Luxury online jeweller Astley Clarke is to relaunch its website this autumn as part of its plan to become the world’s leading online jewellery boutique.
The site is scheduled to go live in September, in time for the Christmas peak, using a platform provided by e-commerce supplier Snow Valley.
The business is experiencing “very positive sales growth”, according to Astley Clarke operations director Vicky Lovell, but she hopes for a 10 per cent uplift in conversions once the site relaunches.
Lovell said that the new site is being designed to differentiate the retailer. In particular, the search and navigation will be improved to allow customers to search more easily within Astley Clarke’s 1,500-item catalogue and highlight specific product ranges.
She said: “We want to inspire new customers and allow them to discover ranges. Search and navigation will be much more intuitive, and we will be increasing the content so customers can engage with the brand.”
Lovell added that Astley Clarke would like to significantly extend the number of products offered on its site, which is made up of well-known and quirky jewellery brands, as well as its own-brand range. Prices start at around £80, although she admitted that entry-level pieces can be quite difficult to find.
Other functionality being considered to make the new site more useful includes wishlists, a date reminder service and previews of new collections.
Astley Clarke spent eight months selecting a new platform for its website, and Lovell said that Snow Valley was chosen because of the bespoke technology it could deliver, the strength of its creative team and the control the retailer would have over its site in future.
Around 40 per cent of the development work carried out by Snow Valley will be bespoke to Astley Clarke. The retailer will conduct extensive user acceptance testing before the site fully relaunches, and Lovell said that both existing customers and non-customers would be asked for their views.
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