www.penninevets.co.uk - New Shop

Posted: Thu Dec 01, 2005 5:33 pm Post subject: www.penninevets.co.uk - New Shop

It has taken way too long and probably isn't the finished article by a long shot, but my online shop is now online.

Pennine Vets Shop

Any comments are gratefully appreciated, especially from you pet owners / lovers out there. What items would you want to see? Have you bought any of the items we sell, if so what do you think of them?

Any registered nethosted customer who orders over £10 before Christmas, send me a PM and we will include a free Christmas present for your cat or dog. Just let me know cat or dog!

NetHosted Staff Joined: 22 Mar 2004 Posts: 5655

Looks smart, what plans do you have for it?

Andrew

Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2005 9:40 am Post subject:

We want to go for the higher end of the market and try to develop it as a premium retailer, think Waitrose rather than Iceland. We can't compete with the cheap dog chews that some sites sell. We do have the USP that all items are chosen by vets, hopefully that is something that the general pet owning (loving) public will trust and like. Hopefully, we will be able to advise people on the best products for their pets.

There will probably be a few changes over the next few months, tightening up some of the graphics and branding, increasing the range with some speciality and "premium" products, particularly with the exotic pets which is our niche market. The brand is all important and customer service must be top notch. Once we have the reputation, sales will build.

The next couple of months are just developing the sales and site, building a bit of trade, learning from our mistakes and then try to expand next year.

Ian

Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2006 5:58 pm Post subject:

Ian,

For some reason I must have missed this when you originally posted it.

At first, and indeed subsequent glances an extremely impressive piece of work which puts many 'professional' sites I have seen to shame. In particular I think you have done an excellent job with the branding. Whilst I must admit to finding your home page a little stark, the single strong colour and simple but distinctive mountain image you have used are extremely effective and memorable in the context of the online shop.

Can I ask which ecommerce system it is based on, and why you picked that particular one?

Regards,

Pete

Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2006 7:11 pm Post subject:

Thanks for your comments and nice words. I think I need to get some graphics on the site but that is not my strong point. Maybe you'll have given me the kick up the backside to get something done. The colours and the mountain scene took up a lot of time and effort to get right and the theme is continued in the building with a red front and the logo is used throughout our literature.

The ecommerce is run by OsCommerce

, available on fantastico. It has good forums and support and being open source, it has built up a large number of user submitted contributions and is very flexible. Apart from the default set-up, I doubt any two shops are identical. Since using it, I have had very few problems, the only major one being with paypal integration and customers not finishing the ordering process. I also have a slight grumble about pricing different options for an item but I suspect that is me rather than the package.
Overall, I'm impressed with Oscommerce. I'm now off to develop some graphics.

Ian

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