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John
Hinde Group
1
. Overview
Although traditionally known for producing high quality
postcards worldwide, the John Hinde Group (www.johnhinde.com)
is a leading international distributor of gift and tourist
souvenirs throughout the world having successfully diversified
via acquisition to build a more balanced portfolio of
businesses and markets.
In 2000 John Hinde identified an attractive niche in providing small and
medium-sized businesses with a service to mailshot Advertising and Promotional
postcards to their customers. The management team saw e-commerce as a way
of getting into this business. Additionally, it was felt that there was
additional benefit to be had from building the skills to dovetail eBusiness
wider and deeper into the John Hinde Group.
The following objectives were set:
- To create
a web site that will allow small and medium sized
businesses the opportunity to design online and
purchase customised postcards and business cards
in reasonable quantities and at an affordable price.
- To create
a web site that is easy to use/navigate for the
non-technical as well as technical user.
- To create
a website that offers pre-captioned advertising
postcards as well as customised design service for
all business sectors.
- To create
a web site that sets the standards for, and promotes
the use of postcards as a cost effective marketing
tool.
- To create
a web site which educates visitors and customers
about the business benefits of using postcards as
a form of promotion.
The team undertook
a significant amount of research prior to specifying the business requirements
for this initiative. They also commissioned a feasibility study with e-commerce
specialists, Cyrona, to establish the future e-commerce strategy and software
architecture.
The project has been successfully completed and PostcardXpress
(www.postcardxpress.com)
is now delivering planned growth. It has reached the
break-even stage and profitability will be reached in
2003. Just some of the key learning gained from this
project was:
- Outsource
specialist knowledge
- Keep
the web server on-site
- Ensure
a structured approach to project management
- Keep project
management expertise on-site
- Keep flexibility
around the technology
- Management
experience beats technical brilliance every time
- Invest
time in proper research
- Focus
on the end-user experience
Plans are afoot
for developing the business model further in order to capitalise on this
growth segment but any development will be passed through a rigorous cost-benefit
analysis to ensure realisation of commercial benefits.
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