Every independent jeweler knows this moment:
A couple walks in. They browse engagement rings, they ask thoughtful questions, they try on a few pieces. They smile, thank your associate and leave.
Maybe you got a first name, but unless you have their number: No way to follow up.
If they don't come back, you'll never know why. You won't even know they were there.
Customer capture is the practice of collecting guest contact information at the point of in-store visit, before a purchase happens. The stores doing it consistently are building a database of warm leads. The ones that aren't are starting from zero every single day.
So: are you still letting walk-ins leave anonymous?
The Hidden Cost of "Just Browsing"
Walk-in traffic isn't what it used to be, which means every single person who steps through your door matters more than ever.
But most stores still rely on associates remembering to ask for contact info, handwritten notebooks, or nothing at all.
When a customer leaves without sharing their information, you lose the ability to send their wishlist, follow up on the piece they loved, remind them about their anniversary, or invite them to your next event. You lose the relationship before it even starts.
And here's the number that should change how you think about this: according to Forbes, existing customers spend roughly 31% more than new ones and convert at twice the rate. Capture that first-visit relationship and you're not just saving a lead. You're compounding future revenue.
What the Best Stores Do Differently
The highest-performing independent jewelers don't leave capture to chance. They treat it as a system.
With Kiosk Mode in Clientbook, every new walk-in is invited to enter their name, phone number, and email right in-store on a tablet. It's simple, branded, and fast. No associate has to remember to ask. No information gets lost in a notebook.
Want to see it in action? Book a demo at clientbook.com/demo
Three Things That Change When Capture Is Consistent
1. You Stop Relying on Your Best Associates to Save Every Sale
When capture lives in a tablet at the door, it stops being a personality trait and starts being a process. New guest? Enter your info. Returning guest? Look them up instantly.
Wilson Diamonds increased their contact capture rate from 2-5% to 90% after building capture into their in-store flow. That's not just a small improvement, that's a completely different business.
2. Follow-Up Starts Before They Get to Their Car
The moment a customer enters their information, Clientbook can send a welcome text, attach them to the associate who helped them, and trigger an automation sequence if they don't purchase.
You're not chasing them down later. The system handles it while your team focuses on the next customer in front of them.
3. Managers Can Finally See What's Actually Happening
When capture is centralized, you know how many new guests came in this week, which associates are building client profiles, and which walk-ins eventually turned into sales. That visibility changes how you coach. Instead of asking "did you get their info?" you can see it.
"My Team Won't Use It."
This is the most common pushback, but here's an honest answer.
The stores that get the fastest ROI aren't always the ones with the most engaged teams. They're the ones who turn on the automations.
The automation is the floor. Associate engagement is the upside.
Even when your team is inconsistent, Clientbook still sends birthday messages, follows up after visits, prompts reminders, and tracks open opportunities. It works whether someone remembers to do it or not.
The Straightforward Math
If walk-in traffic is down and advertising costs more than ever, every customer who walks through your door without leaving their contact information is a missed opportunity you paid for. The foot traffic cost is real whether you capture the guest or not.
Anonymous customers rarely come back. Known ones do, and at higher rates, and with higher average spend.
Kiosk Mode is the simplest place to start. Capture every walk-in. Centralize every profile. Let the system handle the follow-up automatically.
Ready to Stop Losing Walk-Ins?
See how Kiosk Mode works inside a real store environment. We'll walk you through the setup and show you how other independent jewelers are using it to capture more guests and close more sales.
Book a demo at clientbook.com/demo
Related reading:
- How Jewelers Increase Conversion with Appointments
- How to Automate Follow-Up the Right Way
- Want to Succeed at Clienteling? Focus on These Three Essentials
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