The trend in numbers of items of jewellery being hallmarked in the UK as at end of March 2012 is down, and not by a small percentage. The March end Q1 figures confirma continuation of the downwards trend of 2011. See the charts at the end of this post. Gold in Q1 2012 by numbers of items marked is down 16.6% on Q1 2011, and silver is down by more than double that ratio at 35.9%. Curteis are bucking the trend again as we were in H2 2011, with a 10% sales increase year on year, which is very encouraging.
We expect this growth pattern in our sales to continue into the second half for a number of reasons.
First of all, the new updated catalogue is being launched in H2 2012. The printed catalogue will be backed up by continuing investment in our online service, including a much faster website. This will be the result of us linking by fibre optic connection to the nearest point available in the fibre optic grid which is now down to three miles from our factory premises. It is costing GBP 55,000 to connect, but customers should notice dramatically increased speeds, making getting an online quote far easier than it is currently, almost instant.
In addition we are splitting off the landing page (the front page of the website) to an off-site server, which will give it instant download speed, and enable us to flash updates and special offers without delaying anyone keen to go straight to stock and pricing information, which will be sent out from our own server, which, incidentally, has just been upgraded.
Splitting the functions of marketing to the outside dedicated server, and keeping the in-house server dedicated to providing requested information, should also stop the crashes we have been experiencing in the last two months, which have inconvenienced customers. Volume of use is growing and has gone past our previous capacities. We are now going for maximum capacity to give the online service a big push, as this is obviously the way the industry is heading.
The curteis.com/mobile site, when it is launched later this year, combined with the fibre optic link, will offer more as well as faster pathways to the whichever place web-visitors want to get to. Customers who keep their PC in the office, for example, can open a mobile link in the shop and show pictures and quote prices using a smart phone, tablet or laptop without the need to move away from the counter or showroom. Enhanced speed and accessibility will help the cause, and enable our customers to work more easily and surely as they sell our products.
Perhaps between us, we'll turn the hallmarking downtrend around as these new marketing initiatives come available! We are looking forward to the better speeds ourselves at the sales office, as we too should be able to get around the information much more quickly. We apologize for the problems encountered over the last few weeks, and hope that the investment and changes we are introducing have sorted the worst of it, while we press ahead to the maximum possible level of web customer support.
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