Headlines

High-End Online Jeweler Thinks More Can Be Done to Personalize Shopping Experience

Published

8 years ago

July 26, 2016

INSTORE Staff

E-tailer is leveraging customer data to make recommendations.

Former corporate attorney Jean Z. Poh, the founder of online jewelry retailer Swoonery, has turned to data-collection tools to personalize the online shopping experience, Luxury Daily writes. The article explains how Swoonery uses behavior profiling, machine learning and purchasing tools to recommend pieces by personal preference, “creating an intimate consumer-retailer dialogue, an intrinsic element of jewelry purchasing that has been neglected by the industry at large.”

Writer Jen King of Luxury Daily asks: “There has been a slowdown recently in luxury jewelry and watches. Do you think innovative platforms and ecommerce is the answer to these issues?”

Poh: “I absolutely do think innovation is the answer. Consumer behavior has changed. … The jewelry industry has been ignoring the data and instead maintaining the position that people do not want to buy high-end or designer jewelry online. In a world where 98 percent of affluent consumers shop online and only 5 percent of all online purchases are placed on monobrand sites, it no longer makes sense to resist. However, the key lies in being able to reimagine the personalized luxury experience online and letting the customers’ needs drive innovation.”

Retiring? Let Wilkerson Do the Heavy Lifting

Retirement can be a great part of life. As Nanji Singadia puts it, “I want to retire and enjoy my life. I’m 78 now and I just want to take a break.” That said, Nanji decided that the best way to move ahead was to contact the experts at Wilkerson. He chose them because he knew that closing a store is a heavy lift. To maximize sales and move on to the next, best chapter of his life, he called Wilkerson—but not before asking his industry friends for their opinion. He found that Wilkerson was the company most recommended and says their professionalism, experience and the homework they did before the launch all helped to make his going out of business sale a success. “Wilkerson were working on the sale a month it took place,” he says. “They did a great job.”