Blacksmith offer exceptional support and technical back up, designed to keep clients’ e-commerce websites online and functioning 24/7.
All too often, companies leave support and maintenance to chance – failing to agree Service Level Agreements (SLAs) until it’s too late, usually after the site goes down. For a static brochure website this is bad enough, but for an e-commerce website, which may be the only way orders can be processed, it’s a potential catastrophe.
Like many retailers, our clients at Earnshaws Fencing Centres needed to act quickly when the pandemic hit, threatening their traditional business model. Fortunately, we had thoroughly refreshed their website just ahead of the outbreak, bringing it to an e-commerce ready state.
Working closely with their EPoS system provider, we were able to ensure that their physical till, stock and online estimating systems all aligned together to bring the website as close to delivering an e-commerce experience as possible.
An E-Commerce Experience
In every regard, apart from offering an online payment facility, the Earnshaws website offers an e-commerce experience. It allows options to be selected and added to a wish list, as opposed to a basket – with the last stage being to submit the list for a costing, rather than going to a checkout.
The e-commerce ready website is hosted by the EPoS provider, with Blacksmith acting as the vital technical liaison point between the client and their technical staff.
The key criteria Blacksmith were given when planning and constructing the e-commerce site was that the data with regard to each SKU would only be input once. This required a careful hierarchy of product groups, categories and individual products to be created – one that matched the till system.
During the pandemic, the site experienced unprecedented levels of traffic and record numbers of online enquiries. With the help of the website, which proved to be incredibly robust, the business transformed itself into an online ordering, fulfilment and delivery model almost overnight – with Blacksmith on standby to respond immediately to iron out any wrinkles.
We believe our customer focussed culture, availability and responsiveness is in marked contrast to the labyrinthine and bureaucratic style of many hosting and IT companies, to whom clients often turn when problems arise. We happily provide mobile numbers, monitor emails assiduously, respond almost instantly, and we do not resort to jargon.
When it comes to designing, planning, building and maintaining e-commerce websites, Blacksmith offer technically advanced solutions and exceptional levels of ongoing support.
To see what Blacksmith can do for you, get in touch today!
