Halfords nets Salmon for platform launch

Integrator rolls out m-commerce platform for retailer

Shoppers are increasingly browsing the rails any time using their mobiles, according to Halfords.com

Watford integrator Salmonhas dished up a new mobile phone platform linking outdoor goods retailer Halfords with online customers.

Sue Pratt, account director at Salmon, said the integrator had built Halfords an m-commerce platform based on their Halfords.com website, optimised and developed for mobile handsets, and displaying only the products available to reserve and collect.

“Essentially, Halfords will now be in its customers’ pockets wherever they are, allowing customers to interact with Halfords far more easily,” said Pratt.

Salmon has been assisting Halfords with its e-commerce and multi-channel strategy for over five years, founding new developments on existing IBM WebSphere Commerce architecture, the integrator said.

Five per cent of traffic to Halfords.com was from mobile handsets, according to Salmon. Now, visitors to the site will be automatically redirected to the new m-commerce platform.

Chris Corbin, head of Halfords.com, said he believed internet-enabled mobile phones were becoming an essential tool for shoppers.

“We are seeing a huge increase in customers researching products and making shopping decisions while on the move,” said Corbin.

“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.”