Case Study

Project: E-Commerce Site for Hand- Crafted Period Lanterns Client: Nauset Lantern Shop, Michael Joly, Coppersmith Website: www.nausetlanternshop.com

Overview
Michael Joly, owner of the Nauset Lantern Shop, hadn't made a single online sale ever from his previous web sites over three years. He came to KISS, his third webmaster, wanting a new site designed and built for the online sale of his hand-made, high end copper, brass and pewter lanterns. The challenge was to design and develop a system that would allow for customization of lantern styles, including choices of glass, finish and caging. KISS met the challenge by designing a web site that presented his eighteenth century craft appropriately with twenty-first century technology.

Design
Using antique textures and sepia-tone photographs, a site was developed that highlighted the Early Colonial heritage of Michael's craft. Michael's lanterns are painstakingly hand-crafted, and the site was constructed to differentiate his product from those that are simply mass-produced replicas.

The use of a clear and consistent navigation, detailed photographs and architectural renderings of each lantern, and supportive pages explaining a coppersmith's work in layman's terms, all helped achieve that result.

Content Development & Production
Like many of our clients have done, Michael had invested a great deal of time and care in creating the photographs and copy he had used in his previous web sites. KISS was able to save both time and his money by recycling those photographs, and a good portion of that text in the creation of his new site. Copy was added to create the punch necessary for online success, as well as to include sufficient keyword density for effective search engine indexing.

E-Commerce Functionality & Programming
The front end single page interface , a non-traditional shopping cart feature we developed specifically for Michael, allows not only for the customization of features, but also for the visual display of all custom features. A visitor never leaves that single page until the decision to buy is made, and then it's a simple check-out process thereafter.

KISS built Michael's shopping cart with an extensive administrative back end that allows him to manage it himself. The back end is password-protected, and Michael can make edits himself, including price changes, the addition of customization features, and order management. The system automatically sends a confirmation email to the customer upon the placing of an order, and notifies Michael by email with all order information, including customization features. These emails are editable in the back end as well.

Internet Marketing
KISS began the development of a marketing campaign with a Search Engine Rank Analysis Report for Michael. With that documentation in hand, a campaign was undertaken that involved paid inclusions (Yahoo Business Express, Inktomi) and cost-per-click efforts. An integral part of this campaign was search engine optimization site work that included the development of copy that was rich in keywords while still telling the Nauset Lantern Shop story well and clearly, as well as other appropriate SEO efforts.

The site was launched the first week of May, 2003, and marketing continues monthly for Michael.

Analytics and Consulting
KISS prepares and delivers to Michael a quarterly Executive Summary-style consulting report that presents site statistics, compiles cart sales activities, and breaks down the numbers to identify his average revenue per visitor, his return on marketing investment, average weekly sales volume and average order size. The quarterly report also presents action step recommendations for site improvements and adjustments based upon the site traffic statistical analysis, both in the short and long term.

Maintenance & Updates
The action step recommendations included in the quarterly consulting report are regularly put into effect with site adjustments to impove functionality, customer ease of shopping and lantern customization, and the effectiveness of copy in providing a word diet rich in keywords. KISS considers all of its sites to be works in progress, always looking for ways to improve effectiveness for clients.

Results
Michael identified a sales goal for the first year of online commerce, and KISS accepted his challenge. KISS was pleased to present him with a year-end consulting report identifying actual first year sales that exceeded his goal by more than 65%.

Project: Development of Business Plan, System and Site from Client's Idea Client: Shawn Delude, Owner of Nauset Disposal, Cape Cod, MA, USA Website: www.wesupportlocalbusiness.com

Overview
Shawn Delude owns and operates Nauset Disposal, a waste management company on Cape Cod, MA, USA. His customers include several hundred commercial accounts and several thousand residential accounts. A strong proponent of supporting the local economy and keeping business revenues local, Shawn consulted KISS to determine if there was an Internet Business Plan in this notion.

In the course of two consultations, a web site concept was developed and a business plan presented that would enable him to bring his consumer accounts together with his commercial accounts to encourage supporting local businesses, and offer his commercial accounts the opportunity to promote themselves and offer discounts and special promotions to the local consumer, all in a membership network of locals. A Business Plan was formalized, mock-ups were prepared, and a Technical Specification for a functionality system was written to help make this "idea" a reality.

Design
The concept was a simple one - - help consumers meet local businesses, and help local businesses reach local consumers - - and so the design was kept simple. KISS felt the design should be minimal, with focus being brought on the system membership and its search functionality by region, town and industry. A graphical "call to action", that which the visitor was invited to do upon home page arrival, was designed to make it easy for the visitor to grasp quickly what the site offered, and to keep the steps between arrival and that "Most Desired Response" to a minimum.

Content Development & Production
With a simple concept, and a simple design, KISS determined to keep the words to a minimum, but still within the word count range search engines prefer, and with the appropriate keyword density for search engine optimization. Clear writing, welcoming and easy to follow, was to help answer any questions remaining if the graphical call to action was not enough. Membership registration was simplified for both consumers and businesses with straightforward guidance on what went where and how. The site and system were built with a minimum of "moving parts," if you will, in order to remain consistent with the simple concept and design.

E-Commerce Functionality & Programming
The Membership System was designed and programmed for both ease of use by members and ease of management by Shawn. Consumer memberships were free; business members pay a nominal monthly fee, in return for which they are provided their own page on the site with the ability to determine and control entirely theirs through a very user friendly, password-protected back end. The uploading of images, logos and photos, and the description of their businesses are all made easy and simple by the use of a comprehensive Rich Text Editor. A second Rich Text Editor makes it easy for businesses to create their own Coupons and Special Promotions for their visitor-side page. The site has a robust search feature enabling consumers to find a business by industry, by region and by town.

KISS also included in the system Shawn's ability to sell banner ad space on each page. A business account member is able to purchase that banner ad space in their own account's back end and to upload their ads themselves, purchasing the space either for a month (renewable) or for a full year. The banner ads are installed in a randomizer that pulls a different ad for display each time the pages render, and Shawn is able to sell each of the three banner ad spaces multiple times each month as a result.

The system automatically charges the business account members' credit cards each month for the membership fee (and banner ad fee, when purchased). Further, the system generates all of the Reports Shawn needs to keep track of and manage his business, as well as keep his bookkeeper and accountant happy.

Internet Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Analytics and Consulting
The site is newly launched as of November, 2006. It is too new for any meaningful SEO, Analytics or Consulting work at this time. However, these services will be provided on an ongoing basis. Shawn realizes his new online business needs to be considered a perpetual work in progress, and intends to keep it fresh and dynamic.

Maintenance & Updates
KISS has been retained to maintain both the system and the site, and Shawn has already commissioned new functionality features for the system to increase consumer and business interest, and to grow the site and business.

Results
KISS was able to assist Shawn in bringing his "idea" to the Internet. A Business Plan was developed, the site and functionality system was designed, the membership software was developed, and the "idea" became reality. He's turned his sales force loose in the Cape Cod region to begin selling business membership accounts, and he's offering all of his residential customers free memberships. He's also sent his sales force on the road to sell the system and business model in other regions. So far, they've found serious interest in Florida, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and Colorado. KISS has been chosen by Shawn as his Development House for these and all future regional iterations. We've even introduced him to clients of ours in Ireland and England, and there very well may be International versions of this system springing up soon.

Project: E-Commerce & Informational Site for a Whale Watch Tour Operator Client: Dolphin Fleet Whale Watch, Steve Miliken, Captain Website: www.whalewatch.com

Overview
The Dolphin Fleet, Provincetown, MA, originated the concept of whale watching as a commercial endeavor in 1975 when it began daily trips to Stellwagen Bank Sanctuary, the center of the whale feeding grounds in Massachusetts Bay. It's web site had grown like topsey, packed full of reference materials about whales, and a resource center, generally, for vacationers to Cape Cod. Steve Milliken, owner of The Dolphin Fleet, needed a site befitting a world-renowned business that would serve a multitude of purposes: present itself as a vital informational resource for an endangered species; provide interactive learning tools and fun games for children to visit; and promote his commercial venture of whale watching trips, including the ability for customers to book and pay for their trips online. This was the challenge presented to KISS.

Design
A clear and consistent navigation scheme was developed utilizing a different color combination for each section to create both a sense of motion/dynamics and to lend a sense of importance to each one. Different fonts were employed to further distinguish among the site's various sections. Bright, exciting colors and playful fonts were used in the children's interactive learning section; traditional Cape Cod colors were used in the Cape Cod Information section.

Content Development & Production
The Dolphin Fleet has an enormous and amazing portfolio of photographs from its 25,000-plus trips made since 1975, and two image randomizers were used on the home page to rotate two series of these photos: one, of professionally taken photos of whales; and, the other of photos taken by passengers during trips. In order to encourage passengers to submit photos from their trips, the whale photo gallery section of the site included a mechanism for uploading to the gallery for inclusion on both the gallery page and the image randomizer that rotates photos on the home page.

KISS produced copy for each of the site's sections to present the voluminous information The Dolphin Fleet maintains about whales and its nearly 30 years of trips. A different voice and writing style needed to be used among the various sections of the site, though, each speaking to a different audience: scholars interested in learning more about whales and the efforts of the Center for Coastal Studies who sends a naturalist on each trip with The Dolphin Fleet; vacationers to Cape Cod who want to take a whale watching trip; and children interested in the interactive whale games and puzzles integrated into the site.

E-Commerce Functionality & Programming
Several systems were developed specifically for the site, each addressing a different need. The first was the development of a ticket sales machine to allow for online booking of and payment for whale watching trips. Each page was customized to make the booking process easy, clear and expeditious. The online schedule presents each trip available for each day of the season, and maintains an inventory of tickets sold so that trips can not be overbooked. The system automatically charges the customer's credit card in a secure environment, generates confirmation emails to customers, and deducts tickets from each trip's inventory during the process.

Additional functionality, all developed and built by KISS, included a database of Cape Cod dining and accommodations listings that is easily managed/edited/updated with a password-protected back end; the aforementioned photograph upload system for customers to submit their trip pictures; and the blog/RSS feed for the daily sitings report.

Internet Marketing & Search Engine Optimization
KISS produced copy that is keyword-rich to facilitate search engine indexing. Additionally, the establishment of a blog for the daily sitings reports and the RSS feed to the new site's home page, doubled that indexable copy, and KISS knows this will assist in increasing site traffic beyond current levels. KISS is developing a CPC marketing strategy in order to promote the sale of tickets online as a new feature for The Dolphin Fleet site.

KISS, also, is developing a series of computer wallpapers and screensavers with whale motifs, and intends to offer them as promotional materials to encourage online ticket purchases. Some, too, will be offered through the Children's section of the site as a way of encouraging their involvement with the educational aspects of the new site.

Analytics and Consulting
KISS prepares quarterly consulting reports on site statistics and ticket sales to help determine the appropriate ticket inventory levels to be maintained in the online system. These reports, also, analyze site and system activities, and make recommendations based upon that analysis for site and system adjustments in design and copy to improve a visitor's experience on the site.

Maintenance & Updates
The action step recommendations included in the quarterly consulting reports can be put into effect with site adjustments to improve functionality, customer ease of ticket purchase, uploading of trip photos, and children's experiences with the interactive learning games. KISS considers all of its sites to be works in progress, always looking for ways to improve effectiveness for clients.

Results
The functionality KISS developed for The Dolphin Fleet, integrated smoothly into the site design and production, organizes the heavy volume of whale and whale-watching resources clearly for the visitor. The ticket system enables customers to book their whale watching trips and pay for their tickets online at the same time they are booking their vacations on Cape Cod.

KISS was able to balance these varied interests, that of a free resources site that also engages in online commerce, nicely and effectively. The result is an easily navigable web site with clear calls to action for every visitor, no matter the purpose of the visit.