WhatвЂ™s a diamond ring retailer to do? Blue Nile decided to make the leap from virtual Internet retailer into the real world with a store front they call a Webroom. Not only are fewer people choosing to marry, but many are deciding to forgo the diamond tradition all together in favor of other stones or other symbols to mark their engagement. Today, the marriage rate stands at a historic low of 6.8 marriages per 1,000 people, down from 8.6 in 1999. The diamond engagement ring market, the platform on which Blue NileвЂ™s business was based, is very different today than it was back in 1999. Blue Nile needs to transform from a transactional retail model into a branded, market driven business. That business concept has grown into a half-a-billion dollar company, which claims to be one of the worldвЂ™s largest online retailers of engagement rings.Д«ut after 16 years, Blue Nile is reaching a tipping point that now requires solutions to new business challenges. To use new Internet-powered marketing tools to spread the Blue Nile message virally.To offer those diamonds at a significantly reduced price thanks to the efficiencies of an Internet-only business.To tap an inventory of GIA-certified diamonds that take much of the guesswork out of the selection process.Blue Nile offered customers a new way to buy diamonds: He created a marketplace where the pricing was fully transparent, all without the operational overhead of a brick-and-mortar store. вЂњWhy the difference?вЂќ he asked, and got a mealy mouthed non-answer from the sales clerk.ДЇrom that bad experience a business plan was hatched around the idea of providing in-depth and non-intimidating education on the diamond buying process. After doing preliminary research into the 4Cs, the traditional gold standard for buying a diamond, Vadon went to a well-known jewelry store to make his purchase and was stymied by the fact that two seemingly identical diamond rings had a $5,000 difference in price. The idea of selling engagement rings online grew directly from founder Mark VadonвЂ™s personal experience trying to buy an engagement ring. Founded in 1999, Blue Nile set out to disrupt the way people buy diamonds, with a special focus on the engagement ring business, skimming the cream off of traditional jewelry storesвЂ™ business.

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