Builds on initial e-commerce investment to roll site out into 18 international geographies within one year

21DIAMONDS has used hybris Commerce Accelerator to drive its international expansion online across 18 international geographies in 2012.

The online retailer, which specialises in selling handcrafted jewellery, is growing its e-commerce business following the success of its first online store, which was launched using hybris software in 2011.

Since then it has expanded its e-commerce operations to cover 12 countries in Europe (Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and the UK), as well as the USA, Brazil, Russia, India and Australia.

Matching online experience to quality

In 2011, with the website as its only retail channel, 21DIAMONDS wanted to develop an online store that offered the luxury and service of a well-appointed boutique, as well as the functionality of a world-class online shopping experience. In addition, it had less than 12 weeks to launch the store in time for the Christmas gift season.

Given the aggressive launch schedule, 21DIAMONDS uses the hybris Commerce Accelerator to quickly build and maintain a feature rich e-commerce site, with integrated web, order management, and call centre capabilities.

Speeding up time to market

“We attach great importance to the art of German jewellery making,” said Emanual Schleussinger, 21DIAMONDS chief technology officer. “Casting, polishing, and setting are all done by highly skilled professionals and each piece of jewellery must be verified for quality and authenticity before being shipped.

“Our online store needed to reflect this superior level of quality and care. We used 100% of the hybris Commerce Accelerator framework which really speeded implementation and simply took care of a lot of the details for us,” Schleussinger added. “This allowed 21DIAMONDS to focus on our core business – selling high-quality, custom jewellery.”

The Accelerator tools also afforded 21DIAMONDS rapid entry into new global markets with its built-in support for multiple currencies and languages, in support of its plans for an aggressive international expansion.