Since the pandemic, businesses have been adapting to a new normal and the internet now serves as the most vital platform for the contemporary marketplace. For Wit Sudjaiampun, the fourth-generation heir of a diamond wholesale business and founder of Above Diamond, the online space is the future regardless of COVID-19.
Wit Sudjaiampun
A BBA graduate of Thammasat University, Wit’s ambition started even before he entered university. “I’ve always wanted a brand of my own,” he explains. “I started my first business when I was in high school and did my own webpage from scratch.” Like many of his peers, Wit wasn’t interested in carrying the torch of the family business. After venturing into different industries like food and nutrition in the past, he finally decided to start his own diamond business. “I chose to start a business closer to home so that I wouldn’t have to start from scratch as I’ve done before,” he says.
A tech-savvy innovator, Wit describes himself as “crazy enough to follow intuition to do something radical nobody’s dare to do before.” Luxury retailers still question whether online platforms are really suitable for their products, which rely on emotional purchasing. Gemstone buyers require the physical experience with the product to decide to pay a fortune for a piece of stone. “Even though we’ve invested quite heavily on making the online catalogue with magnified, three-dimensional studio photos of the diamonds, a lot of my customers still ask to see the real stone.”Â
While customers may not be ready to shop their jewels online yet, Wit is sure his offer will be appreciated in the near future. “It is simply a matter of consumer habit to want to see the actual diamond before paying, but consumer behaviour will eventually change,” the jeweller says confidently. As Wit lists out the benefits in following this business model, he tells us how it is possible for him to offer his clients a better deal. “We catalogue the diamonds on our online database where buyers can access anytime and anywhere. We do not need to stock these stones in our store and that saves a lot of costs.”
