Oh, Vow!
When asked about their fledgling engagement ring finder app, The Vow, which they debuted in October 2012, Simon and Nelly Cohen joke that the cost of creating it amounted to their life savings. Happily for the longtime married couple—co-owners of Cherie Dori and the Diadori bridal lines—their nest egg seems to have been well-spent. At press time, The Vow ranked No. 48 in Apple’s Top Free Lifestyle Apps—the single most popular diamond, jewelry, and ring-finder app, ahead of Blue Nile, Tiffany & Co., and even Cartier.
“Three to four thousand people a day download it,” says Simon proudly.
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| Scrolling through The Vow on an iPad | |
The Vow allows users to survey 120 Diadori bridal engagement SKUs in 3-D, while a GPS feature locates the closest of 350 participating retailers. “We’re not in the middle,” says Simon. Additionally, Diadori rewards users for sharing the app and helping to generate new leads—aka potential ring buyers—by giving points for things like posting pics of favorites to Facebook. The points eventually add up to a prize, such as a cultured pearl necklace. “All we do is uplift the brand of the store [carrying our pieces],” explains Simon.
The Cohens invested in the app after reading research showing that consumers prefer shopping on apps to websites. (Shoppers like the speed and convenience of mobile apps, reports a March study from Compuware.) Now, the company has a waitlist of retailers that want to be involved. “We are combining both worlds,” Simon says. “Cyber-shopping and stores.”