Imagine you’ve got a big presentation to give, and you want to look your best. You’ve got the perfect suit and blouse, but you want a distinctive piece of jewelry that complements your outfit without being distracting. You are on a budget, and you want something elegant, sophisticated and trendy, but you don’t have time to shop.

Do you borrow a necklace and earrings from a friend or head to the mall to find the perfect pieces? Neither! Thanks to jewelry subscription box service Rocksbox, you can enjoy an unlimited selection of designer jewelry for just $19 a month without ever leaving your home.

Rocksbox is born

The genius idea for this premium jewelry subscription box service started in 2012 with co-founder and CEO Meaghan Rose. She had been lending pieces online from her own personal jewelry collection. This experience showed her that women needed more jewelry shopping options.

With experience in product innovation and go-to-market social media strategy for major retail brands, Rose decided to meet that need and Rocksbox was born. Rocksbox became an opportunity for women to get great jewelry at an affordable price without having to go shopping and to discover new designer jewelry they might not otherwise have known about.

Rocksbox shares their success secrets

Associate marketing manager Maeve Ricaurte spent time talking with us to share the Rocksbox story.

Subscription Insider: Tell us about your core product.

Maeve Ricaurte: Rocksbox offers designer jewelry rental for $19 a month. The three-piece sets are curated by our stylists, and the boxes average $200 each in value. We also offer gift memberships for 3, 6 or 12 months, and we sell individual pieces and featured sets. Members can purchase any or all of the pieces in their personally curated, three-piece selection, or swap them out for a new three-piece set at any time.

When they sign up, members receive three pieces of jewelry in pristine, sanitized, ready-to-wear condition. Each piece is hand-selected based on a member’s style preferences and specific requests. Members can wear the pieces as much as they want, and purchase them as a set, individually, or return them to get another set to wear.

Members can return the pieces any time to get three new pieces, so jewelry access is unlimited. The cost is $19 a month no matter how many sets of jewelry a member wears and returns each month. Shipping is free and pre-paid both ways, and Rocksbox packages will fit in your mailbox.

If a member falls in love with any item, she can keep the item and she will automatically be billed for it at the discounted member price, or she can click the “buy now” button on the feedback page to indicate she’s making a purchase.

Featured Designers for Rocksbox include Gorjana, CC Skye, House of Harlow 1960, Jenny Bird, Jules Smith, Kendra Scott, Loren Hope, Margaret Elizabeth and more.

SI: Who is your target audience?

MR: Our target customer is female, but anyone who wears jewelry would find value in a Rocksbox membership. Our customers are typically women in their mid-20s to mid-40s with very busy schedules. They often don’t have time to shop for themselves, except for online using their mobile devices, so having a curated jewelry selection delivered to their door is ideal for their lifestyle.

SI: What was your 2015 holiday season like? Did you see any growth?

MR: Jewelry Is one of the most popular gift offers, but gift givers often have trouble nailing the right styles – which makes Rocksbox the perfect gift. We saw a lot of our customers buying Rocksbox for their family and friends in the 2015 holiday season.

SI: How did you handle the sales volume during the holidays?

MR: We work with Recurly who was flexible and very helpful. This allowed us to focus on marketing and fulfilling the gift orders instead of payment processing.

SI: Do members set up personal profiles or tell you their style preferences?

MR: Every new member fills out a style survey as part of their sign-up process. We ask members what types of jewelry they are comfortable wearing, what styles they’d like to explore, and what events they’re attending. We try to learn about their lifestyle and how jewelry fits into it. Our stylists curate the customer’s set based on that survey as well as their wishlist.

[Editor’s note: Rockbox keeps track of any member allergies to different materials, so they can be sure not to send those pieces to members.

SI: Do members have input about what items go into their subscription box? Can they choose specific brands or types of products, or does everyone get the same thing?

MR: Every single set to our members is uniquely styled for her. Customers can add items to their wishlist on the Rocksbox website and also provide feedback on what’s in their box.

SI: Can members skip a month or put their membership on hold? Can they cancel their membership?

MR: Yes, members can put their membership on hold if they are moving or traveling, and they cancel at any time.

SI: Do you guarantee your products

MR: Yes! Customers can send back their box as early as the same day they receive it if they don’t like the selection, and we’ll replace an item if it is damaged during shipping or if it is in any way unsatisfactory.

SI: Do you offer any loyalty programs?

MR: Yes. Every month members get $10 of Shine Spend to put toward the purchase of jewelry in their box. That $10 expires each month, so it doesn’t carry over. Members also get $25 in Forever Spend for every customer referral they give, and that does carry over and can be used at any time. Shine Spend and Forever Spend cannot be used to discount the monthly membership fee, but they can be used toward purchases.

SI: From the customer’s perspective, what is the benefit to subscribing to a subscription box like Rocksbox?

MR: With Rocksbox, Customers get to wear new styles completely personalized for them without accumulating clutter. At only $19/month, it’s a fantastic way to discover styles that our customers wouldn’t typically pick out for themselves. Lastly, who does not love that surprise and delight moment of the ribbon wrapped box in your mail box!

SI: From a company perspective, how is the subscription model advantageous for Rocksbox?

MR: Rocksbox is all about unlimited access to high-quality jewelry without the clutter and the subscription model really allows us to continuously surprise & delight our customers.

SI: How have you seen the subscription box industry change since Rocksbox entered the market?

MR: We’ve seen tremendous growth in the subscription box industry. It is easier than ever to sign up for a lot of subscriptions. We are learning from each other and trying things out. The biggest change has been the growth and that people are more accepting of subscriptions, how they work and how they can be tailored for a more individual experience.

SI: What changes do you anticipate for the industry in 2016?

MR: I see the subscription model becoming better known and accepted. It will trickle out from metro areas like San Francisco where we’re based to smaller areas that are not as well known. Subscription boxes will also go beyond music, food and fashion, and they’ll become more innovative. The business model removes barriers to entry and allows for more flexibility and quicker testing.

SI: What marketing tactics have been the most advantageous for Rocksbox?

MR: Instagram has been great for us, especially with the #wishlist hashtag! We had 7,000 followers at the end of 2014, and now we’re at 83,000. The fashion blogger and Instagram communities are amazing! Social media is a great way to share content and stay connected with our customers. Word of mouth has been a big part of our growth so far, but there is still a lot of room for people to discover us.

You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

Lessons learned along the way

SI: Can you share some lessons you learned since you started four years ago?

MR: Here are a few lessons we’ve learned:

• Social media is a great way to engage with customers.
• Be nimble.
• There are always things to discover when we meet our members.
• We wish we could do more “meet the stylist” events.

Advice for subscription box companies entering the market?

SI: What does a subscription box company like yours need to be successful?

MR: You’ve got to have great people behind you who are nimble, flexible and responsive to what customers need. Our members expect us to tailor our product to their needs, and we love doing it. We are attuned to our customers. A successful company needs to be.

SI: If a company is looking to enter the subscription box industry, what advice can you offer?

MR: You must remember how important your members are, and you need to treat them really well. We see people sharing style ideas online all the time, so our product is a communal thing. A lot of women open their Rocksboxes at work together and compare pieces. Anything you can do to foster that community is helpful.

Stay uber-focused on the customer, and use that to drive your vision for the customer experience. Make sure there is an underlying, recurring need that you’re meeting. Otherwise, it’s very hard to stay relevant and build a long-term, high retention relationship with your customer.

Never lose sight of the emotion that you want your customer to feel when they interact with you.