Woodies DIY

The Challenge

Woodie's DIY has enjoyed an internet presence since 1998. The original site provided DIY helpful hints and information about store locations, career opportunities etc. However, Woodie's chief executive Ray Colman was eager to enhance the company's web-based activity and investigate online selling. "Online selling was the next step," he said. "We felt that the company would benefit from this additional sales channel and that we could bring our successful retail formula online."

The Solution

With Fujitsu’s assistance and web implementation skills, the company has developed an online retail site that has helped Woodie’s to widen its customer base and maximise sales to existing customers. From the outset, Woodie’s sought to involve all levels of the organisation in the project. As a result of its long-standing business relationship, Fujitsu was selected as Woodie’s DIY design, implementation and operating partner.

The Benefits

Woodie’s DIY is satisfied with the system and the project to date. “We are online selling on a daily basis, which was our objective. The e-store is another addition to our very strong brand name and number one position in the market. "Link selling and impulse purchasing heavily drive our shop floor retail trade. We had concerns about how link selling and impulse purchases would translate to the online environment but this seems to be developing well. Another benefit is that we can assess the geographical spread of our customers. We are appealing to a wider customer base than anticipated, with the added benefit of numerous overseas purchases."

Fujitsu Services currently hosts and operates the infrastructure for the Woodie’s DIY E-store. The services provided include Helpdesk; SQL Server; NT operating services; remote management, alerting and monitoring together with application, hardware support and service management. With a managed service, Fujitsu Services uses a prevention rather than cure approach that improves user productivity and reduces cost and risk, allowing Woodie’s DIY to focus on core business activities.

The Implementation

Woodie’s DIY decided that it would be necessary to have 5,000 products online as a starting point. Company staff analysed their key selling lines and ensured that these would be available online wherever possible. There were also IT infrastructure issues. Woodie’s DIY needed full integration to back office systems for improved order fulfilment. From the outset Ray Colman realised that order fulfilment would be critical to the success of the project and a key factor in maintaining the company’s excellent reputation. Woodies DIY were convinced that the look and feel of the site and the overall user experience would be a key factor in its success. Again, the design was discussed in workshop sessions involving all key personnel.

"The approach that was taken during the store design was to offer maximum product range with minimum effort," said Colman. "It was vital to provide easy navigation so that customers could choose and buy products quickly and easily." Upgrading and improvement of the site is continuous. Site administrators (content manager and content editor) work with Woodie’s DIY buying department to review all content, prices and editorial details. They also liase with the marketing department regarding all promotions.

"We felt that the company would benefit from this additional sales channel and bring our successful retail formula online." Ray Colman, Woodie’s DIY Chief Executive

The Expertise

Woodie’s DIY is satisfied with the system and the project to date. "We are online selling on a daily basis, which was our objective. The e-store is another addition to our very strong brand name and number one position in the market."

"Link selling and impulse purchasing heavily drive our shop floor retail trade. We had concerns about how link selling and impulse purchases would translate to the online environment but this seems to be developing well. Another benefit is that we can assess the geographical spread of our customers. We are appealing to a wider customer base than anticipated, with the added benefit of numerous overseas purchases."

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