Platonik blog

Our fashion brand client, Kennnett Online, recently commissioned Platonik to review their sales funnel so that they could better convert online sales.

Whilst their sales funnel had an industry standard conversion ratio, everyone wants to improve and convert more sales.

After extensively reviewing google analytics and doing some online usability testing, Platonik developed a new product page and a new checkout.

The New Product Page

The new functionality for the product page adds tabbed content about brand and product information, delivery and product reviews. We moved the call to action and bullet point description copy to the right hand side of the page.

The brand information tab also contains links to their social media property to enable prospects to reach out to the sales team.

Two Step Checkout

The previous checkout meant scrolling all the way down to page. Now the checkout is aligned horizontally. No scrolling. In addition the business owner will capture the user's contact details should they abandon the order before entering the card details. This will allow some abandoned orders to be retrieved and converted.

Click here to view other Platonik ecommerce websites »

We have just launched the website for Hunter Create Ltd, a company who have invented a bike safety mirror called RiderScan.

The website and shop are built on the Adobe Business Catalyst platform and makes extensive use of "web apps".

These "web apps" are custom programmed web tools which enable this business owner to :

• Add testimonials to the website
• Add videos and photographs to the site
• Add and upload images to the home page in a scrolling manner.

During the development phase we created a landing page to capture initial interest and enquiries whilst the company were promoting themselves with newspaper, television and trade show coverage.

RiderScan is literally a lifesaver for bikers; a bit like Adobe Business Catalyst for business owners. Platonik do web design in Ayr, web design in Prestwick, web design in Ayrshire and work with a whole raft of businesses around Scotland, England and the USA.

Platonik have launched the ecommerce website for iliac Golf UK. iliac Golf is a premium brand of golf fashion, which as they state, is not for everyone and not available everywhere.

The key product lines are golf shirts, outerwear and hats worn by US PGA Tour players Zach Johnson, Jin Park, Todd Demsey and Tyron Van Aswegan and leather and woolen head covers used by KJ Choi, Ryan Palmer, Hunter Mahan, Lee Janzen, Rich Beem and Steve Elkington to name a few of the 40 or so who do.

Click the thumbnails below to view details shots of the home page, catalog, product and basket pages.

 

The ecommerce site is built on the Adobe Business Catalyst platform with features such as :

• JQuery content managed home page
• Best selling products contented managed on the home page
• Grouped products
• Related products
• Image zoom to see finer product details
• Radio buttons to flick between product colours
• Account zone for customers

There's a stockist application to enable the client to add new retailers who stock the brand and a blog to keep consumers updated on the latest and favoured products and who is wearing the iliac clothing on tour.

The ecommerce site is also integrated with the SagePay payment gateway for secure online trading.

Good luck to Andrew and iliac Golf UK and huge thanks to our designer and developer :)

Platonik have just launched the Caffe Azzurro online coffee shop. This is an online store where consumers and trade customers can purchase coffee beans, coffee machines and coffee supplies.

If you are interested in the introductory offer, sign up and you'll be notified when the shop goes live. Thanks to Barry McGee for the website development.

The website and shop was built on the Platonik platform; more information on our platform's website and ecommerce functionality here »

Here is a longer than normal screencast showing you how to create gift voucher products, add gift vouchers to the menu navigation on your website and also customise the message the recipient of the gift voucher will receive.

Platonik have launched an international ecommerce website for a client in the USA called GolfTrainingAidsDirect.com.


The business runs on the Platonik ecommerce platform, powered by Adobe Business Catalyst.

What's unique about the business is that it is a "drop shipping" business model.

The client holds no stock of the product; they process the customer's credit card and payment (via Authorize.net and Chase Bank), pay the supplier the trade price who then ships the product to the customer.

Ecommerce integration with Fedex and USPS shipping enabling the client to provide accurate shipping information and open up sales worldwide.

The customer has also set up a "Free shipping to USA only customers" option.

In terms of functionality, the client has decided to show video clips of the product being used as opposed to the typical large product view. Videos are created and posted to a Youtube account and added into the ID of each product; the reason being that video will better help sell each product's benefits.



The site is also integrated with Facebook and Twitter. And from day one, the business has been generating international online sales.

We have just redesigned and upgraded our client website's, G3 Printing, from a lead generation website to a fully transactional ecommerce site.

Here's the current site



and here's the old site.



Since printing is so competitive, the client has decided to focus their online marketing efforts into just 3 main categories:

Flyers
Posters
Business Cards

ps: there is Free Delivery on all orders this week to MainLand UK Addresses, just enter the code G3FD at the basket stag.

A short video from the Platonik Youtube video channel on how to set up Fedex and free shipping on Adobe Business Catalyst.

The type of clients who I typically help are those who are new to trading online. They may have had a static website that wasn't doing much for business or they might have experienced what a competitor was generating online and wanted a slice of the pie.

Trading online poses a number of "emotional" questions for a business owner. Forget all the technical questions, we are talking about the things a business owner is really concerned about:

• My competitors are cheaper online than my store prices. If I sell online will I cannabalise my existing margins ?
• Do I use the same company/brand name as my current business?
• Do I charge for shipping and delivery ?
• Will I have to staff up for 24 hours a day, 7 days a week ?

I would reply as follows:

You are never going to compete on price but your prices do have to be in alignment with your competitors. Also remember when you calculate your retail prices that your accountant will have factored in about 15% of the margin to account for your store staff costs and your retail rental costs.

So you have some margin to play with.

You do have to use the same brand name online as offline. People shop as follows: they search online then visit your stores and vice versa; they browse in store and then visit your shop online. If you aren't online, they go elsewhere.

Absolutely charge for shipping and delivery if you charge for it in your stores. Make sure you are up front about it online and don't shy away from the delivery charges. Customers may even thank you for delivery at a set date or time.

You won't need staff 24/7. When you get to around 10,000 visitors a month, start looking at your web analytics to see the hours of the day when people come online. You will probably find they visit during the hours your store is closed. At that point I would probably start looking at introducing Live Chat and Call Me Back features to allow prospective customers to talk to experienced staff.

ps: one last thing: you WILL win online by offering something your prospective customer won't find anywhere.

I've just completed the design and built of an ecommerce site.

Here's the home page

Here's the old home page

What makes the new one better:

• Clean & professional design
• Prospect can find the telephone number straight away
• A navigation bar enabling prospects look for different types of products
• Big pictures and prices of what they sell
• A sample gallery allowing the prospect to look for for different ideas
• Recent news signals to the prospect that the site gets updated
• Prospect can either purchase online or request a quotation

The stuff you don't see

• You don't see the content management system enabling the client to add and update pages.
• The ecommerce engine to enable the client to edit prices, add new products, add promotional codes
• The system that adds a telephone or email or web enquiry to the crm system to enable the sales guys to follow up on prospects and customers.
• The marketing tools to interrogate the customer database and run targeted direct or email marketingcampaigns.

Here's the link to the Printurmenu.com site.