In the Loupe
by Punchmark
Latest episode
Renting The Future - 5 More Business Topics I've Been Thinking About
Renting The Future - 5 More Business Topics I've Been Thinking About
About this podcast
In the Loupe is a weekly podcast hosted by Punchmark, the Jewelry Industry's favorite website provider. Each week's episode is focused around the explanation and advocacy of important E-Commerce topics and why every jeweler needs to be focused on their online presence now more than ever.
Episodes
The newest 50 of 293 episodes
- Renting The Future - 5 More Business Topics I've Been Thinking About · 28 min · Season 7 Episode 33Mike returns from a Colorado wedding with five fresh ideas about how people buy, wear, and talk about jewelry and tech. From renting suits to discussing watches to getting burned…
- I Went to Fifth Ave in NYC and All I Got Was This Podcast Episode · 31 min · Season 7 Episode 32Mike walks the length of Fifth Avenue in New York City and reacts in real time to what luxury stores feel like from the inside. He compares jewelry, watches, fashion, and…
- The 2026 Punchmark State Of The Union ft. the Punchmark Owners · 57 min · Season 7 Episode 31Mike sits down with Punchmark partners Ross Cockerham, Brian Cockerham, and Dan Sirois for a clear-eyed look at what’s changing in jewelry e-commerce and what we’re building to…
- The First Three Quarters of 2026 Jewelry E-Commerce Stats · 31 min · Season 7 Episode 30We break down jewelry e-commerce performance for the first three quarters of 2026 using real platform data from 500 independent retailers across the US and Canada. We share…
- "Jewelers For Children" and the Impact They Bring to the World · 27 min · Season 7 Episode 29Mike sits down with Jewelers for Children Executive Director, Sarah Murphy, and board member Ross Wesdorp to unpack how the jewelry industry has donated over $66 million to help…
- Meet Elle Hill, the Mind Behind the Biggest Jewelry Brands · 52 min · Season 7 Episode 28We talk with Elle Hill of Hill & Co about what really breaks and what finally clicks when a jewelry business scales beyond founder-led hustle. She shares hard-earned lessons from…
- Tales from the Bourbon Trail ft. Jim from Arthur's Jewelry · 39 min · Season 7 Episode 27We take a break from shop talk and relive a two-day Kentucky Bourbon Trail run built around IJO and RJO shows, with Ross Cockerham and Jim Messier sharing how it came together…
- How Jewelers Should Be Marketing for Q4 This Year · 45 min · Season 7 Episode 26Mike sits down with Hope Bellair, Digital Marketing Manager at Punchmark, to get real about why Q4 marketing feels stressful and why starting in August is often the difference…
- Exclusive First Interview with the Plumb Club's New President ft. Steven Lerche of Goldstar · 40 min · Season 7 Episode 25We sit down with Steven Lerche, President of Goldstar and the Plumb Club, to unpack how a supplier-led group builds real connection across the jewelry and watch supply chain. We…
- How Dropshipping And Tariffs Are Reshaping Jewelry Retail and Other Hot Topics · 19 min · Season 7 Episode 24Mike is solo this week while everyone’s at RJO and IJO, so he's running through five jewelry industry topics that have been on his mind. I talk about faster fulfillment through…
- Interviewing the New AGS President ft. Bryan Moeller & Alexis Padis · 46 min · Season 7 Episode 23Mike sits down with outgoing AGS president Alexis Padis and incoming president Bryan Moeller to talk about what a smooth leadership handoff really takes and why education…
- Essentially Human: On Sales and Salespeople ft. Peter Smith · 1 h 0 min · Season 7 Episode 22Mike talks with Peter Smith about why selling stays “Essentially Human” even as AI and short-form content reshape how people pay attention. Along the way, we pull practical…
- Do These 10 Marketing Techniques Still Even Matter??? ft. Hope Bellair · 28 min · Season 7 Episode 21The marketing world moves FAST, which is why Michael checked-in with Digital Marketing Manager at Punchmark, Hope Bellair, to ask if these 10 Digital Marketing techniques still…
- Buy Like a Guy ft. Andy Koehn · 35 min · Season 7 Episode 20Mike sits down with retail jeweler and podcaster Andy Koehn to talk about why many men feel lost in jewelry stores and what actually helps them buy an engagement ring with…
- Omnichannel Lessons From A Lumber Yard · 23 min · Season 7 Episode 19Mike discusses a surprisingly great purchasing experience he recently had at a... Lumber Mill. This had him thinking deeper about ways retailers can pull out practical…
- Let's Discuss Diamond Prices ft. UNI Diamonds · 42 min · Season 7 Episode 18Mike sits down with Yoav Singer from UNI Diamonds to unpack what their real-time marketplace data reveals about diamond pricing, buyer behavior, and where demand is actually…
- Five Personal Jewelry Stories That Are Impacting My Life · 29 min · Season 7 Episode 17Mike goes solo and shares five real-life ways jewelry shows up in our world, from a family brooch tradition to the surprising value hidden in old coins. Along the way, we unpack…
- Oxygenate Your Consumer Base with Estate Buying Events ft. Stratus Estate Buyers · 31 min · Season 7 Episode 16Mike sits down with Justin VanMatre from Stratus Estate Buyers to unpack how in-store estate buying events work and why they can feel like a limited-time “carnival” that brings…
- What If Your Store Never Ran Out Of Options ft. Nivoda · 29 min · Season 7 Episode 15Mike sits down with Andre Woons from Nivoda on what it takes to help jewelers sell from global inventory while keeping fulfillment fast, reliable, and margin-friendly. We also…
- Lenny from The EDGE's First Podcast Interview // LIVE! · 43 min · Season 7 Episode 14Recorded LIVE from the 2026 Punchmark Client Workshop in Charlotte, NC! Mike sits down with Lenny Prion, the voice and educator so many jewelers know as “Lenny from The Edge,” to…
- What You Learn in Your First Year as a Jewelry Retailer ft. Cole from Ware's Jewelers // LIVE! · 35 min · Season 7 Episode 14Recorded LIVE from the 2026 Punchmark Client Workshop in Charlotte, NC! Mike sat down with Cole Rowland from Ware's Jewelers to unpack his jump from jewelry vendor to…
- Why Those Engagement Ring Ads Keep Finding You ft. Hope Bellair · 30 min · Season 7 Episode 13We break down retargeting as clienteling at scale and explain why it feels like ads “follow you” after you browse jewelry online. Hope Bellair shares practical ways to segment…
- Breaking Down the Best - Group Communication (Slack, Teams, Discord, Gmail) · 32 min · Season 7 Episode 12Mike breaks down the real differences between Slack, Microsoft Teams, and Discord so you can choose a communication platform that fits your team size, tools, and day-to-day work…
- What Stephen Barnes Learned from His First Year as Owner of IJO · 51 min · Season 7 Episode 11Stephen Barnes shares what his first year as owner of IJO really looked like, from decision-making and show strategy to staying grounded when gold prices swing. We talk through…
- How Jewelry Can Help Us Remember a Loved One · 20 min · Season 7 Episode 10Mike talks through the loss of his grandmother and the unexpected way her jewelry becomes a bridge between grief, family history, and love. He shares the story of how an…
- How to Secure the Same Day Yes ft. Caratwise · 35 min · Season 7 Episode 9Michael talks with David Berdugo, CEO of Caratwise, about why custom jewelry sales break down when momentum stalls and how better UX helps independent jewelers give confident…
- Proactive by Design: How Punchmark Is Reshaping Online Jewelry Retail · 56 min · Season 7 Episode 8We check in with Ross Cockerham about Punchmark’s sprint into faster payments, a rebuilt Vendor Marketing Library, and a shift to a proactive client strategy. Along the way we…
- Four Stories That Reframe Jewelry & Luxury Business · 31 min · Season 7 Episode 7Mike talks through four topics not about jewelry that he has been paying attention to that can help reframe the jewelry conversation in a new and interesting way. The crashing of…
- Exclusive First Interview with Edge Retail Academy's New CEO ft. Becka Johnson Kibby · 39 min · Season 7 Episode 6Mike sits down with Becka Johnson Kibby, the new CEO of Edge Retail Academy, to unpack real jewelry retail benchmarks, smarter inventory moves, and the coaching habits that…
- Physical Retail, The Beginning or the End? ft. Peter Smith · 55 min · Season 7 Episode 5What if brick‑and‑mortar isn’t dying, but splitting into winners and roadkill? We sit down with Peter Smith, former Hearts On Fire president, columnist for National Jeweler, and…
- Gold, Growth, And Getting Better ft. Ostbye · 46 min · Season 7 Episode 4We talk with Ostbye president Craig MacBean about leading through volatility, integrating a business acquisition without losing its soul, and why staying focused on independent…
- Gold At $5,000... Let's Talk About It ft. David Siminski · 55 min · Season 7 Episode 4We discuss gold’s leap past $5,000 (and back) and unpack why refiners are pausing intake even as demand soars. David Siminski explains the credit and capacity squeeze, the silver…
- Charming Commerce ft. Rembrandt Charms · 29 min · Season 7 Episode 3We talk with Eric Lux, President of Rembrandt Charms, about why charms convert so well online, how vertical integration keeps shelves stocked, and what smart marketing does for…
- Unpacking 2025 Engagement Ring Trends & Data ft. StoneAlgo · 51 min · Season 7 Episode 2We bring back StoneAlgo's CEO, Devin Jones, to share how a human concierge turns website visitors into verified, high-intent appointments. We also dive into engagement ring trend…
- Season 7 Kickoff: What I'm Thinking About for 2026 · 16 min · Season 7 Episode 1We set the tone for Season 7 with a focus on substance: vendor stories without the pitch, real data that guides decisions, and platform upgrades that make selling online easier…
- Wrapping Up 2025 - The Best Bits · 53 min · Season 6 Episode 45We close the season by revisiting ten standout moments that shaped a year of change, from AI pricing and buying group leadership to gold’s surge, fancy color diamonds, and how…
- 2025 Jewelry E‑Commerce Performance Explained · 28 min · Season 6 Episode 44We chart the rebound of jewelry e‑commerce in 2025, why average order value climbed, and how Cyber Monday pulled ahead of Black Friday online. We share two winning models, volume…
- Agentic Marketing, Explained · 32 min · Season 6 Episode 43We unpack how agentic AI shifts marketing from reactive prompts to proactive systems that watch behavior, answer real questions, and stretch budgets. Hope Bellair joins us to map…
- 5 Tips to Prep Your Store for Black Friday · 18 min · Season 6 Episode 42Mike shares five practical fundamental tips to prepare your jewelry store for Black Friday and the holidays. Quick wins stack up: show energy, make hours obvious, trigger visits…
- The AWS Outage and Why It Matters · 21 min · Season 6 Episode 41We break down how a small DNS error inside AWS rippled into a global outage, and why it affected everything from uploads to streaming to... beds? Andy Szoke, Developer at…
- Retailer Roundtable: Doing Things Differently This Holiday Season · 49 min · Season 6 Episode 40Michael is joined by three independent jewelers who share how they protect margins, create memorable offers, and keep teams sharp during the busiest weeks of the year. We discuss…
- How A Family Pearl Farm Went Viral ft. Kamoka Pearls · 46 min · Season 6 Episode 39Mike talks with Komoka’s Josh Humbert about his family pearl farm in Tahiti rebuilt its methods around eco-farming and sustainable handling of oysters. Fish now clean their…
- A Woven Vision ft. Malo Bands · 43 min · Season 6 Episode 38We trace Malo Bands’ journey from handwoven artistry to a tech-enabled, service-first business, and how listening to retailers turned beautiful showpieces into scalable…
- From Zero to One, Let's Talk About Vendor Data · 27 min · Season 6 Episode 37Mike shares how he's helping rebuild Punchmark’s Premium Vendor Program from a one-way data pipe into a two-way system that gives vendors and retailers real value. He discusses…
- The Balancing Act Every CEO Must Manage ft. Ross Cockerham · 41 min · Season 6 Episode 36Mike sits down with his boss Ross Cockerham, Punchmark Co-Founder & CEO, about how he balances attending trade shows and events vs. being present at his own business vs. family…
- What Shoppers Plan to Buy This Year ft. Podium · 47 min · Season 6 Episode 35Melisa Monroe from Podium shares exclusive insights from a recent consumer survey of nearly 1000 prospective shoppers about projected holiday spending for the upcoming season…
- Marketing Through Q4 and Beyond ft. Hope Bellair · 43 min · Season 6 Episode 34Digital marketing expert Hope Bellair shares insights from HubSpot's Inbound 25 conference and tailored Q4 marketing strategies for different types of jewelry businesses. Reach…
- 5 Jewelry Industry Topics You Should Be Paying Attention To · 29 min · Season 6 Episode 33The jewelry industry is evolving with significant technological, market, and policy developments that are reshaping how businesses operate and connect with customers. Google…
- Let's Talk with Ring Buyers (Part 5): A Custom Engagement Ring Journey · 51 min · Season 6 Episode 32Michael interviews his eldest brother, Joseph, about his custom engagement ring process with Vincent from Arezzo Jewelers, revealing that custom projects can be affordable and…
- Listen First, Lead Second: 1 Year of Leading AGS ft. President Alexis Padis · 44 min · Season 6 Episode 31Alexis Padis, President of AGS, shares insights from her first year of leadership and discusses her vision for the organization's future after being re-elected for a second term…
