Cover Story: Retail With a Greater Purpose

Personalization: One-to-one personalization that informs customers throughout the entire purchase journey is Alex and Ani's goal. "Every wrist is unique and different, and that's illustrated by the array of SKUs across our customers," notes Ryan Bonifacino, vice president of digital strategy at Alex and Ani.

Charity: Rafaelian has created Charity by Design, a division of Alex and Ani that partners with charitable organizations. She designs symbolic bangles unique to each charity and then donates a portion of the item's proceeds directly to the nonprofit organization.

"Some of my proudest accomplishments have come from Charity by Design (CBD)," says Rafaelian. "The law of the universe says the more you have, the more you have to give. When you give freely and from your heart, that gift is amplified in the most magnificent way. CBD is probably the most special part of this company to me because it's our give back, our reason to be thankful; it's our way to be grateful of everything we've accomplished and everything we have. When I see videos of children who are drinking handfuls of clean water with smiles of amazement because of a commitment we've made as a company, there's nothing more rewarding than that."

The Science of Customer Acquisition
As an omnichannel retailer, Alex and Ani is heavily dependent upon customer data to help it make smarter marketing decisions. Managing this customer data from its 40-plus brick-and-mortar stores, e-commerce site, and wholesale and international businesses is a challenge, especially for a company in a period of hypergrowth such as Alex and Ani, where demand frequently outpaces supply.

"It's a unique problem to have, and one that won't last forever," says Bonifacino, "but that's one piece of a formula that tells us what we're willing to spend to not only acquire a customer, but to retain a customer. We're able to connect awareness all the way down the funnel to direct response. As you're spending money, there's a certain action that you want to take place, whether it's a site visit, email signup, like on Facebook, follow on Twitter, etc. We have the multitouch attribution in place to define what it truly takes to acquire a customer."

Alex and Ani also analyzes the incrementality associated with customer acquisition by asking the question, "Would this customer have discovered us otherwise?" To help it perfect measurement and attribution, Alex and Ani has hired data scientists to build its attribution model. And the company is constantly evolving the model based on the data it's collecting.

In fact, the retailer has established the Alex and Ani Institute, a professional development center that offers learning programs for members by uniquely cohering the human sciences, spirituality, psychology and systems thinking to inspire transformational results via self-discovery, awareness of others, teamwork, creativity and engagement in a productive workplace.

Product Extensions, Unique Partnerships, International Offer Potential for Future Growth
With Alex and Ani having firmly established itself as the leader in the jewelry accessories category, particularly for bangles, the company is beginning to look outside that niche for future growth opportunities. One such area is fashion and lifestyle products such as candles, handbags and beauty products.

"People are coming to Alex and Ani for a lot more reasons than they just want to put a bracelet on their wrist," Bonifacino says. "They're coming for the meaning behind the product." Alex and Ani is betting that dynamic will extend beyond jewelry. The company is leveraging existing partnerships and seeking out new ones as it looks to expand its product catalog.

"As a brand, we're looking to be unique and authentic to ourselves, while creating products that allow the wearer to represent what's unique and authentic about themselves," Rafaelian says. "Creating that experience for customers in different lifestyle categories will continue to set us apart."

In addition to growing its brand through new products, Alex and Ani is focusing on creating partnerships that will help expose its brand to new audiences. The company counts the NFL, Major League Baseball, NBA, all five branches of the U.S. military, among others as partners. Alex and Ani creates co-branded pieces for these partners — e.g., charms featuring team logos.

Lastly, Alex and Ani is expanding its brand internationally. The company, for example, currently sells its merchandise via wholesale partners in 10 countries and 11 Caribbean islands, with plans to open its first international concept store this year.