What is Blue Nile? Blue Nile Review

Founding Origin

At the end of 1998, Mark Vadon, an MBA from Stanford University and a business consultant, planned to buy an engagement ring for his fiancée. He walked into a luxury jewelry store in San Francisco wearing a T-shirt and shorts, but was ignored and looked down upon by the store clerk. This made Vadon very angry. After returning home, he searched a lot of information about diamonds on the Internet, and finally bought a ring he had set his eyes on on an online store at half the price of the jewelry store. Vadon decided to create a new shopping model: an ultimate luxury shopping experience that combines traditional shopping elements with simplicity, high quality, professionalism and high value. This is Blue Nile.

Platform Products

Currently, Blue Nile has two official Chinese and Hong Kong websites online, selling diamonds, engagement rings, wedding jewelry, necklaces, earrings, bracelets, etc., and supporting online selection and customization.

Business Model

The success of the founder Blue Nile lies in the complete transparency of sales - Blue Nile has put all the detailed information and pricing of more than 50,000 diamonds online, and implemented transparent sales. Therefore, generally speaking, the average price of Blue Nile diamond products is about 20% lower than the industry, and the highest can be as low as 40%, which has overturned the "unwritten rules" of the industry. This move first won the favor of customers.

Platform Concept

BLUE NILE is based on a unique concept - buying an engagement ring does not need to be complicated, knowledge about diamonds can be simple and easy to understand, and making the right choice is not difficult. This unique style and excellent reputation have attracted the attention of many media such as Forbes, The New York Times and Fortune Magazine.

Awards

Blue Nile was awarded the Bizrate Platinum Award for Excellence, which recognizes companies that are rated by actual customers as having the best online customer service. Blue Nile is the only jeweler ever to receive this award, and has won it every year since 2002.

Development History

In November 1999, the company name was changed to Blue Nile.

In 2000, the company raised an additional $44 million in financing from venture investors including Bessemer Venture Partners and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.

In 2001, Blue Nile's net revenue exceeded US$48 million.

In 2003, total revenue exceeded 120 million US dollars.

It was listed on NASDAQ in 2004.

On May 18, 2004, Blue Nile had its $76 million initial public offering. Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns, and Thomas Weisel Partners shared $5.4 million.

In fiscal 2010, Blue Nile had revenue of $333 million, operating income of $21.3 million, net income of $14.1 million, total assets of $152 million, total equity of $49.1 million, and a total of 193 employees.

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