Scrapbooks by Design

the challenge.

Scrapbooks By Design first opened in November 2003 and was the first scrapbook store in Toronto that catered to the Greater Toronto Area including Oakville, Mississauga, Brampton, Richmond Hill, Thornhill, Ajax, Whitby and Oshawa. When new owner Patrick Piette took over Scrapbooks By Design in 2004, the business had a basic website without any e-commerce functionality.

The company engaged Dimentians to create a visually compelling, highly usable e-commerce site targeted to its key demographic of female scrap-bookers, between the ages of 25 through 55.

The process.

Consistent Branding

Recognizing an opportunity to improve both online and offline messaging simultaneously, and to ensure consistent branding across both spheres, Dimentians worked with Scrapbooks By Design to re-design and re-brand the business.

The re-brand translated into the website layout, in-store material, color scheme, brochures, purchasing bags, and graphic design (signage, bags, and other design elements).

Dynamic Sales

Dimentians implemented an e-commerce solution complete with dynamic product list based on store inventory, shopping cart, and ordering capability. This was a drastic contrast to the initial version of the Scrapbooks By Design site that displayed a static list of products being sold but no actual way for customers to purchase them online.

Dimentians Content Management System forms the core of this ecommerce site. Dimentians built a product database containing thousands of products into the CMS. An ecommerce ordering system allows visitors to find and purchase the right products.

This product database is integrated into the store's central database, which is based on Microsoft's Retail Management System. This means that when product information including name, description, price, inventory levels, etc, is updated at the store, this information is automatically brought over to the web site. When orders are received from the web site, they are automatically transferred back over to the store's RMS database. This transfer happens via XML.

A highly visible feature box was added to allow for promotions and immediate attention for the user.Automated site optimization (product catalogue, headings within content) was incorporated for Search Engine Optimization purposes. This assisted in improving search engine rankings for the website.

Getting Social

A customized online photo gallery was added to the website to allow Scrapbooks By Design to upload their own scrap-booking layouts and promote individual products used for each layout. Dimentians extended this functionality further by granting the ability to connect products to layouts that people uploaded themselves. This served two purposes , increasing product ordering which converted into sales and encouraging social networking and interaction. By allowing users to upload and tag their self-created layouts in the gallery Scrapbooks By Design was able to foster customer participation and building of community as users were now able to comment on and view peer creations.

The CMS is also used for email marketing. Using the CMS, the site admin chooses an email template, chooses products to feature, adds other content using the rich text editor, chooses the recipients, and sends the newsletter. The newsletter is personalized for each recipient and sent out.

Flexible Design

In a second revision of the website design a more neutral palette tone was selected to neutralize the look and feel of the site, and an editable banner which featured various paper backgrounds (scans from physical paper products from the physical store) was added. This cost-effective solution saved the client on the cost of multiple re-designs and gave them the design flexibility that they desired.

The Dimentians design team created a Photoshop Elements template complete with layers to allow Scrapbooks By Design to create and edit sales ads and graphical banner promotional ads as required. Complete training was provided for administration of the website as well as Photoshop elements.

To complement the popularity of location-based workshops run by Scrapbooks By Design a robust calendar system was implemented complete with notifications and functionality to reserve and purchase workshop seats on the website.

Streamlined Communication

Throughout the development process client change requests were submitted, reviewed and approved through Dimentians own online Project Admin system. This facilitated smooth and timely communication paths.

The result.

Scrapbooks by Design are the number one online realtor for scrapbooks in Canada.

Eighteen months after the site opened for business, 50% of Scrapbooks by Design's total sales were generated online. In a feature about e-commerce in The Globe and Mail on September 5, 2007, Globe reporter Laura Ramsay wrote:

"Mr. Piette cites an important reason for wanting to make more crafters comfortable buying online from his business: The dollar value of orders placed over the Net from Scrapbooks by Design is almost triple the $44 spent by the average customer in his physical store.

Online customers don't shop as often as his retail buyers, some of whom drop in weekly, so online sales tend to be for larger orders, he explains. Mr. Piette offers free shipping for purchases of more than $75, so most online purchases are above that amount. "It's not uncommon to see online orders of $600 to $1,000 or more," he says.

Scrapbooks by Design continue to be the leader in search engine ranking. The website is currently ranking:

GOOGLE & YAHOO: #1 for keywords "Scrapbook Canada" (page 1)
GOOGLE: #1 for keywords "Scrapbook" (page 1)
GOOGLE & YAHOO: #1 for keywords "Scrapbook Toronto" (page 1)
GOOGLE: #5 for keywords "Scrapbooking" (page 1)

Now in 2010 Dimentians are excited to be working with Scrapbooks By Design on leveraging new trends and technology in social media to further develop the company's online presence and business success.

Visit Scrapbooks by Design website