Case Studies - Brand Hosiery Retailer
Client Profile :
Site was founded in 1995 as Top-Drawer.com, but in 1998 they partnered with IT leaders Genex, the parent firm of CWD to provide an automated, scalable, e-commerce solution that would turn the fledgling dot-com startup into the premier Internet destination for first-quality, name brand and designer hosiery and active wear.
In 2001 the site was re-designed by Calcutta Web Developers with sophisticated and search engine friendly CSS design and advanced functionality.
URL: www.AlexBlake.com
Business Requirement :
Shopping for hosiery offline can often be a frustrating chore. The website management team wanted their new site to provide the best possible user experience and top-notch customer service. The quick, easy, convenient shopping site was geared toward busy, professional women, age 25-40. Management of site content and other administrative tasks was to be performed in-house by the website management staff. Additionally, the site needed to be scaleable to accommodate future growth.
CWD Solution :
The CWD team developed a complete solution to facilitate the optimum customer experience: browsing, purchase, payment, order fulfillment and shipping. CWD integrated the Ecommerce system with a third-party fulfillment house to provide real-time order tracking and inventory management. Simple, intuitive back-end administrative tools were developed so the administrators could facilitate a high level of customer service and account management.
Strategy :
Since the shopping experience is the most important aspect of any e-commerce site, CWD recognized that convenience, service, and speed would be critical to the site's success. At every turn, a shopper encounters features designed for just that purpose, from product reviews to quick and easy checkout. CWD worked with the client to develop the Hosiery Club, an automated ordering system for frequent shoppers that takes customer service to the next level.
CWD Offerings :
- Personalized shopping cart, order history and order tracking
- Complete integration with third-party fulfillment house and Synchrony CRM package
- Hosiery Club automatic reordering system
- Dynamic, rotating image gallery and featured products
- Web browser-based administrative tools
- Offline credit card transactions to reduce checkout times
- Integrated CRM systems.
Technology
The CWD e-commerce solution is built on the Microsoft Site Server commerce platform, utilizing business applications built on the Microsoft Component Object Model (COM) standard and a browser-based management system.
Front end shopping cart is integrated with Microsoft Transaction Server. Shopping Cart Expiration Tool prevents "inventory squatting" by setting a time limit for the shopping cart. After the time limit has been exceeded, the contents of the cart are emptied. All product pages are database-driven, enabling quick page loading and easy updates. Three integrated systems within the database - Inventory, Customer Service, and Order Fulfillment - are utilized in the transaction life cycle. Separate image server sends images to the client browser, freeing up the web servers to do nothing but process web pages. "Round Robin" hosting strategy allows transactions to be handled by two servers, thereby increasing scalability.
Results
CWD developed an e-commerce site that has the requirements covered from top to bottom. Customers keep coming back to the site because it does what a retail store cannot - streamline the shopping process to make it convenient and fast.
With the CWD solution in place, the Online Store provides first-rate service, keeping customers happy from first click until orders arrive and beyond. Site can access and track customers' shopping habits and history, allowing them to anticipate customer needs.
The CWD e-commerce back-end tools are not only powerful but are easy to use, so the administrator can handle all aspects of customer service, account management, order fulfillment, and product management in-house.
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