View Entry
Company: Kahua Music
Project: Kahua Music Sound Files Project
Dates: Jun 2007 to Jul 2007
Attachments: 
How did the project start?
This is a specific project undertaken on the kahuamusic.com website, a store specialising in the sale of 12" vinyl records for DJs. We were experiencing a problem with the sample sound files on our website in that we only had the facility to upload one clip per product. The vast majority of records we sell contain several tracks or remixes on each 12". Only having the facility to upload one sound file meant having to record a sample of each track and arrange them sequentially into one long sound file. This was unsatisfactory because the clips often took time to load and many customers were only interested in hearing one specific track or remix on each product.
What options did you consider?
We researched other online record stores to look at the most common way in which sound files were presented, so that our site felt comfortable and familiar for buyers. We felt that there was only really one satisfactory option - to develop the website so that multiple sound files could be assigned to each product.
What help and expertise did you receive?
After putting together the ideas for how we wanted to display the individual sound files, we approached our site developers, Visualsoft UK Ltd, to incorporate the facility into our website, both from the front end and back end administration panel.
Did you face any challenges or learn any lessons?
After implementing the individual sound files we stopped uploading the original longer sound clips. We soon received feedback, however, which demonstrated that some customers preferred the long sound clip, as it suited their style of shopping. Therefore, we reinstated the long sound clips and offered two different ways for customers to listen to samples, so they could listen according to their preference.
What are the outcomes and how has it improved your business?
The project has made our site more user-friendly and allows customers to hear sound clips in whichever way they prefer - whether that is one longer soundclip featuring all tracks and remixes, or each sample listed individually. This has meant we have increased the number of people browsing, and ultimately purchasing from, the site.
What are your plans for the future?
This specific project has achieved its goal and so there is no direct plan for improving how this element of the website operates. From a more general perspective we have several areas for further development of the site:
* Customer 'interest areas' whereby they can receive detailed updates on new products specific to their interest areas;
* International Ebay sales. Currently the synchronization between our website and Ebay only allows for Ebay sales within the UK. We would like to expand this to worldwide;
* Improved customer notification systems - for example a customer can opt to receive information when a certain artist or record label release a new product. They would then be emailed automatically when a new product came into stock;
* Live customer interaction whereby live support is available through the website to deal with queries and requests.
Readers Comments