luxe.zen handcrafts jewellery for your journey

ameule    October 29, 2018

luxe.zen selects quality gemstones, wood and other naturally derived materials to handcraft beautiful
jewellery pieces. The goal of these pieces is to
enhance a holistic lifestyle integrated with wellness, meditation or spiritual practice.

luxe.zen got its start in March 2016 when its principal designer began creating jewellery pieces for herself during an illness. She uses aromatherapy principles and selects gemstones with intention to amplify
healing. At the same time, she realized this would empower others with the same goals.

When it comes to product development, social media is key for luxe.zen. Watching other designers for trends can get overwhelming, as this market is competitive, so luxe.zen keeps grounded by focusing on its own customers. luxe.zen has a high rating on Etsy with over 15% of its customers leaving reviews. And every customer’s feedback is important in the product development lifecycle; it can be one of the richest sources for new product development ideas.

In a personal communication, Healey mentioned that luxe.zen rarely gets a bad review, as she is usually able to rectify any issue before it gets that far. She monitors repair requests and failure rates in
components and methods, and adjusts her processes as needed. Sometimes the result is better care
instructions for customers, and sometimes an item is modified or discontinued.

luxe zen also pays attention to customer trends by researching top trending search
keywords on Etsy. Listening to social chatter about current products can inspire
development of new product ideas. When luxe.zen is designing new pieces, Healey often draws inspiration from her followers to gauge demand. She explains, “Etsy also allows you to see what other items a user has favourited in addition to your own. I will look through what other types of items a user has favourited to get an idea of complimentary styles”

Social media allows collaboration during the
development and design process activities. luxe.zen has used Instagram’s stories poll feature to gauge
interest over certain gems and styles that would
appeal to its customers. There are now 300 million daily Story users, and approximately one in five
organic Stories
from businesses leads to a direct
message. This growing feature of Instagram is perfect for product development.

Engaging with customers on a personal level, luxe.zen encourages custom pieces that leverage each
gemstone’s healing properties to support your
personal journey. “Sometimes someone’s custom
piece can spur an idea in my mind for a regular line

item”, Healey adds. “We’ll also chat with customers at trade shows and ask them questions about an item they are looking at”

Whatever your mantra may be, luxe.zen has a piece to support you in your journey to self-love and light. “I know so much of their story because they tell me that they, themselves, or their friend are going through this thing and they ask what I would recommend,” Healey said in a recent interview with Cameron Klapwuk for The Community Edition.

Lessons for Others

Customer feedback is a key part of product
development and design, both before and after any transactions have taken place. Using Instagram
stories is an effective way to engage with your
audience, offering a high rate of direct messaging. In luxe.zen’s case, the connection with its customers’ journeys to wellness has earned them Gold ranking for Favourite Jewellery Store in the 2018 Record Reader Awards.

Organization: luxe.zen
Industry: Online Retail
Name of Organization Contact: Sarah Healey, Principal Designer

Authored by: Amber M

If you have concerns as to the accuracy of anything posted on this site, please send your concerns to Peter Carr, Program Director, Social Media for Business Performance.


References

Carr, P. (2018). Product Development and Design Week 4 Course Content Material. Retrieved October 28 from https://learn.uwaterloo.ca/content/enforced/395788-CE-SMBP100_001_cel_1189T1191/lecture-content/weeks/week4/week4.html?ou=395788

Healey, Sarah (2017) Musings from a Millennial “Girlboss” in the “Burn Phase”: Lessons in self-care and 10x’ing Retrieved October 28 from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/musings-from-millenial-girlboss-burn-phase-lessons-self-care-healey/

Healey, Sarah (2018, October 29) Email

Hilder, Rosie (2018) A designer’s guide to Instagram Stories Retrieved October 28 from https://www.creativebloq.com/features/a-designers-guide-to-instagram-stories

Klapwyk, Cameron (2018) The Side Hustle: Sarah Healey and Luxe.Zen Retrieved October 28 from https://communityedition.ca/the-side-hustle-sarah-healey-and-luxe-zen/

luxe.zen Retrieved October 28 from https://www.luxezen.ca/ and https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/luxezen

Record Reader Awards Retrieved October 29 from https://readerawards.therecord.com/2018/05/shopping/favourite-jewellery-store

Smith, Kit (2016) How to Use Social Media for New Product Development Research Retrieved October 29 from https://www.brandwatch.com/blog/new-product-development-research/

Vaughan, Pamela (2012) How Savvy Marketers Harness Social Data for Product Development Retrieved October 28 from https://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/32701/How-Savvy-Marketers-Harness-Social-Data-for-Product-Development.aspx