Diamond and Jewelry Articles

Most internet shoppers don�t think about it until the first time they attempt to buy an item that is unavailable for delivery. They probably have selected an item in a "virtual inventory" that cannot be fulfilled. Virtual inventory is a relatively new phenomenon made popular among internet sellers by advances in information technology. It is now possible to compile lists of huge numbers of products, filter and sort them, price them and post them to the web for sale. Many internet sellers today aggregate vast numbers of products that they never have to buy or take possession of until an order is placed. Through close communication with their vendors, sometimes via real time inventory links and rapid shipping or drop shipping, internet sellers are able to offer incredible selection by hosting huge �virtual inventories� on their websites. By removing a significant portion of their operating cost in this way internet sellers are able to price the same goods substantially lower than traditional businesses.

This capability has been particularly beneficial to diamond sellers on the internet. Many reputable websites offer hundreds of millions of dollars worth of diamonds to browse and select from. Most of these diamonds are owned by, and in the physical possession of diamond manufacturers who are simultaneously offering these same stones to other members of the trade both online and offline.

Certified diamonds are both costly to stock and unique in nature. Because they are so costly, few businesses can afford the carrying costs of holding thousands of stones in inventory. But because certified diamonds are unique items, once the manufacturer sells or consigns the diamond it becomes unavailable to all others who may be listing it.

Virtual inventories are therefore both a boon and a challenge for the retailer who must manage the inventory skillfully and conscientiously in order to have current and available stones on his website. It is easy to put together huge lists of diamonds, but deliverability is the key to customer satisfaction and the factor which seperates the professional sellers from the rest of the crowd. It is common practice for website owners to simply "clone" lists of diamonds from trade networks, with or without permission. This type of seller may have no way of knowing if the stones are available or even who the vendor is. If an order is placed or a customer expresses interest in a particualr diamond, the seller then attempts to locate and secure the stone or to find a similar stone to sell to the customer.

Gem Diamond Company processes "virtual" inventory for a select group of major diamond manufacturers. We have close working relationships with each one of them. Each provides a regular inventory update with which we continually refresh the website. In addition, our proprietary software filters the lists for data entry errors, stones below our quality threshhold, and stones without certification from one of the major laboratories. In addition our software analyzes the cutting of each diamond based upon its proportions and assigns an overall cut grade to help our visitors evaluate the very important "fourth C."

The virtual diamond inventory model by it's very nature cannot attain 100% deliverability as multiple sales on the same diamond can occur almost simultaneously. But the best web sellers using the best processes can deliver better than 90% of the time. And in those cases where a purchased stone is unavailable they are usually willing, as we are at gemdiamond.com, to give the customer an upgrade to a better stone or a price concession on a comparable one.

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