www.outsourcing-information-technology.com/webretail.ht -
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Published on: 12/1/2007
Last Visited: 2/1/2008
"We needed reliability from a new provider that could grow with us," says Michael Barringer, Marketing Director at Interflora UK."We wanted one who understood our business and had some floral Web retail experience -- hopefully, a lot."
So in 2005, Interflora encountered Novator Systems Ltd. of Toronto, Canada, a provider of Web marketing, design, and hosting solutions to many retail firms such as Lucas Films, Adidas, and Warner Brothers.Novator's first Web client in 1993 happened to be the international florist FTD.Due to the provider's long-term success with FTD, Barringer knew he had found the provider he needed to take Interflora into the future.
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"The fact that we didn't have the resources in house to put together such a sophisticated program was a given," Barringer says."In a way, what we needed--and got--is a provider who could help us learn about the online flower business and help us to anticipate the future and plan for it."
Virtual Retailer has the sort of scalability that Barringer and his associates were searching for during Interflora's transition from business association to commercial model.
Another advantage of outsourcing: Interflora doesn't have to worry about "the always-changing infrastructure."Barringer knows Novator will "support our future growth producing additional site support for individual member florists without having to manually manage each one."
As the partnership approaches its three-year anniversary, Barringer likes what he sees.Conversion rates (percentage of sales transactions to site visits) are up 20 percent and there have been no dramatic site crashes since the engagement began."And we've saved on internal marketing, site design, and hosting," he adds, "plus avoided a lot of mistakes we would have made had we tried to do these ourselves."
The Novator/Interflora outsourcing partnership is moving to the next stage."Now that I can look at real-time analytics on my screen and recognize the results, it's easier for me to anticipate our next moves, and there are a lot of them," says Barringer.
One Size DOESN'T Fit All in the Web Marketplace
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Barringer says Novator provides "a seamless experience to our Internet customers, enhancing our reputation as 'The Flower Experts.' Our membership receives the latest technology and marketing support.