Case Studies

Pura Vida Coffee

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See how Active Solutions Northwest used website development, custom software design and custom systems software modules to make a difference in business practices with Pura Vida Coffee:

Situation:

Pura Vida's e-commerce website was in serious need of revision: There was no online database; order information was being sent by email and had to be manually transcribed into the accounting and distribution systems; product information had to be manually edited in HTML and posted to the website.

Active Solutions re-engineered and re-launched the website, incorporating a SQL Server database to support an online product catalog, capture of orders; customer membership logons; online maintenance of the product catalog, including a flexible pricing setup screen; automated download of orders using an XML interface to new custom Order Processing and Order Fulfillment client/server applications created by Active Solutions. An interface was also built to an e-marketing database using Java and other technologies, for use in mass emailing to opt-in customers.

The MS-Access based Order Processing application automatically retrieves orders from the website database and loads them to the Order Processing database, where they are reviewed by Order Desk staff, which can automatically generate Purchase Orders based on customer orders, to be drop-shipped by suppliers; export Customer and Customer Order information to Pura Vida's accounting system; and electronically transmit order information to third-party fulfillment warehouses. These orders are automatically loaded into the Order Fulfillment application, developed by Active Solutions.

The Order Fulfillment application receives orders transmitted as a file attachment, loads them into a Fulfillment database, and generates Packing Lists used in fulfilling the order. It also automatically generates interface data to load the orders to United Parcel Service (UPS) shipping software.

Strategies:

Active Solutions understands the role that solid planning and strategizing can play in the development of a successful site. For this reason, we conducted extensive research prior to development by soliciting feedback from Pura Vida executives and staff, fulfillment-house representatives and other consultants involved in the effort.

The data that we gathered led us to suggest and implement the following Web strategies:

• Improve Navigation
• Create simplified Customer Login procedures
• Enhance Branding and E-marketing Efforts
• Eliminate re-keying of data by completely automating the flow of order and product information to Order Processing, Accounting, and Fulfillment functions and systems.

Improve Navigation:

There was customer feedback indicating that the products on the old design were fairly inaccessible, requiring customers to click through several pages before they could begin adding products to their shopping carts. Taking this into consideration, Active Solutions simplified the navigation on the Pura Vida site so that customers could begin shopping and adding products only one click away from the home page. Active Solutions also improved access to the customer login form, catalog search, and shopping cart by placing these at the top of every page on the site. In addition customers can also quickly access product descriptions and news stories about Pura Vida Coffee.

Simplify Customer Login Procedures

Active Solutions helped Pura Vida Coffee strengthen sales by implementing a detailed, yet clearly laid-out shopping cart designed to enable users to easily access the product(s) they selected and make final purchases at any time from almost anywhere within the site. Shoppers always have the option to login to their personalized profile from any page on the site. This allows them to see their purchase history at all times, encouraging them to purchase more items. Additionally, all shoppers have the option of becoming a preferred shopper on every page of the site as well as during the final checkout procedure.

Enhance Branding and E-marketing Efforts

Active Solutions helped Pura Vida Coffee improve their branding and online customer relations by including new features such as "stories" that appears alongside the product photo and description areas on the home page.

Results:

By designing the new website and its launch, Pura Vida Coffee has attracted thousands of new preferred shoppers to the Website in just a short period of time. Pura Vida Coffee has been able to increase sales and exposure by building site loyalty and recognition through targeted e-mailings. The site's improved navigation capitalizes on these additional visits by allowing customers to place orders with ease. 100% of Pura Vida net profits and donations benefit at-risk children in coffee-growing countries. By creating automated order data flow and enabling User maintenance of product information, Pura Vida is able to accommodate a tenfold increase in sales with no increase in Order Desk staff. During this time, Pura Vida has grown from one warehouse near Seattle, to having additional warehouses in Atlanta, Georgia; Colorado; and California, all using the same set of software created by Active Solutions.