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Blue Nile Case Study Essay

Decent Essays

1. How strong are the competitive forces confronting Blue Nile and other online retail jewelers? Do a five-forces analysis to support your answer. If you were to forecast the future, what would this analysis look like in 10 years?

Potential entrants: Major online retailers, major jewelers, Village Silversmith
Current Competitors: Ice.com, Gemvara, Diamond.com, Jamesallen.com, Astley Clarke
Substitutes: Smaller/local Jewelry stores
Buyers: Couples to be engaged
Suppliers: Diamond mines, precious metal mines

10 Year Forecast: As many retailers slowly switch to selling their products online, Blue Nile may have more competition. The bad news for those potential entrants to the online markets is Blue Nile’s strong foothold in the …show more content…

Blue Nile is well-known in San Francisco and Seattle areas but has not yet a national recognition. This gives a considerable advantage to its well-known competitors such as Tiffany that have strong brand awareness and attract more customers. Blue Nile needs to find ways to promote its brand; advertising could be one solution.

Opportunities

1. Offering more Fashion Jewelries to Attract Women Shoppers - The site offers a lot of different jewelries such as necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and rings. It should consider the opportunity of expanding their target market to women and to offer more everyday life accessories such as purses, sunglasses, glasses, wallets, etc…

2. Going Global - Two warehouses have opened recently in the world: one in Canada and one in United Kingdom. They have adopted the same strategy as in the USA by selling online diamonds, especially engagement rings. The European market is growing and could become an interesting place to do business for Blue Nile.

Threats

1. Competition - Competition is the biggest threat to Blue Nile. Local stores selling high-end jewelries are direct competitors to the company. Tiffany and Co. is one of the most dangerous competitors since it also targets men and sells engagement rings. Some online jewelries retailers are also dangerous competitors, such as diamonds.com, ice.com, and ashford.com.

4. What strategic issues and problems

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