Argos has had a bit of a rough ride with the press recently but it’s not all bad news, that’s for sure.  Yes, sales are down by 6% on last year, but that’s not surprising with the prevailing economic conditions.  Positively, they are still leading the way when it comes to multi-channel expertise and leadership, with multi-channel sales continuing to grow.  News Salmon is pleased to hear, as we’ve been working with them since 2002 to help them deliver and support their website,  and most recently, to deliver their mobile optimised site.  

The latest figures show that multi-channel sales are now 46% of total sales.  Total sales from mobile shopping are now at 4%, (that’s about £2.6m per week), with total internet orders, including Check & Reserve comprising 33% of Argos’ total sales, that’s approximately £21m per week. The remaining 13% of sales classed as multi-channel are for products ordered in-store for home delivery or by telephone.

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Salmon have developed iPhone and Android apps for Halfords, extending their current mobile and multi-channel proposition.  The apps allow customers to shop, scan products and find their nearest store.

Mobile phone shoppers will receive a better online experience with the ability to research, locate and purchase products via the apps. The apps combine both web and app capabilities, providing Halfords with a cost effective solution and customers with a better online experience.

Jon Asbury, Halfords Channel Development Manager said: “We aim to give customers an even better online shopping experience through cutting edge technology. The apps are a natural progression from our successful mobile site. Customers will find the apps versatile, functional and easy to navigate.”

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** Update 28th June 2012** Useful post from Econsultancy here on why responsive design is good for Google and for site visitors.

Change happens more quickly than perhaps we might like when it comes to the web.  But one thing remains the same, customers demand the ultimate experience when they interact with your brand, whether on the web, in store, via their mobile phone or iPad.  As a website owner, designer or developer, this has its challenges. Can we continue to support each new device, input mode and browser with its own bespoke design and experience?  Surely this will become unmanageable and impractical as the number of devices increases, requiring endless new designs and resolutions.  So what’s the answer?

Responsive web design is one approach.  It suggests that the design and development need to respond to the user’s behaviour and environment based on screen size, platform and orientation.  By designing responsively you also take into consideration what might be just around the corner and let’s face it, there are  bound to be a number of new gadgets we need to cater for over the next few years without compromising on experience.

Practice responsive web design – Although responsive web design has been around for some years it is now coming into its own as the number of devices and different browsers are on the increase.  In the next few years it will become increasingly expensive if websites aren’t designed responsively.  How many different sites are you prepared to pay for?  For those retailers that want a distinctly different experience on the website or mobile then this may still be the answer, but not everybody will be able to afford this.

So what is responsive web design? Not to be confused with “fluid” designs, it’s when the layout and design of the website “responds” to the user’s device.  Instead of tailoring disconnected designs to the web, mobile or any other device, designs are treated as facets of the same experience.  If they are designed optimally using standards-based technologies like HTML5 and CSS3 they will be flexible enough and adaptable enough to cope with any device that renders them, be that a PC, iPhone, iPad, iPod or TV.

As a case in point, Salmon have introduced Halfords to this on their mobile site.  www.halfords.com.  When you view the product details page in both landscape and portrait on an iPhone or Android phone the components move around to make use of the available space, optimising the layout to changes in window size and device resolution.

Halfords also cleverly uses HTML5 - when customers enter personal information like an email, postal address or telephone number, the keypad automatically changes to provide customers with the relevant data needed such as an @ sign, full stop, letters or numbers, without being prompted.  To really see the benefits of responsive web design you need to view the same content on different devices, another good example is the website of designer Simon Collison.

Although designing responsively has huge possibilities allowing you to target devices and serve different crisper sites to each device, it is still in its infancy and isn’t without its challenges.  Take testing as an example.  No longer will you simply test the design on Internet Explorer or Firefox, but the iPhone, iPad, TV and whatever device is next will all need to be considered.

Designers will need to write much cleaner code and retailers will need to buy into the fact that some small compromise on design when viewing the site on Internet Explorer will in fact be worthwhile as they will be getting a future-proof design across all devices.

For more information on the concept of responsive web design, Ethan Marcotte wrote an article about the approach for A List Apart and another book worth reading is Hard-boiled Web Design by Andy Clarke.

Halfords and Salmon have been shortlisted in two categories at the awards including “Mobile Solution of the Year” and Multichannel Integration of the Year“.

Neil Stewart, Commercial Director at Salmon said, “To be shortlisted in two categories is an achievement in its own right.  Last year Halfords were “Highly Commended” at the awards for their multichannel approach, and this year we hope to go one better.  Halfords are continually investing in new technology to improve the online experience for their customers and have demonstrated this over the last year with the launch of two new offerings that make their solution more relevant to the way customers want to shop today.”

Other Salmon clients also hoping to pick up an award include:  Argos, Game Group, Pets at Home, Boots and Kiddicare.

To view the full shortlist go here.

Good luck to everyone.

Here’s a Salmon front-end authored post, that aims to highlight 10 important front-end considerations that should be made when developing mobile eCommerce solutions.

1. Make a beeline for the streamlined – With unpredictable 3G connectivity and download speed, it’s important that pages use as little bandwidth as possible to ensure the customer is not waiting ages for a page to load. The ways this can be achieved are:

• Use CSS3 properties instead of images - where possible use CSS3 properties instead of images, to reduce the number of images that need to be downloaded. We did this with the buttons on Halfords’ mobile optimised site. If the browser doesn’t support border-radius it gracefully degrades to square corners.
• Use image sprites – Use image sprites to reduce the number of HTTP requests.  Reducing the number of HTTP requests can make a web page load much faster, and we all know that when it comes to enterprise eCommerce online revenue – every millisecond counts. Further to this, WDL [Web Design Ledger] has a useful how-to Sprite guide)
• Optimize your images - Use 8-bit PNGs over GIFs to reduce the file size.
• Avoid inline JavaScript and CSS – Developers should avoid inline JavaScript and CSS as much as possible, as this increases the size of the HTML file, and thus could prevent it from being cached by the browser. Instead, keep your JavaScript and CSS in an external file.

2. Do not rely on JavaScript – Not all mobile devices (currently) support JavaScript, so allow users to navigate your mobile site without it, and only use it to enhance the user experience. On Halfords’ mobile optimised site (more about the launch of this solution can be found here), our main use of JavaScript was for showing and hiding the product description and customer reviews on the Product Details pages – so as to reduce the amount of scrolling required to get to the bottom of the page.

3. Keep it semantic – If your HTML is structured semantically, any users of older devices with little, if any CSS support, will still be able to use your site.

4. Get both ‘Size’ and ‘Spacing’ correct – With different mobile devices offering different ways of navigating a web page (touchscreen, trackball, directional pad, etc.), it’s essential that all users have an easy time clicking/selecting the buttons and links they want. This means ensuring click-able items are both ‘big’ enough and that there is enough ‘space’ between links to reduce the likelihood of a customer clicking on the wrong link. This can be seen in the header on Halfords’ mobile site and in the lists of products and categories.  Also bear in mind that a top / down approach to the layout (as opposed to top/down & across) is more usable.

5. Make forms as easy to fill out as possible. Completing forms is arduous and difficult on mobile devices. This means reducing the number of fields to what is absolutely essential is worth debating. But also ensure that the customer can easily see the label of the field they are on if the mobile device automatically zooms in on the current field. We were able to achieve this on Halfords’ mobile site by placing the labels above their respective fields. We also made use of the new tel and email HTML5 input types to provide (on supporting devices) users with an onscreen keyboard specific to that type of data.

6. Liquefy your layout – With each device having its own screen resolution, some of which allow you to change orientation from portrait to landscape, it’s important that your pages not only work in the space available, but also take advantage of any extra space available after an orientation toggle.

7. Remember ‘Designing for mobile’ isn’t the same as ‘Designing for mobile phones‘ - Mobile phones, and in particular smart-phones, are rapidly becoming mainstream gadgets.  But that’s half the story.  Consider other mobile and pervasive devices as part of your mobile strategy. The iPad is already popular but new Android powered tablets such as the Motorola Zoom (which was hailed as 2011′s must have gadget – see Engadgets Best of CES2011 post) raise the mobility stakes considerably higher. We haven’t scratched the surface of where in-store pervasive devices are going in 2011 and beyond either.

8. Consider providing telephone assistance every step of the way – We all make mistakes or have questions when buying items online.  As FAQ’s or very detailed searches are harder to make and drill into on a mobile device, consider a regular ‘Click-to-Call’ call-out as part of the page design, or a ‘Find your Nearest Store’ capability, in particular if you have already integrated your sales channels effectively.

9. (Re)Consider ‘font’ and ‘colour’ – Because phones are used in areas where laptops and PC’s are not (in highly reflective or poorly lit circumstances, perhaps), be aware that contrast is an important consideration to make. Additionally bear in mind that customers ‘scan-read’ heavily on mobile phones, so avoid upper case (WHICH, BASED ON RESEARCH FINDINGS IS HARDER TO READ) wherever possible, but particularly on product details pages or during the check-out process.

10. Think ‘Cross-Channel’ – Despite the fact we’d all like to close a sales immediately via mobile devices, chances are its not going to happen all of the time.  This can be for many reasons, most notably because consumer confidence in mobile payment is still low and because the mobile channel is simply a single component of a complex cross-channel engagement cycle.  As a result you should make the interaction between channels simple and seamless. We’ve already mentioned potentially adding a prominent ‘Click-to-Call’ button, but additionally make ‘Find your Nearest Store’, ‘Stock Level’ and ‘Reserve & Collect’ intrinsic aspects of appropriate page layouts to optimise overall conversion rates.

11. *Bonus* -> Leverage baked-in Social Networking – Bear in mind that with mobile devices comes built-in Social Networking opportunity.  Consider optimising pages to allow shoppers to ‘Share’, ‘Comment’ or ‘Like’ products as readily as possible.  

Have we missed anything? Hopefully these front-end focused points highlight the salient front-end considerations for mobile eCommerce today but please share any additional ideas; we’d love to hear your comments.

Finally, confused about the opportunity m-commerce brings? You may find this worth reading (subscription required) “Mobile Statistics – An eEconsulting Report “

We were delighted to announce earlier today that Halfords (the UK’s leading specialist retailer for automotive parts and accessories, cycling and leisure) has launched its first ever transactional mobile website, a project we have been planning and working on since the summer.  The project builds on the success of Halfords’ dotmobile site, which went live in August 2010 and is reported on here.

Since the launch of the dotmobile site, Halfords has seen mobile visitor numbers increase to 8% of Halfords’ dotcom total. Conversion levels have also doubled.  However, the announced enhancements enable customers to pay for orders via their mobile phone.

Chris Corbin, Head of Multichannel at Halfords said:

“More and more of our customers are accessing our site via mobile and we want them to have the same experience as they have from a computer. Smartphones point to how trends in shopping habits are changing fast.”

What was pioneering about this project was that the initiative makes Halfords the first retailer in the UK to offer such a variety of delivery options via a smartphone.

To support true cross channel shopping habits, mobile customers have access to Halfords’ extended range of products – but importantly the same fulfilment options that are offered on the main Halfords.com site, offering a compelling and ultimately valuable shopping experience. This means that mobile customers can choose from a variety of ways to shop;

In addition, mobile customers can search for products, read customer reviews, compare products, and find their nearest store with stock.

Payment for goods, a hot topic in mCommerce circles, also saw the Halfords and Salmon teams provide customer choice.  Shoppers can pay by credit/debit card, or by using PayPal; the same payment methods supported by Halfords.com.  In another first, Halfords is the first mass UK retailer to offer PayPal as a mobile payment method.

For those readers who like even more detail, the mobile platform was developed using the same underlying architecture as Halfords.com, namely IBM WebSphere Commerce. Developing the transactional capability involved complex integration by Salmon between the mobile site, DataCash and PayPal to offer 3-D Secure.  Salmon also integrated the mobile site with Multimap (now Bing Maps) , SAP and Store6.

***Update: 14:22 PM Aug 24th – Halfords: Mobile Site Review by eConsultancy
***Update:  2:52 PM Aug 16th - Since Friday’s launch mobile conversion has doubled!***

Today we announced the successful development and launch of Halfords’ mobile platform, enhancing the retailer’s multi-channel proposition and delivering a unique and compelling mobile shopping experience for its customers.

A staggering 5% of traffic to www.halfords.com is from internet enabled mobile phones, and Halfords have reacted by having us develop a mobile platform such that visitors to Halfords.com using a mobile device will automatically be directed to the new mobile platform.

The solution allows visitors to;

• Search for products
• Read customer reviews
• Make product comparisons
• Locate their nearest store that stocks the desired product
• “Reserve and Collect” the item.

Customers benefit from the same common design elements and features that make Halfords.com so successful.  Here is what the Head of Halfords.com had to say this afternoon;

The internet enabled mobile is becoming the essential tool for shoppers. We are seeing a huge increase in customers who are researching products and making shopping decisions while on the move.  We see a huge opportunity for growth of our online business by improving the shopping experience for mobile visitors. So we are aiming to make our site more relevant to the way people want to shop.
Chris Corbin, Head of Halfords.com

Halfords.com is already growing fast, with online revenues up 70% year on year in the first quarter, with visitor numbers now running at over one million people a week.  Early results from the Halfords mobile platform show that visitors really appreciate the new lay out and easier access to essential information and conversion rates are significantly up.

We’ve been helping Halfords implement their eCommerce and multi-channel strategy since 2005, delivering “Reserve and Collect”, “Home/Work Delivery”, “Text and Reserve” and more recently “Free Delivery To Store”; all of which leverage Halfords’ existing IBM WebSphere Commerce based architecture.

Salmon’s eCommerce partner IBM has announced the release of WebSphere Commerce Version 7.0, delivering a market-leading “customer interaction platform”, which enables companies to provide a rich, customer-centric experience across multiple channels and touchpoints [more here: opens 521kb .pdf].

We think this is particularly interesting given that IBM already had a leadership position according to AMR Research – based on their October 2009 assessment of version 6.0 fp 4 as recently as October 2009. Read more »