Designing a Business Model for Iran’s Gift Gold and Jewelry Industry Using the Blue Ocean Transformation Approach

Abstract

The present study aimed to design and validate an innovative business model for Iran’s gift gold and jewelry industry using the Blue Ocean Transformation approach, with emphasis on identifying customer and noncustomer pain points and reconstructing competitive market factors. This study employed a qualitative, interpretive, inductive, developmental, and exploratory-descriptive design. Participants were selected through purposive judgmental sampling and consisted of 15 customers, noncustomers, and experts from the gold and jewelry industry. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews and two focus-group sessions. Interviews continued until data saturation was achieved. The data were analyzed using a six-stage thematic analysis process. The extracted themes were then integrated with the Eliminate-Reduce-Raise-Create framework, the three tiers of noncustomers, the Strategy Canvas, and the Business Model Canvas. Cohen’s kappa was κ = 0.874, indicating a high level of inter-coder agreement. The analysis yielded 54 initial codes and 13 subthemes. The main transformation domains included pricing and making-charge transparency, lightweight and minimalist design, premium packaging and unboxing experience, digital trust and secure logistics, fair buyback and micro-investment value, and credit-based financing. Cohen’s kappa was 87.4%, indicating high inter-coder agreement. The Blue Ocean analysis showed that the proposed model should reduce reliance on costly physical decoration, opaque making-charge formulas, and traditional intermediaries, while increasing invoice transparency, sub-1-gram products, credit purchasing, premium packaging, insured delivery, and hybrid gift-investment products. The proposed model indicates that transformation of Iran’s gift gold and jewelry industry requires a shift from a traditional weight-centered and store-based logic toward a transparent, digital, experience-oriented, and value-centered ecosystem capable of serving both existing customers and previously untapped noncustomer demand.