{"id":934,"date":"2015-12-04T15:34:52","date_gmt":"2015-12-04T20:34:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/baublebar-the-final-say-in-fashion-jewelry\/"},"modified":"2015-12-09T17:12:42","modified_gmt":"2015-12-09T22:12:42","slug":"baublebar-redefining-how-women-shop-for-fashion-jewelry","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/baublebar-redefining-how-women-shop-for-fashion-jewelry\/","title":{"rendered":"BaubleBar: Redefining How Women Shop for Fashion Jewelry"},"content":{"rendered":"

Founded in 2011 by former investment bankers and HBS grads Daniella Yacobovsky and Amy Jain, BaubleBar is an e-commerce startup that makes fashion jewelry more accessible to the average shopper. The brand has become known for its trendy, inexpensive fashion jewelry and has grown substantially through effective alignment of its business and operating models: industry sources estimate sales of $75 million in 2014, up from $11 million in 2012 (i).<\/p>\n

Yacobovsky and Jain designed BaubleBar with one goal in mind: to become the go-to destination for fashion jewelry. With 200% growth in 2014 over the previous year, an average of 1,500 online orders a day, partnerships with retailers like Anthropologie and Nordstrom, and expansions into physical retail on the horizon, they appear to be succeeding (i).<\/p>\n

\"Co-founders<\/a>
Co-founders Daniella Yacobovsky and Amy Jain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

How BaubleBar Came to Be<\/a>\u00a0(Video)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Business Model<\/u><\/p>\n

Great Selection at an Even Greater Value<\/strong><\/p>\n

Frustrated by the gap between high-end jewelry retailers like Tiffany\u2019s and lower-end discount jewelry stores, Yacobovsky and Jain founded BaubleBar in business school to give women great quality and style at affordable price points. Unlike most retailers that treat fashion jewelry as a high-margin afterthought, BaubleBar focuses only on jewelry, introducing as many as 75 to 100 new styles per week (iii). It also sources its products directly from a large variety of designer partner and sells to consumers without the markup that a middleman or traditional brick-and-mortar retailer would apply to that category.<\/p>\n

Encouraging Trial and Repeat Purchasing<\/strong><\/p>\n

As a new private label brand with a lower price point than many established retailers, BaubleBar designed its business model and marketing efforts to encourage that first trial, including offering customers free shipping, free returns, and a small discount on the first purchase. The conversion from trial to repeat purchasing has been strong: of BaubleBar’s repeat purchasers, 70% shop another three or four times, and over 50% shop five times or more (iv). BaubleBar even recently began offering $5 same-day shipping in Manhattan in order to encourage last-minute impulse buys (v).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"BaubleBar.com's<\/a>
BaubleBar.com’s current holiday offers online<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Operating Model<\/u><\/p>\n

Low Overhead and Reduced Markups<\/strong><\/p>\n

As an e-commerce site, BaubleBar has been able to eliminate a lot of the overhead that helps account for the traditional retailers\u2019 large markups on fashion jewelry, including rent, salespeople, and holding of inventory. BaubleBar designs its product in-house and works closely with a global network of manufacturing partners in Asia, Italy, South America and the U.S (vi). By stripping out costs and lowering the typical jewelry markup, BaubleBar is able to offer what they describe as a premium product at prices between $20 and $100.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Compressed Supply Chain and Data Analytics<\/strong><\/p>\n

BaubleBar\u2019s consolidated supply chain and ability to use data in real-time are a key part of its value proposition. While traditional retailers buy products seasonally and plan their merchandising calendars up to six months in advance, BaubleBar buys daily and can see jewelry going from design process to being available for sale in as little as 4 weeks. The company\u2019s frequent purchasing helps build relationships with manufacturers who then are more willing to expedite their orders (vii). BaubleBar marries this compressed supply chain with data, analytics, and social media tracking to merchandise and design based on current consumer taste preferences and keep up with the latest trends.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What\u2019s Next<\/u><\/p>\n

Omnichannel<\/strong><\/p>\n

BaubleBar has already begun to establish a presence offline through retailer partnerships as well as pop-up stores. BaubleBar\u2019s offline sales have grown over 475% since last year alone as a result of partnerships with retailers like Anthropolgie and Nordtrom which accounts for 20% of its total business (viii). With the increasing importance of omnichannel retail, creating opportunities for customers to interact with their product in person will be important in building the brand and continuing to scale the business. For example, BaubleBar shoppers, on average, spend three times the amount in physical stores that they spend online (v).<\/p>\n

\"BaubleBar's<\/a>
BaubleBar’s pop-up shop in Soho, NYC<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mobile and Technology<\/strong><\/p>\n

BaubleBar launched a new mobile app in November 2015, taking advantage of the fact that 50% of its traffic was coming from mobile \u2013 in fact, its Instagram page was driving more conversion than its homepage (both on desktop and mobile) (ix). The company is also planning a line of wearable tech bracelets in a partnership with Jawbone as well as a collaboration with Target on a line of tech accessories, including headphones and phone cases.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sources<\/strong>
\ni. Forbes http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/clareoconnor\/2015\/06\/24\/online-jewelry-startup-baublebar-to-open-retail-stores\/<\/a><\/p>\n

ii. Inc. http:\/\/www.inc.com\/30under30\/nicole-carter\/amy-jain-danielle-yacobovsky-founders-baublebar.html<\/a>\u00a0(Video)<\/p>\n

iii. Crain\u2019s New York Business http:\/\/www.crainsnewyork.com\/article\/20140729\/TECHNOLOGY\/140729849\/chris-burch-helps-baublebar-raise-10m<\/p>\n

iv. Business Jnsider\u00a0http:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/baublebar-is-becoming-the-first-go-to-destination-for-affordable-jewelry-2013-5<\/a><\/p>\n

v.Fortune http:\/\/fortune.com\/2014\/07\/29\/with-10-million-baublebar-continues-its-foray-into-brick-and-mortar-retail\/<\/a><\/p>\n

vi. Tech Crunch http:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2014\/07\/29\/baublebar-raises-10-million-for-its-fast-fashion-jewelry\/<\/p>\n

vii. Smart CEO http:\/\/smartceo.com\/baublebars-founders-fulfill-fashion-jewelrys-need-speed\/<\/a><\/p>\n

viii. Forbes http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/lydiadishman\/2014\/03\/31\/nordstrom-hopes-to-shine-up-sales-with-baublebars-affordable-bling\/<\/a><\/p>\n

ix. Digiday http:\/\/digiday.com\/brands\/baublebar-mobile-edge\/<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A \u201cfast-fashion\u201d jewelry startup shaking up traditional retail<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1159,"featured_media":935,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","categories":[173,219,15,218,220,146,55,7],"class_list":["post-934","hck-submission","type-hck-submission","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-digitalretailing","category-ecommerce","category-fashion","category-jewelry","category-omnichannel","category-online","category-technology","category-winner"],"connected_submission_link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/assignment\/the-tom-challenge-tom-winners-and-losers-assignment\/","yoast_head":"\nBaubleBar: Redefining How Women Shop for Fashion Jewelry - Technology and Operations Management<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/baublebar-redefining-how-women-shop-for-fashion-jewelry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BaubleBar: Redefining How Women Shop for Fashion Jewelry - 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