Courts upgrades e-commerce portal

 (Jamaica Gleaner) Unicomer Jamaica Limited, which operates the Courts furniture, electronics and appliance stores, has launched a new e-commerce portal which is expected to enhance revenue growth in the new year.

Described as more user-friendly, the new interface, www.shopcourts.com/jamaica, now provides access to shoppers in 11 Caribbean markets, the company said in a release on Monday.

Janet Sylvester, director of marketing at Courts Jamaica, told the Financial Gleaner that “we expect to increase online revenue growth by about 20 per cent in the first year. Normally, online revenue is two to three per cent of revenue overall.”

Courts stores are located in Jamaica, Barbados Trinidad, Dominica, Grenada, St Lucia, Belize, Guyana, Antigua, St Kitts and Nevis and St Vincent. (Editor’s note: The website says e-shopping will come to Courts Guyana soon.)

Shoppers in the New York areas of Brooklyn and Queens will also benefit as the new website includes two stores operating in that state.

Courts’ new website replaces the former online shopping site www.courts.com.jm and went live on Wednesday, November 27.

“Courts was the first furniture retail company in Jamaica to introduce an online shopping platform in Jamaica in 2000, offering customers both locally and in the diaspora the opportunity to purchase quality and affordable household items to send to their family and friends in Jamaica,” the release said.

Improved functionality

Sylvester said the redesigned website offers users improved functionality and benefits to visitors, which include a simplified main menu with links to the most useful pages, enriched corporate and product contents.

The cost of the upgrade was not disclosed.

Earlier this year, Appliance Traders Limited introduced an e-commerce portal targeted at Jamaicans locally and in the diaspora.