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StyleRocks Takes Part in the 2012 Mass Customisation Trend
- 15th February
- Samantha Youl 83
Is Mass Customisation here to stay? The founder of the newest mass customisation site, StyleRocks, definitely thinks the answer is ‘yes!’ StyleRocks recently launched and is an Australian owned design-your-own jewellery site.
“Around the world, companies of every size are exploring business models based on mass customisation, and startups are leading the way,” says Steven Noble, Senior Analyst, Forrester, in his 2012 predictions. “If mass customisation is finally taking off worldwide, then Australia must be home to many of this trend’s best examples.”
Founded by self-confessed jewellery lover and young mother Pascale Helyar-Moray, StyleRocks is her first e-commerce venture. The idea came to her after she struggled to find herself a piece of jewellery online that she liked.
“After being given the opportunity to select a gift to celebrate the birth of my twins, I realised that there was little avenue for personal choice in the online jewellery industry,” says Helyar-Moray. The inspiration dawned one day when the aspiring entrepreneur stumbled across a big name in mass customisation.
“Following our move from London to Australia, I saw the Shoes of Prey website, which offers you complete customisation in designing your shoes,” she recalls. “I thought then, that the ability to design your own jewellery – exactly as you want it – was what I needed to create, and so StyleRocks was born.”
Shoes of Prey did more than just inspire Helyar-Moray. She received some guidance from co-founders Jodie Fox and Mike Knapp. Experienced in the art of online retail, these two helped steer Helyar-Moray in the right direction on her road to mass customisation, but it wasn’t all smooth sailing.
What did you say a ‘platform’ was? A shoe?
“Not having a technology background has definitely been the biggest challenge,” says Helyar-Moray. “I was fortunate enough to do a MEGA course. (A MEGA course is designed for those who are looking to improve their skills by creating new digital products and services for global markets.) This course targets the technology and mobile start-up businesses. It not only taught me the fundamentals of business, but also introduced me to some great contacts along the way. Through the course I met Blue Chilli who would go on to build the StyleRocks jewellery designer and website. The website is built on the Microsoft Azure platform using .net.”
The StyleRocks e-commerce business model is extremely flexible and will allow for growth if the need is there. “StyleRocks is a no inventory, low-cost online retail business model. We have the means to scale up in terms of jewellery manufacturing capabilities, resources, or even server load, or scale down as the situation requires,” says Helyar-Moray.
The online jewellery designer is completely unique to StyleRocks, much like the shoe designer on Shoes of Prey. “It has been built from scratch and so the code is all proprietary. Being the first to market meant that there was no template to follow,” says Helyar-Moray.
How can I get some attention around here?
New kids on the block are always going to have to fight hard to get the recognition that they deserve. Helyar-Moray says she has been engaging in a number of activities to get the StyleRocks brand noticed and thanks to several online publications publishing pieces on StyleRocks, the online public relations is paying off. “Online PR appears to be the most effective in terms of driving quality traffic to the StyleRocks website. But our other effective marketing tool has been our date reminder system.” Your what?
Helyar-Moray explains, “prior to our launch, we captured thousands of email addresses of people’s important events, such as weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, etc. We send out reminder emails two months, then one month, in advance of those key dates, so that those customers can create the perfect piece of jewellery for their gift recipient.”
What’s in store for the future?
The budding online retailer has expressed a curiosity in crowd sourcing. “We’re looking at ways to see if we can harness this group influence effect and apply it to the StyleRocks model.”
The company is settling its online platform first before following the inevitable path from e-commerce into m-commerce. “Mobile is something that we plan to look into. The beauty of the StyleRocks website is the fact that it’s fun! We see that visitors on average spend five minutes designing jewellery on the site and sending their design to others for feedback,” says Helyar-Moray. “Playing jewellery designer is something StyleRocks customers might do on their mobiles – so we want to look into it further.”
The final word…
“StyleRocks is a revolutionary website,” claims Helyar-Moray. “A world first in terms of bringing jewellery customisation to the masses. It’s easy to use, convenient and as a customer, you see exactly what you will receive and how much you will pay for it. More than that, it’s unique and fun to play with the online jewellery designer. Warning: slightly addictive!”
StyleRocks won’t be the last mass customisation site to grace Australia. Helyar-Moray believes that the millions of people around the world who are shopping online will embrace other mass customisation sites with open arms. “I think customisation is the way of the future. There are more than 6 billion people in the world who all, in some way want to express their style and individuality. We’re at the cutting edge of seeing people express themselves through being able to create jewellery, clothes, furniture, or even sporting equipment.”
But will it end there? Not according to Helyar-Moray. “I have visions of a collaborative effort between a number of mass customisation suppliers, creating a unique environment. This might be, for example, a bespoke bridal boutique where brides can go online and create their jewellery, shoes, dresses, veils, etc.”
With StyleRocks, Shoes of Prey and others in the mix like Mooo, Vinspi and Joe Button, Australia is earning a reputation as a hotbed for the mass customisation phenomenon. As Steven Noble alluded to, watch this space as there are plenty more categories yet to be tapped.
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If you’re interested in mass customized jewellery, you should follow Gemvara http://www.gemvara.com/, they’ve been around a while and are doing it well.