Jeweller adopts m-commerce strategy.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011 - 09:59 by Sarah Collinson

Scottish jewellers ROX have become one of the UK's first firms of its kind to create a mobile website that smartphone users can access whilst on the go, to encourage the buying of their precious items via safe shopping online.

The company has spent around £25,000 in the creation of the m-commerce outlet just 10 months after plunging £50,000 into refreshing its full desktop site, which proved to be a worthwhile investment.

ROX is hoping that it will increase traffic to its site by 10 per cent now that consumers with mobiles can browse the platform without having to constantly zoom in and out or losing the benefits available only when viewing from a desktop computer.

It was reported this month that over the last three months, m-commerce sales have increased by around 216 per cent in the UK, so companies large and small are starting to pay attention and look for new ways to harness the increased consumer usage of smartphones for safe shopping online.

ROX spokesperson, Kyron Keogh, said that online sales were currently responsible for 15 per cent of the firm's revenues each year and he explained that this was part of the motivation for making the move to a mobile-friendly retail platform.

ROX has been innovating with its online services for several years and the company has won several awards, including the Small/Medium Online Retailer of the Year 2010, to name but one.

Mr Keogh said that he was pleased to see his firm gaining recognition for its eager use of e-commerce platforms in the quest for expansion and growth.

As well as targeting mobile customers with a bespoke site, ROX has been leveraging social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook to keep people up to date with its products and services.