Regatta eCommerce case study
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Regatta Group launched new eCommerce websites for their Craghoppers, Hawkshead, and Dare2B brands in the UK and expanded internationally with sites for Bear Grylls and Craghoppers in the US. Salmon helped Regatta Group launch these new sites using their Application Framework for eCommerce (SAFETM) built on the IBM WebSphere Commerce platform. The new sites have resulted in cost savings and increased sales for Regatta Group. Salmon then helped launch additional international sites for Regatta Group in a quick and scalable way.
Regatta eCommerce case study
- 1. Case Study Regatta Group launch new websites for Craghoppers, Hawkshead and Dare2B in the UK and internationalize with sites for Bear Grylls and Craghoppers in the US Salmon, specialists in delivering eCommerce solutions have been working with Regatta Group, the leading outdoor family clothing, footwear and equipment brand since early 2008. Challenge Following the acquisition of Hawkshead in August 2007, Regatta was witnessing the cost of managing the brands on the web increase to unviable levels. Chris Bulmer, Group IT Director at Regatta said “We had little control over our website infrastructure which was increasingly “The UK websites have been disparate and outsourced across various suppliers. Our costs were becoming unmanageable and effort was centred on general web a contributing factor to our maintenance and technology – as opposed to launching new brands, success during 2008 and special promotions or differentiation.” Regatta selected Salmon to design, 2009, we are seeing develop, integrate and support new websites for their brands including Hawkshead, Craghoppers and Dare2b in the UK. Following their significant cost savings as successful launch, Salmon were then engaged to launch two additional a result of the new platform, international brands – Craghoppers in the US and Bear Grylls in the UK as well as an increase in and US. sales, and we were keen to Solution replicate this in the US. We Regatta selected Salmon’s Application Framework for eCommerce have been very impressed (SAFE™) as they wanted a strategic platform which would support the with how quickly and easily whole group, as well as their international expansion plans. Bulmer continued “We needed a solution that was quick to implement, would Salmon were able to bring scale to meet customer needs as our online business grows and provide our additional brands online.” all the tools necessary for online marketing and promotion of our brands. SAFE™ and IBM WebShere Commerce collectively ticked all the boxes.” Chris Bulmer, IT Director, Regatta Group The new sites developed by Salmon leverage IBM WebSphere Commerce and its extended sites functionality, which allowed Regatta to launch new sites quickly and easily. Unique Approach • Unique Solutions
- 2. Chris Bulmer went on to say, “Internationalisation has its challenges. We needed to make sure that our technical infrastructure would scale to meet the new demands from the additional sites in the US and that the speed and functionality wasn’t put at risk, as problems like these can lead to site abandonment and ultimately damaged brand equity, however I can confidently say that by working with Salmon these risks were We are confident we made thoroughly mitigated against.” the right decision selecting Salmon’s eCommerce solution The new US stores replicate the UK stores but instead display the ™ SAFE and the IBM WebSphere products with prices in US dollars and allow US data capture of customer information at point of registration. Some minor changes to the design Commerce platform. To date, and layout of some of the fields on the product details page have been it has met all our eCommerce implemented across all the sites and delivered by amending the CSS. needs and we are certain it The product description field has been changed to highlight that sizes are represented by “UK size”, although US sizing chart information for will continue to do so as our translating UK sizes is available within the product description. As all requirements develop online products are shipped to the US by Royal Mail from the UK, Regatta with our customers’ were keen to make it as simple as possible for customers that weren’t satisfied with their goods to return them, therefore they are dealt with demands.” by being returned to a central location in the US. Chris Bulmer, IT Director, Regatta Group Benefits By using SAFE™, Regatta lowered development time and costs. In addition, each brand is ideally placed to develop additional websites to embrace new geographies, propositions, market segments or customer types quickly and easily. Bulmer continued, “We have been really pleased with the results to date. Not only has Salmon proved to be a highly skilled systems integrator, with a unique fixed price approach that met our budgeting requirements perfectly, but they also exceeded our expectations when the Hawkshead site was implemented and launched in just 35 days. With increased control and better flexibility and greater control over our online business, we can start focussing on the more innovative components of our business, including plans to optimise the customer experience, service our wholesale networks and expansion into other countries.” About Salmon Salmon is a highly innovative global systems integrator whose commitment to on-time, on-budget projects is increasingly embraced by the leading names in retail, insurance and financial services markets. Since 1989, leading brands have been turning to Salmon for its ability to build, integrate and support business-led systems that add measurable competitive value to their day-to-day operations – and to their bottom line. Salmon quickly understand business needs, creates realistic development schedules, and efficiently delivers solutions to plan; based around an ethos that marries a depth and breadth of development skills, with a management process that removes virtually all risk from successful project roll-outs. Customers include Argos, Boots, Bristol & West, Halfords, Novae, Swiss Re and W.R. Berkley. Salmon is headquartered in Watford, Hertfordshire and has offices in the US, China and Australia. For more details about Salmon visit www.salmon.com. Salmon Limited 64 Clarendon Road • Watford • Herts • WD17 1DA Tel: +44 (0)1923 320000 • Fax: +44 (0)1923 320023 • Email: info@salmon.com Unique Approach • Unique Solutions www.salmon.com *All rights reserved. All company and product names, brands and symbols mentioned herein are brand names and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.