Q&A: Abbott Lyon chair Gareth Jones on the jewellery retailer’s unique proposition

Pureplay jewellery retailer Abbott Lyon was founded in 2015 with a mission of creating quality jewellery at affordable price points, offering personalised, designer-inspired items for customers to wear every day.

With a US expansion strategy in the works, a host of celebrity ambassadors on board including TV personality Stacey Solomon and the opening of its first pop-up store, the Abbott Lyon brand is booming and shows no signs of slowing down.

As the jewellery retailer continues to mark its territory in a competitive market, Jones sat down with Retail Week to discuss what makes Abbott Lyon stand out from the crowd.

Who is your target consumer?

“We did some research with a company called Boxclever, which helped us to understand the total size of the jewellery market in the UK and what the target consumer would buy from a brand like Abbott Lyon. The 20- to 35-year-old female was our sweet spot. She is looking to invest in something of quality, that she calls ‘affordable luxury’ and that is unique and personalised.

“This means she is aware of all the top brands in jewellery and has aspirations to want to own some of those top brands, but she can’t afford to own those brands today.

“For her to invest in a personalised piece that has a nod to those trends and brands, rather than a fake piece of jewellery, is really helpful for her. We’ve done a lot of work to really try to understand what those different trends are and how we can do that in a much more unique way, so that it is ours and it is a part of Abbott Lyon.”

What is your competitive advantage over other jewellery retailers?

“Designer-inspired, quality personalisation is not something that anyone is doing well. If you think about the market, you’ve got the bottom end of the market with a place like Etsy, where it is very cheap, and then you’ve got the top end of the market, where you’re going to be spending a whole month’s wage cheque to get something designer.

“Pandora try to do a bit [of personalisation] but their core is charms, Swarovski is doing crystals and Monica Vinader is doing demi-fine jewellery that is a lot more expensive than the prices we sell at.

“We do have a unique part of the market here and it is definitely of good enough quality for everyday wear. I think the quality angle is so important because it is not going to break the bank, but the product is of enough quality that you can trust it.”

What do you expect from the upcoming peak trading period?

“The six weeks all the way through to mid-December are a huge part of our entire year. We see dramatic spikes in our sales and a lot of that is gifting, but you’ve also got people buying for themselves and for Christmas parties.

“Gifting during that period goes up as much as between 70% and 80% of the sales, where the split is normally 50/50, so we do definitely see a big spike over that November/December period.”

Abbott Lyon recently opened its first store. Why now?

“The jewellery market is very predominantly in store and we are very predominantly – and only – ecommerce. There is a huge part of the market where we know consumers want to come in and try products on, and be introduced to the brand in that way. We know that, from speaking to customers, there is a heavy opportunity to build brand awareness with stores and to introduce those types of customers who prefer to see products physically into the mix.

“We will always be a predominantly ecommerce brand – that is where we are strong – but stores will make a nice complement and are definitely going to be part of the mix going forward. At the moment, we are very much testing the store format and making sure that it commercially makes sense. From there, we can start to make some decisions about where we might go next.”

What is next for Abbott Lyon?

“Like any brand, you’ve got to have a certain amount of newness coming in, but as well as that we try to build on our bestsellers that we know customers love. We have an ongoing and continuous product innovation drive; our founder is really passionate about that area. 

“One of the challenges that we don’t have compared with others is that, because many of our products are personalised and made to order, we can test things quite easily, which is really useful for us.

“The challenge we’ve got is maximising the opportunity. We are a brand that is on the up, we are growing very rapidly and over the last 18 months we have been about capitalising on that growth and not letting this moment go.

“We don’t see challenges, particularly if that market is a bit better next year, which many people think it might be. We have a very unique proposition with millions of customers who want to shop that proposition, so we have to tell as many people as we possibly can that we exist and why we exist. 

“The other most important thing we are focused on is international expansion, particularly in the US, where we are doing incredibly well.”