Making Miss Milly More Mobile - Access Our Wholesale Jewellery & Scarves From Anywhere

In business, we all know it's important to keep up with technology, but it takes time and money. And, for many of us, we first of all need to understand the how and why to ensure it is right for our companies and their future development. Some technologies can be short-lived or irrelevant to your industry. But if your business is e-commerce based then keeping your website up to date is essential.

Web browsing and shopping today is all about the user experience. With the constant bombardment of emails offering web links to explore and the huge time pressures we face, it is essential that when you do visit a site, it’s a great experience and fulfills your needs.

This week, at UK wholesale jewellery supplier, Miss Milly, we have been updating our website with a new responsive format. This will enable the increasing number of users looking at the site on tablets and smart phones to have a better user experience because the site will automatically reconfigure to fit the device it is being viewed on. We have also redesigned the site for Spring and Summer with a clean, fresh feel and colours to suit the season.

We have seen that currently, 65% of users are visiting our website using a desktop and this is down 12% from the same period last year. 21% of users are on a tablet, which is up 9% from 2013. And 14% of users are surfing on a smart phone, up 3% from the previous year. So there is a definite trend to mobile devices and a need to cater specifically for this.

Our customers are retailers who will increasingly use these mobile communication devices during quiet spells in their store or perhaps if they use public transport to commute. So as well as being able to browse our award-winning wholesale jewellery and wholesale scarves when they want, we need to enable them to make orders at their own convenience. This requires an easy to use website that works on all types of device and in which you have complete confidence for placing orders. 

 The new, responsive Miss Milly website integrated with SagePay is just that. 

Costume Jewellery Wholesale - Top Colours for Spring

Costume Jewellery Wholesale Trends Spring 2014

As we start to see the sun come out and the layers come off, costume jewellery makes a great resurgence. We change our outfits with the change of season and relish the opportunity to wear long-forgotten lightweight clothing that has been bundled away over the winter. And at the same time, we look for new fashion accessories to suit our refreshed wardrobe.

Although black and white jewellery is still a strong trend this season, pastel colours have come back out to play with mint green and coral or salmon tones leading the way.  The ice cream tones of lilac, sky blue and candy pink are also en vogue and a great way to dress up the whites and neutral nudes and taupes.

 Pastel colours sit really well with delicate wholesale jewellery and our new Amora Collection marries the two really well. Pretty matt silver bangles and necklaces are highlighted with pale green, light blue, coral and taupe beads.

And the award-winning Floria Collection offers a hugely popular enamel heart necklace and stud earrings in lilac, blush pink and aqua.

The Floria Collection is also home to the other trend for this season, that of tropical bright wholesale fashion jewellery. As fresh spring moves into warm summer, the colours heat up and become bolder and brighter. Our resin twist jewellery uses lush lime, cobalt blue and raspberry pink combined with shiny silver-coloured metal. But we’ve had such a miserable winter that we can’t wait until summer for the tropical colours and this range has already sold out once with new stock due in during early April. 

At Miss Milly, a leading British wholesale costume jewellery supplier, we love colour! And we look forward to every change of season so that we can bring in new tones and shades, and reintroduce old favourites. But it is a fact that in our modern, information heavy world, most people have learned which colours suit them best (or perhaps just the ones they prefer to wear) and so there is a lot less seasonal change in colours than there used to be 10 years ago.

Purple, green and turquoise are the colours that we have found to be the most loved, and which sell all year round. Browns return in the autumn and orange blazes in every now and then. Pinks come in and out of fashion but watch out for pink this year, it is going to be big news in all its varied shades.

Our tips for a top Spring Fair

We start planning Spring Fair in Feb as the previous one closes and we have to decide what to do about space for the following year. But then we put it to one side.

What we should be doing on the final day is making a list of all the little things that make the subsequent show so much easier:

* how many new bulbs to buy

* top up the stationery box with staples and pens that actually work

* how many display stands are now at the end of their lives and need replacing

* remove any items from the stock samples that have definitely sold out

* jot down any ideas about improving the stand - don't rely on your memory as once order processing starts, these ideas will be filed away in the depths of your brain only to resurface on day one of the next show

Wishing all Spring Fair exhibitors a great show next week!

Brighten up your Winter!

Scorn the winter rain with our beautiful scarves. Here are just a few of our lovely new designs, including butterflies, birds, dragonflies, hearts, lips, anchors and flowers...

Visit our website to see the full range. Available online now!

Starting the year with a bang

Miss Milly Limited, wholesale jewellery and fashion accessories supplier, has won a Scoot Headline Award in the national campaign to find Britain’s most successful companies.

The company competed against more than 400 other nominations in the Awards, and will be presented with its trophy and certificate at a glittering presentation ceremony in Millbank Tower, London on April 28.

Sarah Watmore, managing director of Miss Milly, is delighted with the announcement: “Miss Milly is a relatively new business competing on a national level and servicing customers all around the UK and overseas. I am really excited about this award, which proves that it is possible for anybody to build a successful business if they are dedicated and passionate enough.

“We are incredibly positive about 2014 with the launch of our new brand, Little Miss Milly, offering jewellery and accessories for girls, along with new jewellery collections and brand new packaging. And this award is absolute proof that we are going in the right direction.”

As a result of this Scoot Headline Award success, Miss Milly has been invited to have its winning paper published in The National Business Leaders Yearbook, the leading work of reference on successful business techniques and best practice, so that others can follow its lead and learn from their achievement.

You can see more about the business and its products on the company’s website at www.missmilly.co.uk.

Did you know that in Latin, pearl means unique?

 And it is true that no two pearls are identical, in which I believe lays much of their beauty. At home I have an old 35mm film canister (blast from the past) that contains some gorgeous pearls harvested from the sea by my brother during his time spent at a pearl farm near Broome in Australia. They are all irregular and unpolished and very beautiful.

Pearl jewellery is a hugely popular category for Miss Milly, and with the advent of dying and colour, and the evolution of design, there are many contemporary and unusual styles to be found. Our Rainbow Pearl Necklace is consistently one of our best-sellers, and the cobalt blue Milly Pearl jewellery has been hugely popular this year.

Since ancient times, pearls have symbolised unblemished perfection, and have been the ideal wedding gift to represent purity. In the Hindu religion, the presentation of an undrilled pearl and its piercing has formed part of the marriage ceremony. Today in the UK, pearls are still a very popular choice for bridal jewellery.

Pearls are the oldest known gem and were the most valuable for a long time. The ancient Egyptians were buried with them and in classical Rome only people above a certain rank were allowed to wear pearl jewellery. Now, with the advent of pearl cultivation, they are more affordable and available to the mass market.

The most revered pearls are from the South Sea, off the waters of Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Myanmar, the Philippines and Thailand. Their legacy reaches back to the times of early Aboriginal people who believed the gem had supernatural powers and used them in dream interpretation.

Pearls are graded in terms of lustre, surface, shape, colour and size with the roundest, shiniest, largest and smoothest being the most prized, whilst colour is down to individual preference. For us, and we are obviously biased, we prefer the look and individuality of the baroque freshwater pearls that make up our jewellery as they make the pieces more interesting.

If you're also a fan of pearls and pearl jewellery, a trip to the Victoria & Albert Museum this Winter might be in order to see the Pearls exhibition running daily until 19 January 2014.


Pearl information harvested from:
www.pearloasis.com
www.americanpearl.com
www.vam.ac.uk

Our website - a continual evolution

Having a website is a must for almost every business these days. It works as a virtual showroom, an information portal or, as in our case, it is the fundamental tool for your business.

Rather like a shop window, a website needs constant attention, design and functionality tweeks here and there, new information added or a total revamp. At Miss Milly, we have just relaunched our website with a beautiful new design.

Our aim has always been to create a simple and attractive site with a retail feel. Miss Milly is not just a jewellery wholesaler but a brand with its own identity. And we hope that the lifestyle photography on the home page and the aesthetically pleasing design help communicate this to users.

We have also created a specific trade section with call-outs and links to provide retailers with all the information they need about our terms of business and ordering. There is also an emphasis on buy local to encourage consumers to seek out their nearest Miss Milly stockist. The aim of building the brand is to create demand from consumers, motivating them to ask their favourite independent retailers for Miss Milly costume jewellery and fashion accessories.

We welcome all feedback on the website, so please do get in touch.

In the news...

 Local papers love a 'good news' story, it boosts morale and balances out the negativity that floods our media on a daily basis.

So the Worcester News was delighted to cover the story of our award winning Floria Collection at the recent Autumn Fair.

Read the article on the Worcester News website here

Miss Milly Celebrates First Year in Style, Winning National Award

Starting up a business during a recession takes guts but if it’s in an industry you are familiar with, and passionate about, it can also be a fantastic opportunity. Sarah Watmore of Miss Milly celebrated the company’s first year with industry recognition as she scooped a Highly Commended in the British Travelgoods & Accessories Association Awards in the Fashion Jewellery category at the Autumn Fair.

The panel of judges, from leading retailers including Ernst Jones and H Samuel, were looking for product originality, innovative eye catching design and commercial viability.

“And they loved my Floria Collection,” says Sarah. “I launched Miss Milly on 1 September 2012 in the midst of a double dip recession and after numerous sleepless nights. But it has been a fantastic year, the response to the brand has been incredible and this is an amazing way to end my first 12 months!”

You can view and order Miss Milly jewellery at www.missmilly.co.uk or call the company on 01905 622509 for further information. Sales agents currently cover the South West, North West and North East of England.

The strength of independent retailer collaboration

The retail industry and the struggle it faces in the current economic climate is always in the news, whether it be increases in rates, the rise of out-of-town and online shopping, and the failure of the Portas Pilot towns.

What the retail industry really needs is some good news champions, and that has to be down to the retailers themselves. And as soon as they think of marketing and promotion, many retailers will immediately see £££££ and shy away.

But a carefully thought out plan of action for your local area doesn't need to cost the earth and will cost even less if you can work with other local retailers in a combined effort to regenerate your town.

Rachel Parkin is an independent retailer herself, a strong advocate of collaboration and writes a regular column for Gifts Today. Her column in the June issue gives some great ideas for how to start helping your town. Click Here and flick to page 56 to read it.

July 2013 is Independent Retailer Month so why not use June to plan some activities and contact your local media about what you're doing. And then from 1st to 31st July, shout out about your local indepe4ndent retailers. You'll find more help and support from the Independent Retailer Month website.

Good luck!

Choosing jewellery for next season

I have just come back from an overseas trip to design and source the jewellery collection for Autumn / Winter 2013. Whilst it's the part of the business I love the most, it's also exhausting. I don't expect any pity because for most people, flying out to Asia for a few days 'work' would be heavenly.

The immersion into another culture is always fascinating; the vibrant sights, sounds and smells. The amazing feeling of heat on your skin, the hustle and bustle of a city on the other side of the world. And the pressure of creating the right collection at the right price.

Before going, I research expected trends for the next season, analyse what products have and haven't sold well in the current season, and come up with ideas for new pieces as well as confirming the suppliers I definitely want to see. And then, armed with hand luggage only and dressed for travel comfort, I'm off.

However prepared you are and whatever ideas you have in mind, you always stumble across a new supplier or range of products that somehow you just have to have in the new collection. Cue middle of the night, jet lag fuelled decisions about how to make it work.

This trip's gorgeous new find was a range of crystal and silver-plated bracelets that I couldn't resist. I was keeping an eye out for sparkles for the Christmas party season and happily have succeeded. And the bracelets have gone in to production as I type, ready for launching in August on www.missmilly.co.uk

Miss Milly is a UK jewellery wholesaler offering a wide range of reasonably priced costume jewellery as well as gorgeous designer purses and notebooks.

Pondering over jewellery display

Whether it's for a shop, a trade stand or a showroom, displaying your jewellery for maximum impact is essential.

Over the past 10 years, I have sold jewellery on a festival market stall, on a trade exhibition stand, in two different shops, at home parties, at various small Christmas events, in a wholesale showroom and online. And every situation has its own intricacies to deal with whether it be the lighting, the available space or the cover you put on the pasting table.

The most recent display quandary I faced was the launch of Miss Milly at the Autumn Fair, NEC in September 2012. I decided that what was important for the new business was the jewellery and the brand. Miss Milly was new to market and this needed to be shouted about.

There was not the budget to have an all-singing bespoke trade stand so with my designer's help, we created a wallpaper style covering for the shell scheme in maroon and white. And all the other furniture and display items were matt white. This meant that we created a lifestyle identity for Miss Milly whilst allowing the jewellery to speak for itself hung on plain acrylic stands.

With a lot of colourful jewellery and minimal space, the white acrylic stands give a neutral background, with the 'wallpaper' adding interest and shouting out to show visitors.

For Spring Fair 2013, we upgraded the wallpaper, adding a seasonal lifestyle image, which was a key part of our marketing campaign.

In a shop with enough space, however, it is also possible to create zones with different colours or styles of stands. In my shop, I used, for example, black and red stands with the silver jewellery, and seasonal colours in the window displays. With jewellery being so small, having a mass change of colour in the window really helps to create a different visual effect to catch the eye of passers-by, and all kinds of props (butterflies, flowers, lanterns, etc) can be used to emphasise the season or the latest trends.

Whatever direction you take with your displays, it is crucial to remember that what most of your customers want along with your gorgeous products is clear pricing and the ability to touch and try the jewellery. So don't hide your prices, a great value price in the window can easily entice people in and clinch a sale. And if your jewellery is display in cabinets, be ready to quickly and easily get it out for customers to have a closer look.

Miss Milly is a UK wholesale jewellery supplier based in the Midlands. With a wide range of styles, great prices and an easy-to-use website, why not refresh your collection and give them a try?

Cobalt blue is big this season

Cobalt blue (also known as royal blue) is big news this season and is great for colour blocking. But it hasn't been widely available in jewellery.

Earlier this year, in anticipation of this trend, Miss Milly launched the bright blue colour in its Milly Pearl range featuring a necklace, bracelet and earrings (pictured above), and it's selling well.

Click here to see Millie Mackintosh rocking the cobalt colour block.

The Miss Milly brand supplies a wide range of gorgeous, great value jewellery. Visit www.missmilly.co.uk to see the full range.

Back by popular demand

Whilst exhibiting at the Spring Fair in February, we were asked on at least four separate occasions whether we would be restocking a heart necklace from the Floria Collection that sold out before Christmas 2012.

We love getting feedback, it helps us improve our products and the company as a whole, so we acted on this straight away. Further to re-launching the Starburst necklace, also repeatedly requested by retailers, we have now just uploaded new stock of the pretty heart necklace and matching stud earrings to the website at www.missmilly.co.uk

A new approach

Our latest advert is in the new edition of Gift Focus magazine (March/April 2013), and we've taken a different approach from our usual ads featuring a single product.

The new lifestyle ad features a model wearing one of our most popular Elodie Collection necklaces and exudes a feeling of Spring.

The golden rule of marketing is to never sit still, to always try new methods and to make sure you analyses the results. So we'll wait and see what the new adverts bring...

Miss Milly supplies gorgeous wholesale jewellery and contemporary wholesale purses.

May the wings of the butterfly kiss the sun...

The nature trend has been running through the jewellery and accessories market for a long time now, and we've seen owls, cats, foxes and a smattering of zebra. But the butterfly is an all-time favourite, and consistently sells well.

Perhaps it's because it's fairly simple silhouette lends itself beautifully to being crafted in all kinds of materials, but I think it's also due to it being synonymous with spring, summer and sunshine, which in turn make us happy.

So when I got up today to be greeted by a bright sunny morning, I reached for my Elodie butterfly necklace and bracelet.

As for the title of this post, it comes from an appropriate Irish blessing:

May the wings of the butterfly kiss the sun
And find your shoulder to light on,
To bring you luck, happiness and riches
Today, tomorrow and beyond.

Miss Milly is a UK wholesale jewellery supplier offering a wide range of styles at great value prices.

Choosing the Right Products for Your Store

Miss Milly is a new and growing UK wholesale jewellery supplier but in her previous business, Sarah Watmore, our Managing Director, also ran a successful retail jewellery and accessories business.

Craft Business magazine recently asked Sarah to contribute to its Retail Clinic feature by responding to a reader's question about how to choose new products for their store. The main tactics Sarah outlined were:

• understand your location and target market; buy with your customers in mind

• keep up with the trends in the industry; read trade magazines (many are free to subscribe to) and go to trade shows

• don't focus solely on price; building a relationship with a supplier with excellent service and a personal touch is worth its weight in gold

• competitor shopping; don't copy your immediate neighbours, variety is key to a thriving retail area, but visit shops similar to your own in other locations and also use the visits to look at display ideas. You might find an amazing product but it will need to be displayed well to maximise sales

• form a focus group with similar retailers to share ideas and success stories; just make sure you're not selling to the same customers

• ask your customers what they'd like to see in your shop; you'll undoubtedly reject some of their suggestions but they are your most important critics

Annanova Distribution Deal

The lovely team at Gift Focus magazine have been very kind to Miss Milly this month with some great coverage on our wholesale jewellery and our Annanova wholesale purses, including this write up of  our exclusive distribution of Annanova in the UK and Ireland.

Spreading the word about Miss Milly's gorgeous new Spring wholesale jewellery collections.

Our Managing Director, Sarah Watmore, has been busy spreading the word about Miss Milly's gorgeous new Spring wholesale jewellery collections, including her personal favourite, the Harmony Collection featuring wholesale gemstone jewellery and wholesale pearl jewellery.

"At Miss Milly we're extremely excited about 2013. After a fantastic launch in the autumn, we're looking forward to introducing our spring/summer lines filled with colour. We have played with the themes of asymmetry and mixing materials. Our new Harmony Collection is the perfect summary of how we see the main trends for the coming year; it uses a harmonious balance of natural stones and man-made stainless steel. Some of the detail is asymmetric to engage and keep the eye, as symmetry is too quickly read and digested by the brain. The colours are bold, block tones to welcome back the sun."

Ready for Spring Fair '13

After a hard day's graft at the NEC yesterday, the Miss Milly stand is now set up and we are ready to meet with lots of existing and potential customers at the Spring Fair when it starts on Sunday.

I've been exhibiting at the show for eight years now and still get excited by the buzz of meeting customers, showing new stock and catching up with other wholesalers in the industry. Spring Fair takes over all 20 halls of the NEC and I've yet to see most of it. A quick dash down the neighbouring aisles is about as far as I get.

If you're on the lookout for gorgeous new costume jewellery, scarves, fashion accessories, gifts, greetings cards, stationery, furniture... and the list is endless.... and you have never been, you really should make the time to visit.

Keep up with our news from the show on Facebook or Twitter.