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Spec Superstore
(www.specsuperstore.com)
Project Summary:
- Logo concept and complex website development project
- Over 4,500 products available online
- Top listings with Google for key search phrases
- International payment and delivery options
As an independent retailer, SpecSuperstore is operated by a team of optometrists, opticians and contact lens specialists and with over 65 years of business, the team have seen huge changes in the optical marketplace through the introduction of the large multiples, supermarkets and as of late - the internet.
The need to develop a website to retail glasses online was a new marketing strategy for the company as their MD explains: “In order to remain competitive, and to supplement our existing four shops, we wanted to develop a website to retail glasses online. During discussions with Paul and his team we recognised that buying glasses online is quite a complex process and Paul was able to guide us through many options to make this achievable.”
In order to overcome this complexity, where size and colour attributes of the glasses are offered to the customer, DesignWeb set up a matrix allowing for multiple frame sizes with colour options and personalisation of the lenses within them. To custom each order, DesignWeb then developed a customer account facility so that lense prescription details are stored and applied to any selected glasses. Naturally there are a host of lens options available for each frame and all the variants were factored into the matrix.
In addition, DesignWeb developed a “try online” facility, which allows customers to upload their own photograph and to then choose from a range of core frames to overlay onto the image. DesignWeb worked closely with SpecSuperstore during the process of adding the photographs of 4500 frames onto the bespoke content management system.
The website has been a huge success, which produced its own technical issues as Paul Lyons, DesignWeb comments: “Within the first full twelve months of online trading, the website had to be moved onto its own dedicated server. The number of visitors to the website, along with the complexity of the website code created a high usage of bandwidth and therefore we moved the website off shared webspace to ensure that the customer avoided any technical problems whilst buying online.”
To complete the buying process, DesignWeb developed an order confirmation email with an pdf file attachment which includes a bar code. This bar code is unique to the customer order and SpecSuperstore are able to change order details, scan delivery methods and updates via the system which then automatically notifies the customer of the latest status on their order. The online payment facility is supported by SagePay and Paypal.
The MD comments: “We have been extremely pleased with the development and successful launch of our website and congratulate Paul and his team for all their hard work and dedication to this project. The website was complex to develop but has achieved huge success with 9680 pages indexed by Google and achieving top Google listings for our main keyphrases. Our customers have increased significantly during this time”.
DesignWeb continues to work with SpecSuperstore on a monthly contract and the latest projects include a managed mailshot facility for sending out special offers and an automated email system that will contact registered customers giving them four weeks’ notice for the expiry of their eye prescriptions.
