Engagement ring retailer James Allen saw a surge of mobile sales after overhauling its site to provide a bevy of smartphone-friendly features, such as 360-degree product views and an augmented reality experience.

James Allen developed a standalone mobile site after seeing a significant increase in traffic on untethered devices, as shopping for jewelry and engagement rings on digital requires an optimized experience focused on high-quality images. The retailer saw an increase of 466 percent ring purchases on mobile and now provides mobile videos for a 360-degree view of products controlled by the user’s finger, as well as a virtual try on experience and continual upgrades.

“Buying an engagement ring is not a small purchase,” said Oded Edelman, CEO and co-founder of James Allen. “Usually, when making such a big purchase online, the customer needs help and consultation before completing it.

“Our 24/7 non-commissioned customer service is perfect for the 24/7 mobile shopper,” he said. “As more and more consumers move to mobile devices, there is a natural growth of mobile traffic; we have experienced triple-digit growth in the last year.

“We have capitalized on this growth in our social media channels, which are heavily dominated by mobile users. Moreover, the increase of popular desktop add-ons like ‘Adblock’ have encouraged us to advertise more on mobile channels, which in turn, has generated growth in mobile consumers.”

James Allen mobile ramp
The retailer has been successful in attracting shoppers hiding their purchases and browsing from significant others by searching on mobile through its mobile-focused strategy. James Allen focuses on bringing any new additions and innovations on its desktop site to mobile as well, with optimization in mind.

Mobile users can seamlessly browse and search for products through its site. The retail site features a drop-down menu on its homepage for shoppers to choose from various types of products such as engagement rings, diamonds, gemstones, wedding rings and fine jewelry.

From there, users choose from setting options, which then brings them to a list of various products with high-quality images. Browsers can search based on style, metal and price.

When viewing a particular item, users can explore it more closely by dragging their finger across the 360-degree image, or letting it spin by itself. There is also a virtual try on option on select rings, in which users can upload a picture of a recipient’s hand and adjust the ring into the frame for better reference.

James Allen also allows users to share through social media and email integration or save products to favorites.

Mobile optimization
Sears collaborated with diamond retailer James Allen to offer a unique, technological experience for engagement ring shoppers that uses a 360-degree, high-definition video displayed on a tablet interface (see more).

Similarly, an Abercrombie & Fitch executive at eTail West 2016 discussed how the millennial-friendly retailer revamped its mobile application and site with commerce-first tactics, such as using color to drive urgency and implementing add-to-bag calls-to-action (see more).

“We pride ourselves on being a technology innovator in the engagement ring and diamond industry, so continually improving our mobile experience is just par for the course,” Mr. Edelman said. “The JamesAllen.com experience features all of our 70,000+ certified conflict-free diamonds in 360°, allowing you to view the actual diamonds in much more detail than you would be able to in-store.

“By optimizing the videos to be mobile friendly, making all of our diamond videos stream seamlessly on 3G and 4G mobile networks, we make them accessible for the user at all times,” he said. “We also continually work to improve our diamond and ring search engine to make it easy to find exactly what you want in our inventory.”