Of all the chapters in this Holiday 2011 Run-Up, this might be the most important. Consumers are using smartphones today, right now, this exact minute. The data is undeniable and we're going to step through it and show you what the experts are saying and how you can use mobile technology yourself.

In the past 12 months we've heard many retail jewelry store owners tell us that "their customers do not use smartphones" and they don't need to create a mobile website even though those same jewelers themselves have an iPhone or an Android. This is similar to what we heard in 2003 when jewelers claimed their customers didn't use the internet and they didn't need a regular website.

We have our own in-house mobile research methods, and we've been tracking mobile usage for more than a few years, but to get a broader view of the mo...
VIEW FULL GOLD NUGGET

Search has become a natural part of the everyday consumer buying cycle. Consumers want to be informed, save time, and above all not be disappointed with their purchase. Search gives them all that, even when it comes to buying jewelry.

According to Google Think Insights, the average consumer will spend 11 days researching jewelry before making a purchase. Although not all research was entirely online, 91% of those surveyed said they started their research online and then followed through with going to the store in person or returning to the website on their PC at a later date.

For 2010, consumers reported that the most important source for their online research was a brick and mortar store's website, followed by e-tailer online websites. Search engines ranked at #3 for the source of online information. Many retail jewele...
VIEW FULL GOLD NUGGET

Google collects data, a lot of data. They collect usage data every time you use their search engine or any of their services and the Android phone. This data is available through a few different online sources; the one we use the most is Google Insights for Search. Many of the ideas we come up with are based off actionable data we see from Google Insights. We have 32 pages of Google Insights for Search charts in our final Holiday 2011 Run-Up eBook.

In 2009 and 2010 Google extended the standard Insights service and published several reports referred to as "Think Insights." We've combed through their Post-Holiday Learnings for 2011 to find the usable golden nuggets jewelers should know about.

Let's start with the key Takeaways from the Holiday 2010 data:
1. Because of the economy, consumers shopped promotional periods...
VIEW FULL GOLD NUGGET