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Company: Presence Multimedia
Project: The Italian House

Dates: Jan 2007 to Apr 2007

How did the project start?

The Italian House sell a range of Italian designed and manufactured ladies shoes, handbags, belts and accessories. Established in May 2005 in fashionable Jesmond, a leafy suburb of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, The Italian House commissioned Presence to create an e-commerce website to sell their products through the internet.

What options did you consider?

We looked at various third party e-commerce and content-management solutions. After assessment, we opted to extend our in-house CMS with the necessary functionality to interact with a payment gateway and handle stock control.

What help and expertise did you receive?

Throughout the development we consulted various renowned sources on best practice techniques for implementing shopping carts and trading online.

Did you face any challenges or learn any lessons?

Besides the obvious technical obstacles, we had a particular challenge in ensuring the customer user-experience was equal to the care and attention received at the boutique in Jesmond.

What are the outcomes and how has it improved your business?

The website has seen The Italian House extend their customer base, allowing customers from all over the UK to purchase their unique products.

What are your plans for the future?

We're currently involved in several other e-commerce projects with clients and continue to work on providing the best user-experience for buying goods online.