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James Allen Owner’s Tech Drove Signet Deal
Aug 28, 2017 5:20 AM
By Rapaport News
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RAPAPORT...
Technological innovations by R2Net, including its diamond display, were a key reason for Signet Jewelers’ acquisition of the company, according to Signet chief financial officer Michele Santana.
Signet and R2Net — which owns online jewelry retailer James Allen — announced the $328 million deal last week.
R2Net brings in a “pool of existing technology and a really robust [research-and-development] pipeline of future technology,” Santana said in a conference call with analysts
last week transcribed
by Seeking Alpha.
These innovations include an “in-house capability to create real diamond images in 360-degree [high definition], with
a 40-times super zoom on any device,” she continued. “So it looks great in a mobile app as well
as online, it can look great in our stores, and they are continually updating
and improving these cameras.”
The company also has a virtual ring sizer and a mobile application for trying on rings.
The Signet CFO said the R2Net technologies would enhance the experience of retail customers in choosing
the right diamond and setting.
“When a shopper is looking online, they
can look at the over 100,000 different diamonds that are online and place that
virtually into any setting to get a very clear idea of what that ring will look
like. It’s unlike anything else that’s available on the internet today,” she
explained. “You can put an image of a selected ring
to visualize how it would actually look on your hand.”
Signet expects to complete the all-cash deal by October, subject to certain
conditions and regulatory approval. It will take control of both JamesAllen.com and Segoma Imaging Technologies, and plans to implement R2Net’s technology across its own retail platforms.
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Tags:
James Allen, JamesAllen.com, Michele Santana, Rapaport News, Signet, Signet Jewelers
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