Taylor & Hart’s CEO on how retailers can disrupt fragmented markets

Nikolay Piriankov, CEO of bespoke jeweller Taylor & Hart, has always known how to seize an opportunity. From launching entrepreneurial ventures in his high school days to leading an innovative jewellery company, his story is one of hustle, risk, and reinvention. Here, Piriankov reflects on his early entrepreneurial spirit, the challenges of the highly fragmented jewellery market, and why focusing solely on returns can stunt innovation.

For Piriankov, entrepreneurial grit was instilled early in life. Growing up in South Africa, he witnessed his immigrant parents embody the ‘hustle’ mentality out of sheer necessity. “I always think of them as entrepreneurs. They don’t associate themselves as entrepreneurs,” says Piriankov. “But the immigrant hustle is very entrepreneurial. They’re always on some gig or another. For them, it was survival.”

This hands-on exposure to enterprise—whether it was helping his father sell pancakes on weekends or learning digital marketing as a teenager—laid the groundwork for what was to come. He explains, “I grew up in a family where both my parents were constantly doing 5 or 6 different things… it wasn’t like, ‘Oh, I’m going to be an entrepreneur’. This is just what people did.”

Yet, for all his natural inclination toward entrepreneurship, Piriankov is quick to challenge the idea that retail leaders are exclusively born, not made. “There’s always this whole argument: are entrepreneurs born or made? I think there’s aspects of an entrepreneur that are born and aspects that are made.” For him, a combination of innate resilience—“something around how you deal with stress… it’s biological”—and hard-won experience created the leader he is today.

His journey took a pivotal turn while at university in Manchester, where his friend David, already working in South Africa’s diamond trade, pitched him an idea: to launch an online engagement ring business. Piriankov recalls, “David came on a Euro trip towards the end of my degree… He was saying, ‘Nick, I can see you doing all kinds of crazy stuff online, and I’m running this diamond business… Maybe there’s an opportunity to work together.’” The seed for Taylor & Hart was planted.

Redefining Jewellery in a Fragmented Market

Taylor & Hart’s founding principle was simple yet revolutionary: create bespoke engagement rings that are both affordable and accessible. In an industry where tradition reigns, Piriankov saw an opportunity to disrupt the status quo with technology. “We listen to customers first and then design a product that matches their life story, their relationship as a couple, their aesthetic preferences,” he explains.

What differentiates Taylor & Hart, he says, is a marriage of emotional connection and technology. “We are enabled by technological developments in 3D design to do this… A bespoke ring design is not something that we came up with. It has existed, but it wasn’t very accessible because it was a very expensive process.” With rapid prototyping and CAD, Taylor & Hart offers custom pieces at price points comparable to off-the-shelf designs, bridging a gap that traditional retailers often miss.

Yet entering the jewellery market, with its established players like Tiffany and Cartier, was not without its hurdles. “The jewellery market… it’s a bit like fashion. It is highly fragmented. There are so many brands,” he notes, identifying a key challenge: standing out. “In a market that’s so busy, it’s crucial to have very distinct, clear messaging on your value proposition.”

Piriankov admits that in Taylor & Hart’s early days, this messaging wasn’t as sharp as it could have been. “Most visitors click around the website for a couple of seconds… You’ve got a very short amount of time to explain what you do. And I think we’re getting better at it now, but in our early days, we didn’t immediately understand how crucial it is to have very distinct, clear messaging.”

The Return Dilemma: Rethinking Retail Priorities

When asked about returns—a thorny topic for many retailers—Piriankov offers an unconventional perspective. While Taylor & Hart enjoys a remarkably low return rate (“about 2%”), he questions whether this is always a positive indicator. “Someone said to me, ‘If your return rate was higher, how much higher would your growth rate be as a business?’”

He explains that prioritizing an ultra-low return rate can inadvertently introduce friction into the buying process. “Part of reducing the return rate is putting in a lot of moments of friction… And that friction is often helpful. It stops the customer from buying and makes them make it a considered purchase.”

But there is also an opportunity cost. Piriankov points out, “It does present an interesting challenge… How do you reduce friction, which might lead to more returns, but ultimately helps the business grow?” In categories beyond engagement rings—like jewellery—Taylor & Hart may embrace this dynamic more fully. “We may be quite happy to get people to take a guess… knowing that the return rate might be 10%… but knowing that the other 90% was a growing number of people who were happy to take a guess.”

The Future of Taylor & Hart: Customer-Centric Innovation

At the heart of Taylor & Hart’s success lies an unwavering focus on its customers. Piriankov believes that deep customer insights are a startup’s greatest advantage. “The key that you need to build around is deep customer insights… Larger competitors can’t have that same level of insight because they have much larger markets to serve.”

He advocates for an approach that starts with a “white glove service”—something personal and high-touch that doesn’t necessarily scale—and then automates only where it makes sense. “Doing things that don’t scale, I think, is very important initially, and then applying a creative, innovative approach to start standardising some of those processes.”

Innovation, for Taylor & Hart, also means embracing AI. Piriankov is enthusiastic about its potential to enhance both customer experience and internal operations. “Every single person in the business could benefit from AI… But then there’s this whole concept of design and helping customers get creative. AI can help with brainstorming, ideation… but you still need an expert who understands how an engagement ring gets made to produce a ring that will stand the test of time.”

Looking Ahead: A Journey, Not a Destination

The jewellery market continues to evolve, shaped by forces like lab-grown diamonds and shifting consumer expectations. Piriankov acknowledges the challenges: “The cost of living crisis, specifically in the UK… has created price pressure. Instead of focusing on discounting, what we’ve accepted is that the average order value might be lower because people spend less on the product.”

Still, his vision for Taylor & Hart remains ambitious. With engagement rings as their anchor, the company is methodically expanding into adjacent categories like wedding bands and fine jewellery—always guided by customer feedback. “Being customer centric is the key… The absolute best shopping experience hasn’t been designed yet, and we’re on the journey of designing it.”

For Piriankov, building a business is never about reaching a fixed destination. It’s about learning, adapting, and relentlessly innovating. As he puts it, “We don’t obsess about what competitors are doing. We think the best shopping experience hasn’t been created yet, and we’re on the journey to designing it.”