Ramat Gan: Electronic diamond trading is gaining steam worldwide, various stakeholders in the international diamond industry said at an e-commerce symposium held by the Israel Diamond Institute (IDI).
The symposium was held at the Israel Precious Stones and Diamonds Exchange with Israel Diamond Exchange (IDE) President Yoram Dvash, Israel Diamond Institute (IDI) Chairman Shmuel Schnitzer, Attorney Eli Shimoni and the staff of IDI’s Get-Diamonds trading system. Several issues were discussed during the seminar, including choosing marketing channels, the optimal way to present diamonds, reliability, visibility and legal aspects, among other topics.
According to Dvash, the Get-Diamonds system currently has thousands of registered customers, and more than 90,000 diamonds have been offered for sale on the site. “It’s still not enough; we need you to work on Get-Diamonds to increase the inventory and increase the site’s attractiveness. The demand for e-commerce is growing and physical stores are being closed because of this. This is the future. Operate the system and it will be a success,” Dvash noted.
Schnitzer, for his part, commented, “The IDI invests heavily in Internet marketing, in the knowledge that is the marketing technique of tomorrow. Even now, with the IDI’s budget being small, we have not cut back in this area. We insist that everything in the area of technology is not harmed: Not Get-Diamonds, B2B marketing, or the James Allen B2C marketing project.”
Shimony, who lectured at the seminar, said: “The key to success in online sales sites is having a critical mass. You have to have enough supply, and a range of supply. When a website has a great variety of products, it is impossible to ignore it and you can sell a great deal on it. Global online trade is growing at 15 percent annually, and there’s room for more development. One thing to remember in selling diamonds and jewellery is to maintain confidence, particularly when it comes to an expensive product like diamonds. You, the merchants, need to know what clients want, and adjust your product accordingly.”
