GLD Review: Timeless Jewelry Meets Modern Streetwear
Glory-Anna Oshafi
The GLD shop is home to timeless jewelry and fashion accessories that elevate your look. Their products combine seamlessly with streetwear, making them popular among the younger crowd looking for stylish accessories. GLD has also gained popularity for its collaborations with notable brands and celebrities.
Part of their success comes from the ease with which customers browse the website, find information/products, and checkout. In addition, the modern and urban feel of the website is consistent with their branding.
Let’s see if GLD is worth the hype in this review post, then we’ll rate the overall performance.
Comprehensive Features Analysis
An intuitive e-commerce website makes buying easy. It provides exceptional customer service, a personalized shopping experience, and seamless checkout. Let’s find out if GLD measures up to this standard by analyzing various aspects of the website.
Product Descriptions and Collections 9/10
To review the product descriptions, we’ll check the clarity, descriptiveness, readability, and SEO measures. Then we’ll review GLD’s organization of collections, creativity, visuals, and branding.
1. Clarity and Descriptiveness
GLD product descriptions are concise and clear. It describes how the product works or is made, as in the case of the diamond Cuban chain in the image below.
Then other sections highlight the product specifications and materials used in its design. The only concern with the description is the font size. Visitors, especially those with specific eye defects, may strain their eyes to make out the words.
Additionally, when writing descriptions of jewelry pieces, it’s ideal to appeal to potential customers’ emotions and reason. Writing a rational description is straightforward, like that of the Cuban above. However, appealing to the emotion requires more descriptive and flattering adjectives.
For example, an emotional description will look like this:
“Feel the weight of success every time you wear this masterfully crafted Cuban chain. Its flawless cut does not only catch the light but also the attention of everyone around you.”
This description can instigate a feeling of want in customers. But the idea is not to appeal to emotions and leave reason out. Combining both can effectively get customers to buy because, while you’ve made them feel like they want it, you’ll also be giving rational reasons why it’s a worthy purchase.
2. SEO vs. Readability
GLD product descriptions have a natural flow that indicates no keyword stuffing. They’re mostly straightforward and short. See the description of the female tennis necklace below.
However, they’re missing out on SEO opportunities. Currently, the brand doesn’t appear in organic searches for jewelry pieces using common keywords like “tennis necklace.” Investing in SEO and optimizing their product descriptions will increase their visibility by getting them on the first page of search results.
3. Creativity and Branding
There’s little creativity in GLD product names. Rather, they’re descriptive. For example, you see a white Cuban chain in the image below. Similarly, the GLD name for the product is Diamond Cuban Chain in White Gold. The only added information is the product’s material.
However, these names are opportunities to use relevant long-tail keywords. While GLD didn’t appear in search results for high-volume keywords like “men’s jewelry,” they were in the results for “diamond Cuban chain in white gold.” In our books, that’s a creative use of product names.
Furthermore, the brand’s creative use of gold color on the website reflects its message as a brand that sells quality gold jewelry. Additionally, all the assets on the website, from the models to the page design, effectively communicate the brand’s urban luxury theme.
4. Organization of Collections
GLD offers various products for men and women, which they efficiently organize into different categories to enhance navigation. They also highlight special collections like collaborations with celebrities and new releases to ensure customers easily find them.
We particularly like the “For You” category. It hints at personalization and piques curiosity.
On the “For You” page, they listed some products labeled “Selected Just For You.” This gives customers a sense of exclusivity. That feeling of being special can push them to make a purchase.
Further down the page, there’s another set of products grouped as “Popular In Your Area.”
Customers who like trendy things will need no further motivation to buy when they see this. The tag plays on the fear of missing out, driving customers to buy to join the crowd rocking the latest jewelry.
5. Visuals
It’s always a good idea to include images of models wearing your products on your e-commerce website. GLD does just that. The high-quality images show different angles of the product to attract customers. Also, the contrast against the model’s skin shows the true color of the jewelry and how it’ll fit on them.
User Experience 9/10
The user experience of the GLD shop is exceptional. Firstly, the website has a clean, intuitive design with easy navigation. Additionally, the website is mobile-responsive. The shopping experience is equivalent to, if not superior to, shopping on a desktop.
Also, the site has a fast page loading speed. This prevents frustration and reduces bounce rates. Even with a clear and organized menu that makes finding products smooth, the site still has search functionality to help users find specific products faster. For example, here’s the search result for rings.
If you look closely at the top of the page before the search results, you’ll find recommendations or filters to narrow your search. This function further makes product search seamless for customers and as a result, improves the shopping experience.
Finally, let’s talk about the trust signals on the websites. There are reviews on each product page to influence buying. Also, they visibly show their excellent Trustpilot rating on the homepage.
If customers have rated them excellently on a third-party review website, it shows they deliver on their promises. This enhances trust. Plus, showing the Trustpilot rating puts prospective customers at ease and saves them time doing independent research.
Customer Service and FAQ Page 8/10
The GLD FAQ page, accessed from the website’s footer, features a limited number of FAQs in an accordion design. The design enables customers to scan through the questions quickly in search of what they want.
But since the page has limited questions, they should have added a contact at the bottom for unsatisfied customers. The absence of this may be because the only form of contact they offer is through their virtual assistant on the website.
Customers can initiate the chat by clicking on the support icon at the bottom right of the page. Based on the information on the contact page, the virtual assistant is available 24/7 to assist customers. Overall, even with the limited means of contact, their customer service is efficient.
Return and Shipping Policies 8/10
Each product page has a section that concisely explains the returns/exchange status of the product. But for the full return policy, customers must scroll to the footer to access the returns policy page.
Much like everything else on the website, the return policy is straightforward. The font size, however, makes reading through the chunk of text a chore.
As for the shipping policy, we couldn’t find a dedicated page for it. But customers can get shipping details from the FAQ page or by asking the virtual assistant.
Promotions and Discounts 9/10
GLD is big on promotions and discounts, which they advertise with banners. At the time of this review, they’re offering a 40% discount on all products. They also have a menu item, “Make a Set,” that offers 4 items (2 chains and 2 pendants) at a discount.
GLD also offers exclusive discounts to students, current and former military personnel (including their spouses and dependents), first responders, and medical professionals.
These discounts are designed to show appreciation for their service while encouraging loyalty from these key groups.
Special Features and Innovations 9/10
One of the special features of the GLD shop is the filters that facilitate the search for chains.
From gender and product style to price range, color, and more parameters, customers can use these filters to narrow their search and save time.
Another feature that distinguishes GLD is its display of trust signals, including Trustpilot rating, Better Business Bureau (BBB) accreditation, and customer reviews. They also display logos of brands they’ve collaborated with on their homepage. This further elevates their reputation and builds trust.
Lastly, they offer flexible payment options to help low-income customers drip even with limited resources for a one-off payment.
Strengths Showcase
Every brand has its unique selling point (USP). We’ve identified the following USPs for GLD:
1. Customization
Customers can customize the type of chains and pendants to go with using the Make a Set feature. Plus, they get the items at a discount. Customers can also collaborate with GLD to customize specific pieces of jewelry in the “Customized” category. The ability to customize a jewelry piece with something memorable makes it even more special.
2. Community
The GLD brand has a community called GLD Gang where members get a shot at winning a grand prize monthly by posting content surrounding GLD products with the hashtag #GLDgang. VIP members get exclusive perks like access to Rolling Loud and other discounts.
This approach is an efficient way of raising brand ambassadors and getting more customers.
3. Discounts
The student discount offers 55% off for eligible students. Military personnel, first responders, and medical professionals get 50% discounts. These demographics constitute a significant fraction of the U.S. population. Showing appreciation and support through discounts attracts these demographics and encourages word-of-mouth marketing.
Growth Opportunities for GLD
Let’s discuss some areas for growth that can help GLD reach greater heights.
1. SEO
GLD already does an excellent job in improving its visibility on social media platforms, especially with dedicated GLDgang members as cheerleaders. But they still need to do some work for search engines. They must optimize their descriptions using relevant keywords to make product pages visible in search results.
2. Eco-Friendly Initiative
The world is currently on a “Make Earth Green” movement. Many people are passionate about it, and GLD can tap into that demographic by launching eco-friendly initiatives.
3. Customer Support
GLD virtual assistant cannot handle complex queries, and there’s no other form of contact on the website. GLD should either get a reliable chatbot solution or provide additional customer support.
Final Rating
Rating Breakdown
- Product Descriptions and Collection: 9/10
- User Experience: 9/10
- Customer Service and FAQ Page: 8/10
- Return and Shipping Policies: 8/10
- Promotions and Discounts: 9/10
- Special Features and Innovations: 9/10
Overall Rating—8.5/10
GLD has successfully positioned itself as one of the leading brands in the jewelry space. They offer high-quality and stylish products and give back through their GLD Gang community. But they’re lacking in SEO and efficient customer support. To combat the latter, we’re recommending Juphy AI.
What Can Juphy Do for Your Shopify Store?
Juphy, featuring the ‘Built for Shopify’ badge, is an AI-powered chatbot that provides timely and human-like responses to customers. It integrates seamlessly with well-designed stores like GLD to do the following:
Deliver Proactive Customer Support
Juphy suggests help to customers before they ask for it. It utilizes a record of past interactions and customer information to identify potential issues and provide assistance before customers explicitly ask for it.
This can look like product recommendations for the GLD brand. For example, Juphy can proactively recommend new arrivals or best sellers in the solid gold category to customers who always browse that category. This can significantly fast-track decision-making.
Provide Intelligent Responses
Understanding complex queries and providing adequate replies is a feature that’s lacking in the GLD support system. Juphy, however, is powered by GPT-4, which enables it to understand complex queries and provide intelligent and informed responses. As a result, customers are satisfied and make duly informed decisions.
Are you ready to try Juphy? Click here to access a free trial now.