Ice.com celebrity Jewelry and Gossip blog Sparkle Like The Stars got a mention in the Village Voice this week.
The article mentions several other wickedly entertaining celebrity blogs. Ours got called one of the “Best imitations of InStyle”. It’s a comparison we’re proud of.
Read the whole article here.
Ice.com has made it easy for you. With the handy new Gift Guide for Men, shopping for Valentine’s Day has never been easier.
Now you can get suggestions on finding the perfect gift based on fashion taste, budget and the level of seriousness in the relationship.
You can also get some great suggestions for making the perfect evening to boot.
Thanks Ice.com!
In an article about how search plays a crucial role in direct sales, imedia mentions the ice.com blogs;
Online advertising and marketing formats, techniques, strategies and tactics beyond the more typical elements of an online direct sales program create opportunities for growth. Such growth means driving more incremental sales, generating more profits and ultimately gaining more from a direct-marketing sales campaign.
Ice.com, for example, took the plunge into more emerging platforms such as blogs. Initially launched as a customer service vehicle, Ice.com’s blogs had an unexpected benefit that increased their search engine rankings.
read the whole article here.
Ice.com’s own Shmuel Gniwisch was prominently featured in a NYTimes article about the strange marriage between Online retailers and the Jewish Shabbat.
And on the seventh day, online retailers rested. At least some of them.
Consumers have grown to expect around-the-clock pampering from Internet merchants, who have been pushed by rivals to offer customer service even on weekends and to remedy site glitches immediately, no matter when they happen.
But this trend is being bucked by some electronic retailers – many with religiously observant owners and executives who leave their sites up and running on their Sabbath, but do not complete orders, work on the site or otherwise do anything to help customers. And despite an increasingly competitive environment and ever more demanding customers, they say their businesses have not suffered.
“I actually think we’ve gained,” said Shmuel Gniwisch, chief executive of Ice.com, a privately held online jeweler in Montreal. “Customers know if they need something they can wait until Sunday when we’re open, and people at the company have the chance to recharge and come back stronger.”
Mr. Gniwisch, who is also a nonpracticing rabbi, says that the company shuts down completely for 25 hours starting Friday evening before sunset, when the Jewish Sabbath begins. During busy periods, customer service representatives, warehouse workers and some technology employees go back to work on Saturday evening when the Sabbath ends.
When visitors call customer service during Ice.com’s day off, they receive a message saying that the company is closed and will return their messages Sunday. Ice.com also responds to e-mail messages on Sunday.
The site has yet to encounter a major breakdown on Friday evenings or Saturdays, but if it does, its technology systems are set to display an error message on the home page, asking customers to return later. Should smaller technological hiccups occur, the company “contacts any customers who were affected and makes sure they’re happy,” Mr. Gniwisch said.
“My customer service managers are always telling me to find a way to stay up on Saturday by outsourcing,” he added. “But I think it’s more important when the people around you see you practice what you preach. It changes your relationship with your employees.”
Continue reading the NYTimes article here. The story also got picked up around the blogosphere
Icegrrl gives Jessica Simpson some jewelry tips for winning the love of the nation, while Rahulio talks about Sarah Jessica Parker’s crazy sense of style. Read about Uma Thurman’s love life and the old school glamour of Naomi Watts.
Rahulio talks about Laura Dern’s marriage to Ben Harper, as well as her style sense and icegrrl shows you Scarlett Johansson’s perfect necklace for seducing a married man (hopefully your own). See Jennifer Lopez: queen of bling, hear some gossip on Carla Gugino, and take a peak at Kate Moss’s redemptive cross necklace.
All this and more on the celebrity gossip, style and jewelry blog, Sparkle Like The Stars.
Leslie reaches deep into the Vault Collection, to find stunning gifts for a 25th anniversary, and highlights Pink Tourmaline. See a great gift necklace for the Capricorn in your life, and learn how to properly clean your diamond ring.
Leslie also highlights Red Garnet, the birthstone for January, and tells you how to find your ring size.
All this and more on Just Ask Leslie, the jewelry expert blog.
There are amazing deals to be had at the ice.com winter clearance sale, like this 1/2 Carat Diamond 14K Gold Pendant and Chain now just $350 down from $495. Save now while supplies last!
Ice.com got mentioned as one of the retailes who came to the rescue of New Yorkers, stranded by the NY transit strike, with free shipping, just in time for Chrsitmas.
Read all about it here.
Lights, camera, jewelry
Online jewelers are turning to videocasts as a better way to showcase their big-ticket merchandise. In TV retailing, a smiling host, banter between the host and callers and product close-ups are very effective in moving merchandise such as rings, necklaces, bracelets and other jewelry.
Now, Ice.com and Ross-Simons Inc. are using a similar tactic, videocasts, to promote online sales. In December, Ross-Simons implemented a series of videocasts on Ross-Simons.com. The programs feature Ross-Simons president Darrell Ross and actress and jewelry designer Lauren Koslow talking about new trends in buying and wearing jewelry. To encourage viewers to become buyers, viewers can click and purchase the merchandise at the same time it’s being featured in the video. “Vidoeocasts upgrade our traditional marketing practices by giving us a chance to differentiate and talk about the products we offer online in a new way,†Ross says.
Compared to expensive TV advertising, videocasting is relatively affordable, says Ice.com CEO Shmuel Gniwisch. For instance, Ice.com is spending between $25,000 and $50,000 on its videocast initiative.
Continue reading HERE.
