Tony Qian 1/13/2011 BUAD 441 – Individual Case Study1 Blue Nile, Inc. – World’s Largest Online Diamond Retailer 1. What key factors will determine a company’s success in the online jewelry business in the next 3-5 years? The online jewelry business will be highly dependent technology. They will also need to keep good relationships with the organizations that certify their diamonds. They need to give their customer a safe, comfortable environment in which to make high dollar purchases.
While the numbers are impressive, that is not the only thing that Blue Nile is concerned about. The customer centric company consists of 159 employees who work through the firm’s main website, bluenile.com. Blue Nile offers high quality diamonds, certified by independent diamond grading labs, and lets the customer create their own work of art in selecting a diamond. The company’s success has led it to be declared one of the top internet firms amid recognition from such publications as Forbes and BusinessWeek. As an online retailer of diamonds and fine jewelry, Blue Nile provides excellent guidance and support to enable customers to learn about and purchase diamonds as well as classically styled fine jewelry.
Does Blue Nile’s business model result in a winning strategy? Blue Nile’s business model involves selling high quality diamonds at low prices online. The first hurdle for them was to make the buyer feel comfortable buying a high ticket item that has many characteristics that could affect the products quality. They effectively alleviate the consumers concerns by providing them with information and guidance during their shopping experience. The consumer is then able to educate themselves about what determines a diamonds quality and value.
Giventhat the jewelry is made to order, clients at Blue Nile must be willing to wait to receive theirorders, unlike at Tiffany or Zales. The Tiffany brand is very strong and well established. It is associated with glamour, trust, andcustomer service. These associations allow the company to sell at higher margins than itscompetitors. Diamond and other high-end jewelry purchases are expensive, and many customerswill trade off other factors for the Tiffany customer experience when making such purchases.Moreover, when spending thousands of dollars for a single item, customers often want to see andfeel what they are buying.
How strong are the competitive forces confronting Blue Nile and other online retail jewelers? Which one of the five competitive forces is the strongest? In the online retail jewelry industry there is a strong power of buyers and suppliers, and a stronger difficulty of entry. In the diamond industry the biggest threat is competition from other online retail jewelers as well as huge completion from brick-and-mortar retail stores. While all five of the competitive forces are strong when analyzing Blue Nile and other online retail jewelers, the strongest competitive force is analyzing rivalry determinants.
1-7). If the marketer understands consumer needs: develops products that provide superior customer value; and prices, distributes, and promotes them effectively, these products will sell easily.”(Armstrong & Kotler, 2011, pp. 1-7). McBride Financial Services needs to look closely at the customers and pay attention to what the customer is asking for. “Examine five core customer and marketplace concepts: (1) needs, wants, and demands; (2) market offerings (products, services and experiences); (3) value and satisfaction;
Where UDR’s competitors Sun Recycling and PJ’s Recycling have over 1800 unique website visits took. This is mainly due to the fact that both of UDR’s competitors have strong marketing tools in place to drive new traffic to their website. Webfoot conducted an in depth survey of internet users from UDR’s target market area to better understand how UDR ranks against their competitors. In almost every category UDR’s competitors scored higher. The below comparative analysis is a breakdown of the features that each of UDR’s competitors website has in relations to UDR’s current website.
Search engines are the driving source for online shopping. When consumers can type in a name of a product and click search hundreds of stores come up with pricing of the product. People like choices, and would rather search through the web for the best product and pricing. Associability plays key role in the success of companies. Companies have to pay a huge price to have their store front at the top of the search list.
are ways to give the consumer a choice on how they want their shopping experience to go. With all the people that embrace these new technologies, there are many who would rather do business the old fashioned way, without all the bells and whistles. For this reason, companies need to accommodate all types of consumers and be sure that the technologies do not overwhelm the product. Inventory control is another important role for technology to have a place in retail management. Software that can help stores understand why they seller don't sell are important to keep costs low throughout the company.
With this formula, SFPG aims to target customers by stating the superiority of the product due to its high degree of protection from odour and wetness. The concept statement also states that it is a unisex product with an aim to target wider customer base, not just limiting it to one sex. This way they reduce on production costs as well. The new product will be available in two sizes costing $3.50 and $2.20 per unit basis. Good to mention the pricing as it is easier to categorize it in a particular section in retail outlet.