A match made in Heaven
eStore from Kingston Communications is the perfect route to online sales for wedding accessories retailer www.tiaraspourtoi.co.uk
Background
Northampton-based Gina Tonge launched www.tiaraspourtoi.co.uk in February 2008 to reach a wider market for her bespoke, handmade bridal tiaras and accessories than had previously been possible by selling to friends, family and via word of mouth.
Tonge was keen to investigate the potential for the business to grow while maintaining her full time job as a self-employed mortgage advisor. She comments: "A traditional shop would have required a significant investment of both time and money. I saw selling online as the ideal, low-risk way of developing awareness of my business and growing sales gradually over time."
The basis for www.tiaraspourtoi.co.uk is an eStore e-commerce and hosting package from business communications service provider Kingston Communications.
The challenge
Most of Tonge’s products, which include jewellery and table and cake decorations as well as bridal headwear, can be supplied in a range of materials and colours. Because of this, it was important that whatever package she selected as the basis of the site would allow product variations to be added and displayed, so that customers could effectively select a custom-made item.
Rather than having to rely on a third party to develop and maintain the site, Tonge wanted complete control to make changes to the site at any time, which made a simple content management suite a key requirement.
The solution
Tonge selected eStore 1000 from Kingston Communications as the basis of www.tiaraspourtoi.co.uk. It allows up to 1000 individual products to be sold on the website, with scope for product variations such as colour and materials to be displayed.
After commissioning a designer to create a logo for the business, Tonge developed the design for the site herself, adapting the fonts, colours and layout of one of the 1000 templates included on the eStore package. She describes the process: "It took me some time to prepare all of my stock for display on the site – I had to make the items I wanted to sell, then arrange for them to be photographed – but once this was done, developing the look and feel of the site and uploading the products was simple."
The benefits
Tonge is pleased with what she’s achieved with www.tiaraspourtoi.co.uk – an attractive, e-commerce-enabled website that has allowed her to expand her business beyond her previous boundaries. She concludes: "Customers have told me the site is professional and easy to use, which was obviously a prime consideration in its creation."
"Over time my plan is to develop the site further, partly through the addition of new products and ranges and also through website optimisation and other marketing techniques."
To see the customer-friendly online buying experience that can be achieved with eStore, visit www.tiaraspourtoi.co.uk
Creating your own online e-commerce store and selling online is easy with a KC eStore. Click here to start your FREE 30-day trial.
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