'm going to focus specifically on what we call the product detail page, and that is the page that has all the information and details about a product on the store and that they usually add the cart from, and we're going to dive into a couple of the things that I find most important when I most recently bought a very expensive jacket and why I was actually convinced to spend this money on it and kind of what went through my head. So hopefully you learned something or you got a little inspired. If not, maybe I'll just keep you company for 20, 30 minutes. All right, let's jump into that thing. And now back to the show. Okay, let's jump into this thing. So the product that I purchased most recently is the Flannel Lined Waxed Trucker Jacket from Huckberry. It's actually made by Flint Tinder. Flint Tinder is the, I guess, the producer, but Huckberry is the website that I purchased it off. Before I jump into exactly what this jacket is, it's funny I have it sitting on my lap so I can talk about it a little bit more Before I dive into the product.
Speaker 1:Huckberry is kind of like a boutique store for useful I don't want to say redneck, because you might have a different idea of what redneck means than me but for more like working clothes, things that essentially Carhart. Carhart is one of those products that my dad has always owned Carhart he was a forester, retired now and a lot of Carhart he purchased 30, 40 years ago, so way older than me and that stuff is stuck around and it actually gets better with age, as opposed to wearing out. They say it wears in instead of wearing out, and I like that kind of stuff. My whole goal for the past two years is I've been trying to purchase 10-year clothes. 10-year meaning clothes that I will be able to have for at least 10 years, and that is different than a lot of t-shirts. A lot of t-shirts you're expected to wear for like two years, maybe even three years, and then you have to recycle them or you wear through them. And I'm trying to buy some clothes like. I purchased a pair of boots and these boots they have a lifetime warranty. They're with Redwing and because when you wear through them, then they will replace them for like a very low amount of money and then you get them back and it's just supposed to be more environmentally conscious, so you become a little bit more attached to it.
Speaker 1:But what I really liked the most about this jacket is that they talk a lot about this term patina. Patina is like I think they use it also when they talk about expensive luxury watches, I think Rolexes in particular. When they talk about classic Rolexes, they sometimes talk about the patina, in that there's like this look of the wear and tear that goes onto it, which side note kind of interesting how that's like Something that is to be strived for as opposed to like where is the line between? There's brand new, they're slightly used, there's used heavily, and then it like jumps where the value goes back up and suddenly it's like oh, it has a great patina on it. You know it's kind of confusing and a little bit interesting, but that aside, I really like this jacket. About how they talk, about how there's a you're going to earn your patina, that's what they talk about all the time when it comes to you know, the marketing. And there's actually on the product detail page there is a banner, I guess way at the bottom of the page that says wears in, not out, tough, timeless, made in the USA. You know, like, whether that matters to you that much. It doesn't really matter. But what's cool is, next to it they show a brand new jacket, folded half ways, I guess, so like showing just the left sleeve, and then they show what looks to be a very, very, very old version of the exact same jacket next to it, folded to the right side, and you can see the difference in color but also in where and like kind of how that look is. And I think that the storytelling behind the product is actually what won me over and, like I do with all of my breaking down the best episodes, I'm going to tell you exactly what I bought and don't judge me on this. It's kind of expensive, but whatever, it was $298. So $298, it was definitely a purchase I had to think about because it didn't really sit inside of my current wardrobe. Yet I wasn't replacing something, I was buying something that I knew I wanted. For the longest time.
Speaker 1:I always wore North Face jackets North Face like Slicker jackets, and they are slightly waterproof, but not all the way, and it's like what I would call a fall or spring jacket fall, spring and I liked it. It just I always wore a black one I wore for I've probably always had one for about 15 years at this point. My parents just I grew up in the Adirondacks. They always place a lot of importance on having good gear, because the weather in the Adirondacks, the in upstate New York, is rather intense at times and if you don't have good gear, you can put yourself a danger or risk, or you make yourself a danger to your traveling partners a lot of the times, because if someone's cold a lot of the times that means your hiking partners or your travel partners are going to have to, like, take care of you or they're going to have to give you some of your clothes or things like that. So I always wore North Face jackets and that was like a big importance.
Speaker 1:But I wanted something that would last for a long, long time, and the reason why I ended up on this flannel lined waxed jacket is because it's essentially this heavier material and it's waxed, which makes it waterproof and it doesn't leak and you can wear it hopefully forever, whereas when it comes to North Face, that Gore-Tex material a lot of times will wear out. I promise we're going to get around to how this relates to jewelry. Just bear with me on this one. But what really sold me on it is the details and the storytelling and the way that they kind of sell the product and I know that sounds confusing. I'm trying to work through it as I talk about it. It's like they show what the new product is going to look like. So on the product detail page they show a brand new jacket and they show like what the flannel line looks like, as well as the color of it. I ended up going with a field tan, which is just kind of like a parchment color, and underneath it they show a whole grid of products and they show a model. One thing I really like they have the model moving around in one of the photos as a video. So, for example, they show the model like opening up the insides and turning around and kind of like taking off the jacket, putting it back on. You can kind of see it in motion and I really like that.
Speaker 1:I've always thought that more jewelry companies should do that, though I do understand that a lot of times that has to do with what the vendor is going to provide. So I've always been encouraging vendors to have more lifestyle shots. But I think that the only thing you see when it comes to this product you only see about probably a quarter of the products is a product. Shots are of the product on its own, so not on a body, and I think that that is very striking to me because it almost kind of makes you feel like the jacket is supposed to be more alive. So again, I thought about this purchase for a really long time. It I'm almost embarrassed to admit like it took me a long time to decide if I was going to buy this which, if you heard me talk about purchasing in the past, I'm more of a grip it and rip it kind of guy like I go into it and I don't usually do a lot of comparison shopping.
Speaker 1:But what I've noticed is this one really kind of started to kind of sway me and I really liked what they talk about when it comes to the, the importance of what their key marketing feature is that it wears in versus wears out. Because they also, as you go down, as you go down the page, essentially scrolling through, you see versions of the jacket that are worn in and, for example, they show it on a different model who's out obviously not in a studio out, I guess living in the jacket, and a lot of their shots are very kind of, you know, blue collar themed or more western themed. This jacket is actually the one. If you've ever watched the TV show the Last of Us, I think it's the one that Joel wears, and I think that as you go through, you see the jacket wearing in and it sort of starts to weave this tale for you about what would I look like if I wore mine in, and I think that it's very. I don't know.
Speaker 1:The term romantic is often used for love, but I think romantic is also about like the storytelling and having you fall for something, and I think that the way that we could take this lesson when it comes to selling jewelry online is how are you trying to convince someone to buy your product? So let's talk about other luxury items, because I would probably consider this luxury as a utility, but it's definitely you probably buy this cheaper, or you could just buy something cheaper as opposed to this one in particular, and I think that I really would encourage people to take a look at this and realize, if you're selling a luxury watch, it's not just about showing the watch shot in a you know, a gem light box, even though that is great, or it's not even just about showing it on a wrist. It's also about like the lifestyle of it, or the what does it look like in what I call three dimension Meaning, like what does it look like when they're moving? What does it look like when they are, when it's on wrist in there wearing dressed up clothes, or when they're dressed down or they're wearing, you know, like a nice, a nice t-shirt with a nice pair of slacks, as opposed to wearing a suit, or let's not even talk about watches, let's talk about other things like engagement rings.
Speaker 1:So one thing I remember in my discussions with people from OSPY is they were talking about how the ring styles have changed to match with, like, tiktok and other social media. Because Craig Craig McBean from OSPY, he was saying that a lot of women predominantly like to have their engagement rings, their diamonds, set higher. And it's like, oh, why? What's the impetus for that, for that change? What's the catalyst for that change? And a lot of the times it's well, it's because, oh, they like to put it on social media. Or when they're driving and they have their hand on the steering wheel, they like to have it. You know, sit up a little bit and see the flash as opposed to more of like a low profile one, which is where, which used to be more classic, and that kind of is one of those things it's like if that is sort of trendy or if maybe that's at like the heart of a design, it's like, why not come back to that? So when you're shooting, why not, you know, get a couple shots of, like, someone with an engagement ring on as they have their hand on their steering wheel or even using that just in like yeah, as like some of the B-roll of your product details page, and I think that that's kind of one of those things is.
Speaker 1:I think sometimes, forgive me, I think that jewelers get a little bit too close to the source material. So what I mean by that is you guys just love talking about the four C's and like the cuts and the clarrities and it's an, it's an I, I too, and like a VVS and all these things and like I get it. It is really cool and I've started to be interested by it as well. But what's important to remember is the storytelling to the consumer, not just the nitty gritty details, and that's what this has really kind of impressed upon me is. I was like, did I really care about like the inseam on the I don't know the, the different details about this jacket? It's like not really. It's more like this is the storytelling. That that really kind of started to sway me.
Speaker 1:And the other thing I thought was really interesting on this product details page is they have a lot of details that are not about numbers. I know that sounds kind of crazy, but here's an example you open up a side panel, and this is all doable with a punchmark website or, if you have a different platform, you can add this right onto some of your product. Details is what they have it labeled as features. So here's what it says made in the US, cut, sewn and finished in Los Angeles.
Speaker 1:Weather resistant, waxed, marty tixin seven ounce sail cloth from New Jersey. So that, right there, that is definitely a metric, so that's obviously a detail kind of point. And then it keeps on going waxed on both sides of shell for warmth and insulation. That's interesting. It's kind of explains about, like, how it works. Re waxable exterior for a lifetime of water resistance. And you'll see that, like the word lifetime is used kind of a lot of times in a lot of the the storytelling in this body and sleeves fully lined with a soft striped blanket lining.
Speaker 1:So you know, I kind of wish that was customizable. It's not my favorite design for a flannel, but it's still. It's still kind of cool. Interior media pocket I don't know that. It's like essentially just a pocket for your phone. Who cares about that one? And then it says, as seen in HBO's the Last of Us, and what's really cool is they actually have a very short YouTube video that's embedded into their product details page, and you could do this too, especially on your on your Punchbox website, and if you click on it, see if I can get it to play. Can you hear? That.
Speaker 1:It's just very like rustic and it shows the product in use and it shows like a lot of blue collar jobs, a lot of cowboying and and things like that, and I think it's very story driven, and I think that what I keep on coming back to is what swayed me to purchase this because I had this bookmarked for probably almost a full year is that it kind of made me think, like why am I waiting to purchase this when I it's supposed to be around for a lifetime, in which case the sooner I buy it, the sooner I'm going to kind of reap the rewards of my purchase. So I did buy it. I guess that's kind of what I keep on coming back to and I keep on trying to encourage people to kind of remember is just how meaningful storytelling is and that we shouldn't overlook it, even though we keep on. You know, a lot of people, you know, want to know the details and all the aspects of it. But I think that showing what you know products can be done, whether that's on a wedding day or just like I said, driving in a car. I think that that is just as important as the specs on that VVS one and making sure that you kind of convey the right information. Okay, we're gonna take one quick break, I'm gonna come back. I've got one more point and I definitely want to get it across and then I'll let you go on your way. So stay with us. This episode is brought to you in part by Novota.
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Speaker 1:Slash in the loop, that's nivodcom. Slash in the L-O-U-P-E. Thanks. And now back to the show. Okay, we're back.
Speaker 1:I promise I won't make this too long in episode, because I'm trying to vary the length of a certain in the loop episode just so we kind of have the full spectrum. But one thing I definitely want to kind of make sure I convey also was the importance of product reviews. So I know very, very clearly that product reviews aren't as as valuable when it comes to selling jewelry, mainly because it's not a repeat purchase and it's also not going to be like a utility, it's a, it's a luxury item. But what I found really interesting was the way that they used their, their reviews on this product. So what they did is they pulled out a couple of key five-star reviews for these products that feel very authentic and they made sure that they highlight again what's important, which is the storytelling in that it's useful. So how could we take this trend and apply it to jewelry? Well, for example, you could highlight the way it made someone feel and maybe it's not about the product, maybe it's more about your experience but a lot of the times I feel like jewelry stores are focusing on quantity of reviews and a lot of times we're overlooking the value of using specific reviews, and I mean for punch market in particular. We actually have a key review that we highlight on our customer stories page on our website and if you want to go look at it, you can. But it's a really nice review, also from Alex from key for jewelers, and it highlights the storytelling that we're always trying to convey.
Speaker 1:And for this one in particular, for this jacket, it says it gives like a little description of the body and then the you know the fit. So basically, hey, this guy is five foot seven, his body type is athletic and the fit was true to size and he purchased a size medium and he weighs 160 pounds. But what I really liked about it is he writes a kind of description of like, why it works for him, and he talks about oh, you know, it fits more snug around the top of my of my pecs and also under my armpits, but it's a little bit looser on my lower back and that's important for me as I, as I work, and he also says, if I got a small, I wouldn't have been able to button it up, and I thought that was really an interesting point, because it talks about again the utility of it. When we talk about jewelry, a lot of the times we're talking about it in like as if it's still in the display case, which I think is definitely fair. But I mean, jewelry is meant to be meant to be worn right out in the, out in the world, and if that's the case, we need to also just make sure that we talk about you know what happens with the, with the jewelry, as you wear it, and maybe that cycles back to that term patina.
Speaker 1:When it comes to luxury watches, you know it's going to wear you know a little bit. Or when it comes to engagement rings, if it has like a high sitting up stone, it's important to also talk about the fact that, like that increases the chance of it getting snagged on things or increase the chance that it gets dirty, in which case maybe you should have it cleaned more often. And that storytelling, whether it's the good or the bad, I think is important, because then suddenly they can picture themselves wearing it, and I just kind of want to make sure that we bring that back to the forefront and how, how cool that is that, again, putting someone in the driver's seat and like letting them test drive it out in their mind is just such a valuable tool for for selling that I kind of hope that maybe we can, you know, implement that in our, in our process a little bit more. For example, again to tie it in another way, punch mark does this in with our new creative strategy assessment. So what we did is we tied in AI into our creative strategy assessment so that the answers that we get back from a client are built into a model we had built and make it so that only the things that we recommend all have to pertain specifically to the goals that were outlined by the client. So if the client says, oh, we want to schedule more custom Julia design projects, well, you probably don't want to have a ton of you know product widgets on your website at the very top. You probably want to have it more driven towards making appointments or making it easier to make appointments. And I think that that is just important that we use the storytelling aspect or we tie it back to the goals when we are presenting them with options, as opposed to just offering them the most expensive option, which you know. That's definitely one thing we could do is we could offer them more expensive options, but it doesn't serve anybody if the product isn't the right fit, even if you get the money. It's more about you want it to be, you know. The right fit, I guess, is the right term.
Speaker 1:Okay, it's a lot of rambling. I think that I'm trying my best, with these types of product reviews and experience reviews, to highlight what it is that I find so I don't know interesting about the state of more expensive e-commerce. I don't wanna say luxury, because this jacket we won't even call it a luxury item, it's more of like a expensive item. I think that there's a delineation, but what happens is, as I spend more and more dollars, as it's a more and more expensive price tag, I want to become more and more sure about my purchase, and while some people might not even blink about spend $300 on a jacket, I do and I wanted to be certain that my purchase was good, and I think that one way we can do that is by looking at our products on more of like a one by one basis instead of as a bulk basis.
Speaker 1:So one thing we're actually seeing with a lot of our clients is they're actually cutting back on the number of products that they have on their websites. And back in the day it used to be like you wanna have your entire catalog on your website, and now we're actually seeing a lot of clients do is they're actually limiting it. They're making it so that they only have, you know, 30 products, or 40 products for each category. Well, that does make a lot 40,. If they don't find what they want in 40, they're probably not gonna find it in 200, or maybe they will. But we're finding that by offering a more curated selection, it's kind of mirrors that in-store experience or it kind of makes it so that they feel more certain about their choice, as opposed to more of like fishing for anything in the sea. You know, all right, I think that that's probably we're all leaving it.
Speaker 1:I think it's very kind of interesting to look more analytically about you know, our experiences online. If you have an experience online that you find interesting, I would encourage you to. You know, send it to me. You can send it to me on punchmarkcom slash loop. There's a form at the very bottom that'll go directly to me and start looking more analytically about your own experiences, your own e-commerce experiences, but also about your personal websites experience. And what would it be like if you know you were shopping for an engagement ring on your website, or not even engagement ring? What would happen if you were searching for a anniversary gift? That's a better example, and I think just making sure that that storytelling is still front and center whether that's writing descriptive copy or bullet points or in beds, or just varying your product photos and having a variety of in-studio and lifestyle shots or just having a different kind of you know, a variety of experiences I think it will make it much more unique and sell itself.
Speaker 1:All right, everybody. Thanks so much for listening. I appreciate you all sticking around. We'll try to do a couple of these every now and then, but I appreciate you sticking around. We'll be back next week Tuesday with another episode. All right, everybody, that's the end of the show. Thanks so much for listening. This episode was brought to you by Punchmark and produced and hosted by me, michael Burpo. This episode was all about Huckberry and the flammalined waxed trucker jacket by Flint and Tinder, and I'll include the link to it in the show notes below. Take a look. This episode was edited by Paul Suarez with music by Ross.
Speaker 1:Cochran, don't forget to rate the podcast. An Apple podcast and Spotify is the best way to help us grow and leave us feedback on punchmarkcom slash loop that's L-O-U-P-E, and check out our sponsors' information in the show notes. Thanks everybody. We will be back next week, tuesday, with another episode. Cheers, bye.