Blue Nile Rival Opens Technology Office in Seattle to Launch New “See in Store” Service
A startup named Ritani, run by former Blue Nile, WetPaint and Nordstrom business executive Brian Watkins is challenging the assumption that expensive jewelry can be comfortably purchased online, sight unseen. When Watkins worked at Blue Nile he advocated that a diamond engagement ring could be purchased without touching or seeing it up close. That personal opinion has since changed. Now the Ex-pat believes buyers should see the stone before making such a major purchase.
Can “Click and Mortar” challenge “Bing, Bling and Click?” New York-based Ritani has no stores of its own, so the ultimate, bejeweled marketing question is pivotal! Will teaming up with offline jewelry stores to showcase the gems suddenly outdo a rival like Blue Nile, the largest online seller of diamond engagement rings?
Seattle will be a research hub for this penultimate diamond “Taste Test” and may hand down a verdict that reverberates across the Internet jewelry market worldwide. The Ritani website will introduce a “see in store” option at no extra cost to customers in seven markets, testing Watkins’ belief that while most engaged couples begin their search for a ring online, many still prefer buying in person.
“There’s a real desire to shop online but then use their local retailer as a trusted adviser,” opines Watkins. By joining with local jewelers, Watkins said, Ritani aims to drive Internet traffic to offline retailers, rather than the other way around.
Customers will be able to choose two loose diamonds or two engagement rings for delivery to the nearest affiliate store for a close-up view. Ritani and its retail partners will split a portion of the proceeds from any resulting sales, regardless of whether customers complete their purchases online or in the store.
Founded in 1999, Ritani supplies engagement rings and loose diamonds to nearly 400 jewelry stores in the U.S. and Canada. Last January, it established an e-commerce office across from Pike Place Market in downtown Seattle, where some 20 employees have been working under the name ECX to avoid attention.
Until now, Ritani used the Internet merely as a marketing tool to support its jewelry wholesale business. It has received $15 million in new funding from the venture capital arm of New York-based Cantor Fitzgerald.
Watkins’ business background is Seattle evergreen. It includes two years at digital media startup Wet Paint, and a stint at Seattle-based Nordstrom, where he worked on ways to better integrate online and offline retail.
“You can only go so far as a pure-play online retailer. The data shows that this is where we’re all going to land — with a seamless, omni-channel shopping approach.”
Indeed, Seattle-based Amazon.com, the world’s largest Internet retailer, is crossing over to the bricks-and-mortar world, testing same-day delivery in 10 major markets and self-serve pickup stations at 7-Eleven stores.
Ritani will launch “see in store” with six retail partners representing 30 locations in California, Florida, Georgia, New York, North Carolina, Texas and Virginia. [24×7]
