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Case Study: Cornwall Kawasaki
Project Type: Complex Ecommerce Site
“If you want to get from A to B any old second hand run around will do, but if you want to win races in the Formula 1 League, ultimately it’s about having the best equipment, and being prepared to customise and tune.” Toby Parkins, MD, uknetweb.
Background
Selling millions of parts, helmets, clothing and bikes, The Cornwall Kawasaki Centre are proud to be local specialists and suppliers of motorcycles and accessories, run by enthusiasts and staffed by experienced motorcyclists.
Based in the heart of the Cornish countryside, the centre offers a variety of bike services and off the shelf sales, specialising in Kawasaki motorbikes and parts.
“We like to work with the client to work out what we can give them – something new and different designed especially to suit their business, something that challenges us and enables them to have something really special.” Toby Parkins, MD, uknetweb.
Project overview
With fierce Internet competition, there was a real need to optimise the selling potential of the Cornwall Kawasaki Centre.
We created an extensive relational database to hold over 1.6 million parts and Motorbike accessories, generating an online components catalogue with links to diagrams of over 11,500 parts.
Motorbike enthusiasts who may have previously had difficulty sourcing parts locally, or who work during opening hours, now have access to a massive on-line catalogue any time day and night, and a clear picture of the parts they wish to order.
Using the clearly labelled mechanical diagrams, every customer can identify the parts and order codes they need for their specific Kawasaki model, and purchase through this site without having to go into a dealership.
No other European e-commerce site offers this level of customisation. The database is designed using a complex custom-made e-commerce framework developed in-house by uknetweb.
Developed over three years, the uknetweb ‘Augeo’ framework, is the backbone of this highly complex and functional site featuring a content management system that has an import feature with highly tuned coding/programming that allows the import of over 1.6 million parts.
Programmed to allow the staff of Cornwall Kawasaki to update, and make changes to the content of the site in-house with almost no training, customers across Europe and the World now have access to all the latest products the moment they become available.
The site has a certificate of security and also features a secure integrated payment gateway; which means that the customer has piece of mind in know that their on-line sales are processed through a safe site.
The website is groundbreaking in having such a large database import feature, including the import functions for order codes and linked diagrams. These features have directly increased website hits and sales for Cornwall Kawasaki.
Most orders occur on the site outside of working hours, especially on Sundays, when motorbike enthusiasts have time to work on their bikes.
“It’s the first site in Europe to have such advanced cutting edge technology” Toby Parkins, MD, uknetweb.
Technologies used in developing the site for SAS
XHTML
CSS
XML
PHP
MySQL
JavaScript
“Anything is possible that is not technically impossible.” Toby Parkins, MD, uknetweb.