It gives us great pleasure to be a candidate for the NetComm Award 2018 for our tiles and surfaces e-commerce platform bhc-shoponline.it. The site is nominated in the Furnishing and Accessories category, and competing against two giants in the sector, Scavolini and LOVEThESIGN.
Our e-commerce journey began two years ago with the aim – since achieved – of bringing online more than 10,000 surfaces for architecture from top names in the world of ceramics, going beyond the physical limits of our stores to radically enlarge our potential clientele by selling all over Europe and benefiting from the appeal of selected Made in Italy products.
Considering the complexity of the possible combinations of products (square metres, linear metres, slabs or boxes), simplification of the buying process was the key to success.
The innovation (created ad hoc and integrated in Magento) was to automate the identification of certain characteristics that distinguish products, allowing potential customers to buy the exact amount contained in the available packaging and thus avoiding loose items and simplifying picking operations.
Our strategies were to focus on product discounts, use offline checkout (in store or by phone) and – against the trend – avoid marketing automation.
Supporting web marketing activities were mainly two: content marketing in our online magazine and a structured SEO plan to tap into branded searches for our retailed products.
