Ippolita Rostagno, founder of the luxury jewelry brand Ippolita, discusses how the pandemic accelerated digital transformation within luxury retail, with online sales jumping from 2% to 10% of total revenue. She emphasizes the continued importance of physical retail experiences and the brand's strategy of expanding its own brick-and-mortar presence and leveraging trunk shows to deepen customer connection. This episode offers valuable insights into navigating the evolving landscape of luxury e-commerce and omnichannel strategy.
Key takeaways
Leverage 'Zoom fashion' trends: The rise of video calls during WFH boosted demand for visible accessories like earrings. Retailers should analyze current trends in remote work and social media to identify unexpected product opportunities.
Balance online growth with experiential retail: While Ippolita saw significant e-commerce growth, the brand is investing in proprietary physical stores and trunk shows to provide a tangible luxury experience that online alone cannot replicate. Develop innovative in-store experiences that align with your brand story.
Strategically choose social platforms: Ippolita intentionally avoids platforms like TikTok for brand storytelling, recognizing that not all channels are suitable for a luxury brand's narrative. Evaluate each platform's fit with your brand identity and target audience.
Design for timelessness: In a fast-fashion world, Ippolita focuses on creating classic, enduring designs that consumers will value for over a decade. This approach fosters customer loyalty and differentiates the brand in a crowded market.
Adapt store design to enhance brand experience: Ippolita redesigned its store to evoke a "physical jewelry box," creating an immersive, branded environment. Consider how your physical spaces can tell your brand story and enhance the customer journey.
Empathy and product relevance: Ippolita designed fine jewelry during the pandemic, sensing that consumers desired lasting pieces. Understand your customers' evolving needs and behaviors to offer truly relevant products.
The move to working-from-home may have correlated with a rise in comfortable fashion, but as the work pants came off and sweatpants on, the desire for luxury brands did not falter. “Jewelry and accessories were favored because so many people were on Zoom all day long, [and] the only thing that you could [use to] accessorize were earrings," said Ippolita Rostagno, co-founder and CEO of Ippolita, on the Glossy Podcast.
In addition, for Ippolita, the timelessness of the brand aligned with consumer desire for jewelry that can last beyond the pandemic. Rostagno, who founded the brand 20 years ago, said she focuses on “designing things that are relevant at this moment, but that, at the same time, have a classic enough feel that you know at the time of purchase you’ll love it 10 years from now.”
Whether it can be attributed to Zoom or Ippolita’s philosophy or both, the brand’s recent success cannot be denied. Ippolita saw a “very steep increase” in online sales to 10% of total sales, up from 2% before Covid-19.
“People have become much more comfortable with learning and making up their own minds, and therefore purchasing online,” said Rostagno. However, she said, "when you're in a store, you have that opportunity to think you're looking for something and find something else. And that is part of the retail experience that needs to be nurtured and come back.”
As for Ippolita’s retail presence, while the brand will continue to team up with retailers, like Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdale’s, "owning our own retail is the direction that we'd like to take the business,” said Rostagno.
Ippolita has seen success with trunk shows, which Rostagno attributes to the tangible experience that customers can have with the jewelry. “[That] was the motivating factor for completely redesigning the customer experience in my store that I opened in the middle of the pandemic, in Chicago,” said Rostagno. Rostagno was inspired by the concept of a physical jewelry box when designing Ippolita's Chi
Leverage 'Zoom fashion' trends: The rise of video calls during WFH boosted demand for visible accessories like earrings. Retailers should analyze current trends in remote work and social media to identify unexpected product opportunities.
What does this episode say about retail & omnichannel?
Balance online growth with experiential retail: While Ippolita saw significant e-commerce growth, the brand is investing in proprietary physical stores and trunk shows to provide a tangible luxury experience that online alone cannot replicate. Develop innovative in-store experiences that align with your brand story.
What does this episode say about brand & content?
Strategically choose social platforms: Ippolita intentionally avoids platforms like TikTok for brand storytelling, recognizing that not all channels are suitable for a luxury brand's narrative. Evaluate each platform's fit with your brand identity and target audience.
What does this episode say about conversion & cro?
Design for timelessness: In a fast-fashion world, Ippolita focuses on creating classic, enduring designs that consumers will value for over a decade. This approach fosters customer loyalty and differentiates the brand in a crowded market.
What does this episode say about dtc strategy?
Adapt store design to enhance brand experience: Ippolita redesigned its store to evoke a "physical jewelry box," creating an immersive, branded environment. Consider how your physical spaces can tell your brand story and enhance the customer journey.
