Scentiments.com launched its new web site last week on the Microsoft .Net platform. The new site features faster navigation and more detailed keyword search that includes identifying products by fragrance note, or dominant scent, such as rose or vanilla.
Scentiments, No. 372 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, took great care with its site redesign to ensure customers weren’t caught by surprise, Wyner says. Web sales growth of 20% in 2006 is in large part attributable to recurring business. “We have competitive pricing, good customer service and a lot of customer referrals, which is our lifeblood. Our existing customer base has a repeat rate that increases year-to-year,” he says.
A measured approach meant taking six to eight months gathering feedback from customers who were invited to a test section on the web site. Scentiments found that customers liked some of the new navigation features, but not all. For example, they preferred the existing scrolling tool to pan through product choices, rather than a new paging option.
Customer input told Wyner when it was time deploy the new site. “When we stopped getting complaints we got ready to flip the switch,” he adds. The web site’s grand opening is set for March 21 and all customers will be eligible for additional discounts until March 31.
Once the new e-commerce platform was in place, Scentiments handled the rest of the technology development in-house. The back-end was deployed in 2006, the front-end upgrades will continue this year, Wyner says.
He intends to approach implementing new technology in his customer service department the same way the company solicited feedback from customers. “We treat them as customers as well. We empower our customer service reps to be forthright,” he notes, “there are no stupid ideas.”
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