Success stories in e-commerce are particularly meaty because there is so much involved in making a successful selling point online.  Here are a couple of our really great releases – and don’t miss our complete Web Development Portfolio!

Retail and Wholesale Online Catalog

Click to visit RocknSocks

Project Name: RocknSocks Retail & Wholesale Catalog

Project Type: Full-service Retail & Wholesale Website

Project Launch Date: October 2010

Project Details:

RocknSocks is one of the most involved projects that ZDCA has had the pleasure of working on, and it continues as an on-going client.  We’re deeply proud of this website and all of its myriad component parts: from deep customization of the Magento code base in a local format that retains the core files in such a way that ensures clean core updates from the Magento developers themselves, through a completely custom theme designed to represent RocknSocks’ unique aesthetic, to the information process flow that allows the owners of the site to move information from one database to another (i.e. the website to Quickbooks) without having to duplicate data entry (including the automated printing of shipping labels).  And that’s not even beginning to mention the Wholesale section!

The end result is a full-featured Retail and Wholesale site that handles almost every aspect of the business on the back end and caters to the front-end user in an effort to make the shopping experience both efficient and delightful (be it consumer or reseller).

Did we mention the theme is custom designed specifically for this client?  Creating and installing a theme for Magento was one of the most rewarding parts of this process, and although it takes more than just an average knowledge of xhtml/css and php to manage it properly the end results is worth all of the effort!

Points of interest:

  • Completely customized theme tailored to the artistic whimsy of the RocknSocks aesthetic
  • Customized the full process flow from a user’s first impression, through the checkout process, shipping, inventory updates and order entry into Quickbooks.  The automated inventory syncing process and order completion process, including UPS Worldship and Endicia Dazzle API integration for automated label printing, through customer notification at the store and order update in Quickbooks was a challenging, mulit-platform procedure that uses a third-party application in between the online store and Quickbooks.
  • Inventory management
  • Complete Wholesale and Retail experiences using the same database and code base (to avoid redundant data entry or import/export processes) but tailored to the price, quantity, and customer order logic differences required by the type of customer
  • Viewing and ordering restrictions built into the Wholesale user experience that the Retail customer is completely unaware of
  • Custom module creation w/in the Magento framework
  • Training and remote and on-site support
  • Keyword targeted SEO and full-site SEO standards and practice that have proven highly successful over the course of the new site’s existence.  Directory and file structure change proved negligible to the site’s successful organic search results.  Rewrite rules for old categories, custom 404 pages to help with any link or bookmark stragglers, proper 301 page usage for alternate domains, and other targeted practices were all performed to ensure the new site would initially retain and soon after increase keyword and organic search results.  PageRank from incoming links has also improved.

Click to visit Hydro Pacific

Project Name: Hydro Pacific Hydroponics & Indoor Gardening

Project Type: Full-service Retail Website, Product Photography, Shipping Department Set Up

Project Launch Date: January 2010

Project Details:

  • Completely customized theme for the Magento framework
  • Pre-developed modules installed and configured that are fully compliant for updating the code base without affecting customization
  • 2000+ product list from POS system converted to online user- and search-friendly database w/in the Magento back-end
  • Complete inventory photographed to maintain site-wide image consistency
  • Shipping department built
  • Integration of third party application for UPS and USPS API automation as well as inventory syncing and order information export to Quickbooks