“We see ourselves as a tech company that makes diamonds”
Chupi Sweetman founded her eponymous jewellery business Chupi at her kitchen table in 2013. Today, it has 45 staff, a flagship store in Dublin, and is exporting to 67 countries through its growing online platform. Within five years, Sweetman wants to double her staff numbers to 100 and open outlets in New York and London. In this podcast with Ian Kehoe, Sweetman talks about how she is creating a global brand from Dublin, and why Brexit prompted the company to pivot away from wholesale to a direct-to-consumer model. Sweetman argues that the future of retail is digital and that this has been accelerated by Covid-19. Having invested heavily in technology, she outlines how the company is embracing augmented reality and virtual reality to help provide customers with a better online shopping experience.
