Case Study: Summerwood Wines
Quality and availability are two important factors in choosing premium wines. Summerwood produces some of the highest quality, handcrafted wines in the Paso Robles. As the Winery and Inn became more recognized and visited, Summerwood wanted to reach a greater audience and give customers the opportunity to purchase wine online.
For several years, Summerwood offered customers two ways to purchase wine - by visiting the Winery itself or by calling the Winery directly. "We recognized the need to not only make it easier and more convenient for our customers to purchase wine, but to also explore the Winery and Inn with a distinctive online experience," explained Mark Uhalley, Vice President and General Manager at Summerwood. "Because of our twofold objective, we sought a Web firm that was equally proficient in both application development and design," continued Uhalley.
Summerwood’s Web site goal was very simple - to equal their high class wines, Winery and AAA Four Diamond Inn. The site needed to be an easy-to-use, rich resource, motivating customers to not only purchase wines, but to visit the Winery and Inn in person. "We chose Marker Seven to redesign our site and to develop an e-commerce application for a couple different reasons. In part due to their accessible office location, but more importantly, Marker Seven’s references and experience in developing e-commerce sites," explained Uhalley.
The redesigned site represents Summerwood’s brand, as well as showcases their premium wines. The focus was always on the customer - from easy and intuitive navigation to improved content. "It’s amazing how different the site looks and reads with the new colors, font sizes, contrast, and content. Overall, the usability is greatly enhanced and we are enjoying increased site traffic," said Uhalley.
The cornerstone of Summerwood’s new Web site is the "Our Wines" section, an e-commerce application that allows customers to shop and purchase wine online. Although the online wine sales process is very simple and easy-to-use for the customer, behind the scenes the development was more complicated. Summerwood’s requirements had to be met with many customizations. Marker Seven considered all the discounts Summerwood offers on their wines. Summerwood has two sets of item prices, depending on whether the customer is a Seasons Club member, and multiple levels of volume discounts, also different for Seasons Club members. The automatically calculated shipping costs to various states had to track Summerwood's actual costs as closely as possible. In addition, Summerwood wanted the ability to hold temporary sales, using discount coupon codes, on individual wines.
"We wanted the purchasing process to be streamlined for our customers, minimizing the questions and clicks between the decision to purchase and the completion of the order," explained Uhalley. "Marker Seven developed the application so our customers are asked only once if they are a Seasons Club member. The answer is retained for the duration of their session. Also, the coupon-code system is handled within the same processing step as the wine club, eliminating the need to add one more click."
Marker Seven also developed an app-lication allowing customers to join Sum-merwood’s Seasons Club online. Both the e-commerce and the club signup application protect customer credit card data with the highest level of security, using a VeriSign certificate and 128-bit encryption.
"The e-commerce initiative was more involved than originally anticipated. Marker Seven was very responsive in making the desired changes and we are pleased with the outcome. Most importantly, the e-commerce application made wine sales more convenient for our customers and we are realizing new revenues because of it," said Uhalley.
With Marker Seven’s support, Summerwood is accomplishing their online strategy. The Web site now portrays Summerwood’s ‘high quality’ image, is user friendly, and allows customers to purchase wine and become a Seasons Club member online.
"We are happy with the new site and the e-commerce application. Marker Seven was instrumental in helping us realize our vision and online strategy," said Mark Uhalley. "We now have a Web site that meets our business needs and improves service to our customers."
Nestled amid majestic oaks and rolling Westside vineyards in Paso Robles, California, the Summerwood Winery and Inn produces premium wines and provides a gracious and comfortable haven to enjoy the fruits of the harvest and the breathtaking surroundings.
For more information, see www.summerwoodwine.com
About Marker Seven
Marker Seven is a premier provider of Web-based solutions designed to maximize business sales and communication efforts. Headquartered in San Francisco and founded in 2000, its skilled, cross-disciplinary team tackles every facet of Web development with a common bond and vision - to deliver value, high-quality work, and exceptional service. Marker Seven's professional team of business strategists, designers, and technical experts deliver solutions tailored to each client. Proven ability to understand client's business issues and technical needs allow its team to hit the ground running, take ownership and fully manage every project. Marker Seven remains focused on and dedicated to each project, delivering a polished look with clarity and consistency. Whatever the initiative, Marker Seven implements and delivers success.