Tell us about yourself and your background.
I am an entrepreneur and disruptive influencer. I am the CEO & Founder of LuxGiftsnGoods.com. Founded in Nashville, Tennessee in 2016, LuxGiftsnGoods.com has grown to 4,000+ offerings and 100+ brands whose unique, luxury items for home, women, men, baby and pets are shipped direct to you with easy shopping at your fingertips. Recent expansions have included numerous, tasty and scrumptious gourmet food offerings and a wide variety of unique and distinctive jewelry. Luxury travel options for private jet charter and Princess Cruises are also offered.
I studied law in Nashville, Tennessee USA for upwards of two decades and have acted as a university professor with several American universities teaching business law and related topics to graduate and undergraduate students. I have also enjoyed a career as a fully licensed real estate broker in Nashville, Tennessee Metro and am a formerly licensed architect prior to attending law school.
Why did you create LuxGiftsnGoods.com?
Two events precipitated me creating LuxGiftsnGoods.com. I had been an ebay power seller for some years, essentially selling things that I or others no longer wanted. Also, my mother passed after prolonged illness in 2016. She was incredibly sick the prior year, and I really had to begin again. I wanted to finally do something for myself that reflected my dreams and ambitions. Prior to having my own company, I was legal counsel to many businesses over the years in the Nashville, Tennessee Metro area.
Why did you decide to enter the luxury market?
I have been fortunate to travel to 50 countries. I really admire unique and long standing retailers like Harrods in London, KaDaWe in Berlin and Mitsukoshi in Tokyo, as well as the flagship of the Nieman-Marcus Group, Bergdorf Goodman in New York. All of these stores have some items that are what I consider to be accessible luxury that most anyone can afford, and then there are the higher end, aspirational items that someone may work a lifetime to acquire such as a time piece, luxury bag or unique piece of jewelry.
What is your biggest success as a company?
We are standing the test of time and evolving with the times. We have outlasted a number of competitors and also a number of our vendors. There are many American brands such as Sears, Montgomery Ward, Burdines and the like that people remember but are being quickly forgotten. Lasting through economic and life storms such as an unanticipated world-wide pandemic really test a business. I would liken being an entrepreneur and business owner to surfing. Some of the time you get big waves that you have to navigate that came out of nowhere. Other times there are calm seas, and it is business as usual and smooth sailing ahead.
Are there any challenges you have experienced whilst growing the company/how you have overcome them?
Supply chains during the Covid pandemic were a major problem, particularly with Amazon and Wal-Mart having such a huge portion of the American market. The expectation is that an item will arrive in 2-3 days max. During the pandemic, that could stretch to 2-3 months. American consumers are often not willing to wait. I did find that when I would explain and keep communication open, the orders would stay placed and open as long as I had an estitmated time of arrival that did not deviate much if any.
How have you innovated?
We are embracing artificial intelligence in as many ways as possible including assisting with customer service and content creation. Still, there is no replacement, nor will there ever be, for human creativity that can produce content and innovation that a machine-based system will never do.
How do you choose which brands/products to stock?
I am seeing over the past decade of working in e-commerce that just because someone WAS a great vendor/ supplier that they may not always be. Moving forward LuxGiftsnGoods.com is only interested in working with vendors that provide the same high level of customer service that we strive to provide. Frankly, the American consumer is interested in a result and not an excuse. Lux desires to offer items that are unique, smaller batch or limited manufacture and from companies that are known for quality. We have altered our business model in the past year to embrace affiliate marketing partners that allow us to offer Villiers Private Jet Charter and Princess Cruises that were not previously offered. Affiliate partners also can offer clothing and shoes in a way that is much more efficient than we can do at present.
What are the current gifting trends?
Americans are more concerned about their physical health and longevity than ever before. I believe this is due to part advertising these sorts of products, part American media and part personal physician telling their patient that they must focus on their health. Anything that is organic, natural and focused on health and wellness with the data to back it up is a good bet moving forward. Also, anything that saves time or solves a problem is always a good offering.
What strategies do you use to keep customers coming back?
There are a lot of traditional retailers and online retailers, including specialty retailers who may be selling a very limited number of skus/offerings. LuxGiftsnGoods.com strives to continue to provide a very high level of customer service, consistent social media presence and recurring emails throughout the year. Some retailers just focus the bulk of their efforts during the October through December window when everyone is doing the same. I believe you have to continue to have your brand in front of customers even in the slower months like January and August.
Do you offer corporate gifting?
LuxGiftsnGoods.com offers corporate gifting, but this also depends on what we are offering that season and the client’s desires. We are not selling as many food items directly as in the earlier years, but we have affiliate partnerships to fill in any gaps.
What are the current trends in e-commerce/luxury gifting?
Customers are seeking a seamless and easy transaction more so than ever before. Anything that hinders this will hurt your e- business. Note also my comments before about the desire for natural, organic, healthy, small batch, and/ or wellness based products or anything that addresses a specific need and/ or saves time.
What are the most important things to consider when starting an e-commerce business?
Make sure that you have enough funding to scale your business, or you will have to accept paying as you go or going into personal debt. I would not recommend someone take on a great deal of personal debt given all the events outside of a business’ control such as pandemics, natural disasters, runaway inflation and ever-increasing shipping costs. You need to be able to sleep at night, enjoy having your business and taking pride in what you are doing. Money worries are often part of growth, but the business owner needs to decide what is a necessary expense and not someone coming at you constantly as an entrepreneur asking you to spend money on this or that without a known ROI -return on investment. Learn and practice how to say “No!”, but at times keep “maybe” and “yes” in your entrepreneurial vocabulary.
What do you see as the future of e-commerce?
Only the strongest, most innovative, leanest and creative will survive, as it should be in a capitalist economic system. Be prepared to evolve your business over years of time if you can survive and thrive for that long a period.
What advice do you give aspiring giftpreneurs?
I would really research companies that interest you and determine what they require to do business with you as a new entrepreneur venturing into their space. Some brands are so established that they really are averse to newcomers and don’t want to damage existing relationships with their established retailers. Also state your business policies clearly as e-commerce has an inordinate amount of returns, particularly with clothing/ shoes and items that are size-oriented.
What are your goals for LuxGiftsnGoods.com?
I am in my late 50s as of this January, and I desire to find a successor to take what I have created in LuxGiftsnGoods.com to the next level. Entrepreneurs need to know when to let their company go onward with a different captain steering the ship. I also would like to see LuxGiftsnGoods.com be in different countries where the middle classes are expanding and have more discretionary income. Our offerings are distributed in the United States presently. We also own petgiftsnmore.com domain that I really would like to see developed and built out in the coming years. Consumers will spend on their pets when they will not on themselves. Lastly, I would be open to acquisition where I am phased out as they new owners and managers phase in. I don’t think it is a great idea with most business transfers to just “toss the keys” to the new owner without some sort of transition period.
I also like to use the term “accessible luxury.” Much more of the world have access to their dreams than perhaps 20 years ago. E-commerce can deliver some of those same dreams to their doorsteps.
How can readers find out more about you & LuxGiftsnGoods.com?
LuxGiftsnGoods.com has a very well developed blog that profiles many of our brands and also has specific articles addressed at finding gifts for a particular client or occasion. Further, I would also recommend doing a Google search as LuxGiftsnGoods.com has left many internet footprints as we will have a presence on Instagram, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Facebook and Threads among other places including a number of past articles written about Lux in various media publications including Jetset, Angeleno, L.A. Confidential and Modern Luxury Beverly Hills. Anyone interested in reaching out to us can simply send an email to contactus@luxgiftsngoods.com.
