Coventry & Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce: e-commerce, event management with online payment and full CMS.
- Services Used: e-commerce, CMS, online payment, web services
- Technologies Used: ASP.NET 2.0, AJAX, C#, XML, SSL, JavaScript, MS SQL Server
- Web: www.cw-chamber.co.uk
Solution
Coventry & Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce offers local companies information, support and training to help them increase commerce for the local area. Xibis was asked to create an easy to use, customisable, interactive website offering information on the Chamber’s training courses and services. The website was to include on-line CMS, user registration, ordering and secure payment facilities.
The first step
Coventry & Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce realised that to offer their expanding portfolio of support to businesses, they needed to create an easy to use website for the business community. The website needed to give up-to-date information on their training courses and services, manage payment and help actively promote the Chamber.
The existing website, although informative, was static and not easy to use. It required I.T. personnel to maintain and update its constantly changing pages, which was a slow and drawn out process. Services were booked and paid for over the phone which took up valuable staff hours.
Moving forwards
Following a detailed brief, Xibis created a fresh-looking, database-driven website which includes an admin system that runs alongside.
The new admin system allows office staff to make all the website’s updates and additions with little technical knowledge required. The system includes an event management system which manages training course details, attendee’s information and secure payment facilities--all of which are updated automatically on the website and database.
The admin system also integrates with the existing enterprise management software the chamber was using. This meant a reduction in manual course management, and instant cross system updates which reduced data errors and increased efficiency for the admin staff. Ezine with Eshot email bulletins also helped promote and increase course subscriptions for the Chamber.
The website ran an analytics system which allowed the Chamber to monitor the website activity and evaluate which areas of the site attracted the most visits to help improve the site’s impact.
Business users
The new website also has an impact on business users, giving them a log in area with instant course booking, payment and user history. The business users’ information is stored and used to promote future business opportunities.
The three best things about working with Xibis, according to CW Chamber:
1. Their professional methods and skills to manage support requests.
2. They have been extremely forthcoming with ideas to improve our website, so we do not stand still.
3. Timeliness; the whole project was completed on schedule despite the hold ups from our end.
“I would have no hesitation in recommending Xibis to anyone who is looking to use their services. We had an extremely long wish list to improve our site and with patience and continued support from Xibis we feel we have definitely taken our site to the next level.”