The retail sector online is a continually evolving marketplace, and for many of our clients the first decision they must make is whether to offer "online shopping" or not.

For one client, Exotica Flowers & Plants (www.exoticaflora.com), their product set made the decision simple. Offering delivery of flowers and plants to various locations in the Middle East is an ideal online shopping business model and, with our help, their website offers an easy, intuitive and secure shopping experience.

Exotica were not new to the online shopping environment, although we're happy to say that since we were commissioned to redevelop their website and its subsequent launch in early 2011, Exotica have seen a consistent month on month increase in sales. We recently extended their site to include full mobile device support.

Managing the shopping experience

Naturally, a retailer needs to be able to offer promotional pricing or run "sales" periodically, and therefore our content management and back office administration systems are uniquely designed to handle a variety of scenarios, from simple percentage based campaigns through to complex product, area and time based promotions.

It's important to remember that with online shopping available 24/7, comes added back office tasks associated with order administration and fulfilment. That's where our Order Processing & Delivery systems kick in. The Exotica project, for example, is fully supported by our back office system which is used throughout their extensive branch network to process and track the order, from receipt and allocation through production and on to its ultimate delivery.

When a "buy now" button won't help

Not all retail sites are suited to real-time orders, so in these cases we adopt similar content presentation techniques as those found on the online shopping sites we produce.

For example at Antoine Saliba Jewellery (www.antoinesaliba.com), where the value of the products on offer make them less attractive for credit card purchase, and Spinneys Liquor Division (www.spinneysonline.com) who operate a chain of liquor stores but wanted to reach out to their customer base.