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Company: The Internet Baby Shop
Project: The Internet Baby Shop eCommerce Web Site

http://www.theinternetbabyshop.co.uk

Dates: Feb 2007 to Jul 2008

Attachments:

How did the project start?

The idea was developed over a period of a couple of months. We have a young family herself and found it difficult to source quality baby products, at reasonable prices from one dedicated retailer.

After deciding that we would set up a business to do just this, we knew that a quality website would need to be developed, with full e-commerce capability, allowing customers to shop in a secure environment.

After a considering a number of web design companies, Visualsoft of Stockton were chosen to implement the above. Not only were we very impressed with their portfolio of work, but they were able to deliver exactly what we were looking for, on budget! In addition to this they helped develop a complete brand to launch the company.

What options did you consider?

Like any other fledgling business, a number of decisions had to be made. The major one being to make the business a purely 'on-line company'. It is very tempting to open a retail outlet, however the ethos of the Internet Baby Shop is to provide a complete range of baby products and supply them to our customers at the cheapest possible prices, by trading on-line only we are able to deliver this more effectively.

It was also recognised that many parents/families prefer to shop online, not just because of financial reasons, but also the convenience it offers, allowing them to spend more time together, away from the shops, which can be a very stressful environment for young families.

What help and expertise did you receive?

Although confident in the use of IT, engaging in the world of web design, e-commerce and everything else associated with setting up a new business was a totally different ball game!

Thankfully Visualsoft have been excellent on the Web site side of the business, not only providing initial training, but their on-going advice, expertise and support (often out-of-hours!) has been invaluable.

Financial support was also received via a grant from the 'Catalyst for Business' programme, a fund set up allowing businesses to apply for grants for IT and Internet projects.

Did you face any challenges or learn any lessons?

The challenges are ongoing, but always enjoyable! Initially the challenge was to get the site 'stocked' sounds simple but when you have so much stock, a lot of thought needs to go into categories, sub-categories etc!

As time has moved on the challenges evolve, with the main ones being to continue to establish a web presence, whilst building a good reputation/customer base within the marketplace.

What are the outcomes and how has it improved your business?

The outcome is simple we have a quality, fully secure e-commerce website. It has been developed by Visualsoft to be 'search engine friendly', which has enabled us to grow far quicker than we ever imagined.

We have had amazing feedback on the website from parents to huge national organisations.

What are your plans for the future?

To continue to develop the site, look at new features for our customers, but remembering the recepie for our success so far.

Over the next year we will be looking to undertake a major 'Pay Per Click' campaign and also look at website optimisation to further enhance our website potential.