CodeBond - Web development Services

Portfolio: Restaurant Equipment of Maine

Client’s Objective

The client wanted to bring his bricks and mortar business online to showcase his array of services and to introduce an online catalog, featuring his extensive product line. The client continues to populate the catalog himself and has the option to introduce an e-commerce feature in the future.

Target Market

Commercial Kitchens, restaurants, hotels, corporate cafeterias, school systems, hospitals, nursing homes, municipalities, kitchen contractors, homeowners.

Features

The site incorporates OS Commerce, an open source catalog solution, which CodeBond heavily customized to adapt to the client’s needs and to render its content visible to the search engines. We also added a “specials” feature on the home page, which was integrated with the product catalog and which the client has the ability to edit anytime. The catalog is backed by a database application which was customized to meet the specific needs of the restaurant equipment product line. CodeBond completely reorganized the client’s product categories to streamline the categories, eliminate redundancies and make them more usable to the viewer. Additionally, the site features a custom designed admin interface which allows the client to update and edit the catalog from his desktop.

Technical Specs

Site was constructed using PHP, selected for its flexibility in accommodating dynamic features. Catalog is built on a dynamic platform, using OS Commerce, which was highly customized to the client’s needs. Site consists of 6 pages plus the catalog, which consists of 6 category pages, 35 product group pages and an individual display page for each product.

Results

The client reports that as a result of his new web presence, inquiries have increased and foot traffic has increased in his store. Launched in January ’05, he began to receive orders through the online email/order feature as early as February. Importantly, he has experienced customer inquiries beyond his normal operating area as a result of the website, indicating an expansion of his customer base.