Kent Foods Direct case study

New e-commerce website design and development for Kent Foods Direct to create an online sales channel

When Kent Foods Direct needed a fully functional ecommerce website for their products such as, sugars, sweeteners, powders, dairy, oils and other items to be purchased via a digital channel, we were on hand to design something both responsive and appealing.

• Kent Foods Direct is an independent food distribution company, wholesaler and largest independent sugar distributor in the UK.
• They were in desperate need for a digital touchpoint which seamlessly allowed their customers to place online orders.
• Until now, they predominantly generated all of their revenue via telephone orders, which meant their support team needed to deal with huge volumes of manual orders.
• They approached us because they needed a specialist Shopify agency with experience working with complicated integrations and systems. We knew we could deliver to their brief, within their timescales and exceed the client’s expectations.

Read on to find out how we helped Kent Food Direct get a visually appealing and fully functional website ready to take online orders.

The Brief

Kent Foods Direct had a clear need for an e-commerce solution, so they approached us for a website design and development project with the focus of generating sales from their online channel. They told us we came highly recommended so we were keen to not disappoint.

Their telephone support staff were inundated with over-the-phone orders so every sale was being done manually until they instructed us to get on board. To reflect their brand identity and encourage more referrals and sales, the website required a clean, modern look.

Their ideal scenario was that the majority of their sales could be generated and fulfilled automatically via their website.

What We Did

We started this project by mapping out a customer journey from A to Z for an online sale. We created wireframes to present to the client to ensure all stakeholders were on board with the visual elements as well as the proposed functionality.

We went for a shopify build because other parts of their existing business was currently on this platform, and this allowed for easier integrations across the two business sites.

Our in-house designers and developers worked together to create a contemporary, clean, fully responsive, and integrated e-commerce solution. To ensure compatibility across all customer devices, the site was optimised and tested on desktop, tablet, and mobile.

We focused on logically organising industries and categories, as well as optimising navigation design, to help create intuitive journeys across the site and facilitate online sales.

We created a completely custom shipping system due to the nature of the business. Kent Foods Direct can now stipulate shipping rules and rates based on postcode, product, country, and basket value, lowering shipping costs and increasing margins.

The Results

Kent Food Direct’s Shopify store has a new look, as well as improved usability and sales tools. They also have access to an e-commerce performance dashboard, which provides at-a-glance insights that will assist the business growth through digital.

They can now accept orders via their website, which has greatly reduced the load on their support staff and helped them streamline internal workflows for order fulfilment.

By combining some of the very best design and UI skills with modern development practices, we supported Kent Foods Direct with their website reskin and duplication of functionality to that of a sister company within the group. They now have a fully functional e-commerce offering to use for many sweet years to come!

Interested in bespoke Shopify design and development? Get in touch with us today.

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