The challenge
Laura Ashley had a problem. Their ecommerce site was only selling a limited selection from their range. Made to order products - curtains, blinds, furniture and upholstery - were only available in-store or via telephone order, leading to a poor multi-channel experience for consumers and meaning there was a significant untapped online revenue stream.
The solution
The client had existing data structures containing all of the product information for their in-store ordering systems and catalogues. As a result, we identified an opportunity to create significant cost savings by layering our solution on top of the existing structures, rather than starting from scratch. This ensured that we could focus on user experience rather than back-end systems, whilst also delivering very low long-term ownership and admin costs to run the new site.
The results
- Opened up a previously untapped revenue stream
- Delivered 36% increase in online furnishing sales within 12 months
- Designed to provide very low long-term management costs
In a report to the City less than 12 months after the full site was launched, Laura Ashley quoted an increase in online furnishing sales of 36%, mainly due to our solution exploiting previously untapped revenue. The site has also won three industry awards to date. We continue to work with Laura Ashley, supporting their entire online presence including projects such as re-skinning their main site to improve usability.
Visit the website: www.lauraashley.com
The applause
We found Blueleaf due to their prior experience of this kind of ecommerce work and have felt confident and assured at every project milestone achieved. They not only have the knowledge and experience to help us but also challenge us and suggest new ways of doing things we may not have previously considered. We're very satisfied with the end result and look forward to working with them to develop this site further and on various other projects
Gail Cayuela - Head of Direct Business, Laura Ashley