Los Angeles, CA, Jan. 08, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reign Sapphire Corp. (OTCQB: RGNP) ("Reign" or the "Company"), a direct-to-consumer, custom and branded jewelry company, is pleased to provide a shareholder update discussing highlights of 2017.
Overview
In 2017, management focused primarily on integrating its internal fulfillment, customer service and marketing system and on streamlining operations as discussed in our presentation posted on our corporate website.
- Reign Sapphire Corporation owns and operates three divisions:
- Reign Brands featuring four unique, direct-to-consumer, niche brands, each with increasing social media followings, one of the KPI's central to our growth:
- Reign Sapphires: Ethically produced, millennial targeted sapphire jewelry.
- Coordinates Collection: Custom jewelry, inscribed with location coordinates commemorating life's special moments.
- Le Bloc: Classic customized jewelry.
- ION Collection by Jen Selter athleisure jewelry brand.
- Reign Brands featuring four unique, direct-to-consumer, niche brands, each with increasing social media followings, one of the KPI's central to our growth:
- Reign Ventures, the Company's joint venture platform for investment and development of jewelry technology related products.
- Reign Blockchain to authenticate Sapphires as conflict-free and ReignCoins, Reign’s cryptocurrency and blockchain-based loyalty program.
2017 Accomplishments
Much of our efforts in 2017 have focused on integrating our brands into our centralized operations to achieve scale and allow greater ROI on marketing and advertising, key drivers, due to our direct-to-consumer model.
Marketing channels currently used in varying degrees include:
- Affiliates - Commission based sales
- Influencers - Celebrity promotion & gifting
- Email - Personalized campaigns & promotions
- Digital advertising - Keyword purchases, sponsored ads
- Social Media Marketing
- Events and PR - Publicity & media outreach
A key factor in our sales success is the growth of our social media following which is now over 200,000 Facebook and Instagram followers across our brands.
We are also seeing improving ROI in email campaigns and digital advertising, which is critical due to their importance in our overall marketing plan.
Strategic Marketing Optimization
We also sought to further refine our marketing strategy in order to accelerate sales growth and restructure our sales strategy to improve profitability.
In 2017, we launched an improved reseller program intended to boost profit margins by eliminating inventory requirements on the part of our resellers.
We deployed Just in Time ("JIT") supply and delivery with a point-of-sale app where the customer can create, visualize and order the customized product at the reseller's location, eliminating the need for local inventory storage.
Other strategic marketing initiatives in 2017 included Reign Sapphires' entry into the $15B bridal jewelry market and formalization of our growing corporate gifts business into a separate division and expansion into the UK and European markets.
We are confident that recently announced ReignCoins, Reign’s cryptocurrency and blockchain-based loyalty program, will provide incentive for repeat business and assist in sales growth together with our ability to now accept Bitcoin as a payment method via Bitpay.
2017 Highlights
We believe the optimizations to marketing applied in 2017 are beginning to take effect.
2017 revenues, while declining on a year-over-year basis due mainly to elimination of lower margin sales channels, are starting to resume growth and gross margins improved 11% YoY which we believe is an indication of traction from the modifications we have made to marketing strategy as well as new sales initiatives.
2017 Initiatives
As a special "Thank You" to Reign Sapphire Corporation's shareholders, we now offer shareholders year-round pricing privilege of 25% off products company wide. Shareholders owning at least 1,000 shares (ticker OTCQB:RGNP) can call in to receive a discount code exclusively for shareholders. Shareholders can also opt-in to receive pre-release notifications of new and limited edition collections.
We are especially optimistic about the potential for recently launched ION Collection by Jen Selter, a product initiative targeting the growing athleisure jewelry market, one we have determined to be untapped by our current initiatives and one we feel has significant potential to expand sales.
The establishment of Reign Blockchain to authenticate Sapphires as conflict-free, enhances our ability to guarantee the authenticity of our products and the ethical and sustainable nature of our supply chain. Entries on the digital record can include attributes for each sapphire including the color, carat, and certificate number.
Advisory Board
We are fortunate to have an expert advisory board especially active in helping guide the company's business and financial success. In addition to legal and corporate financial expertise represented by the board, in 2017 we were able to gain important specialization with the addition of Thierry Chaunu, a luxury goods executive with prior senior management roles at Chopard, Christofle and Cartier, and Pinny Gwinisch, founder of Ice.com and adjunct professor at McGill and Rutgers University.
Summary
Initiatives in 2017 have been primarily operational in nature and are starting now to take effect as demonstrated by financial performance and a number of improving sales and marketing metrics.
Due to the effects of these and other planned initiatives, we anticipate continued improvement in sales and profitability in 2018.
We welcome inquiries from shareholders and members of the investment community. info@reignsc.com or (213) 457-3772.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the U.S. federal securities laws, which statements may include information regarding the plans, intentions, expectations, future financial performance, or future operating performance of Reign Sapphire Corporation ("Reign" or the "Company"). Forward-looking statements are based on the expectations, estimates, or projections of the Company's management as of the date of this press release. Although Reign's management believes these expectations, estimates, or projections to be reasonable as of the date of this presentation, forward-looking statements are inherently subject to significant business risks, economic and competitive uncertainties, or other contingencies, which could cause the Company's actual results or performance to differ materially from what may be expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause Reign's actual results or performance to differ materially from the forward-looking statements include those set forth in the "Risk Factors" sections in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the risks set forth in the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016, which is available for viewing on the SEC's EDGAR website. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release and, except as required by law, Reign specifically disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future.