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Case Study: VividRacing.com
The EChise system was created from the development of VividRacing.com. When Vivid Racing first started in 2001, having a database driven system was quite expensive and hard to maintain. Just after the internet boom, companies were spending 100’s of thousands of dollars on web technology. For Vivid Racing, all of the information or product pages were all HTML coded using a simple HTML editor and FTP system. Updating products and pricing was time consuming and limited the amount that could be done. Adding new products was near impossible without the understanding of HTML and making sure all parent pages were changed as well. As Vivid Racing grew, so did the demand for better technology. In 2003, Vivid Racing was doing approximately $3M a year in business operating out of a 1200 sq/ft facility.
Analyzing the situation, Vivid Racing thought, “Why sell springs only for the Subaru WRX when I can sell the entire Eibach, H&R, Tein product line”. This took the amount of part numbers from roughly 500 to currently 70,000+. To be able to list these products, Vivid Racing would need a database driven shopping cart that was able to except orders online, payments via credit card and Paypal, as well provide customers the support and information they need. As product listings increased, so did the need to easily separate different makes and models. The current open source solutions from OSCommerce, CRELoaded, ZenCart, X-Cart, and others did not have this as a option without custom programming.
So Vivid Racing took the generic OSCommerce product that was enhanced by CRELoaded and customized it to specifically function for automotive performance parts online. Besides the addition of the Make/Model filter, other customizations were included. As the business grew, so did the technology. Adding special options for fast and easy cross selling items, tracking customers, viewing abandoned carts, and even now being able to send Purchase Orders to your Vendors direct from online orders. Each product would have an association to the database sharing a product part number, item description, up to 7 images, product weight, and price. Items were able to be update on a mass scale or 1 by 1. Because of the information included on each product as well as the ability to create SEO URLs, this helped index pages into the search engines which resulted in large increases of online and phone sales. By 2010, Vivid Racing surpassed the $10M a year in product sales.
Once the ecommerce site is in place there is still more that can be done to drive business. Because of how important content is, Vivid Racing has integrated a Wordpress Blog into its website. EChise customers have the option of integrating this to their ecommerce store in a seamless look similar to the Vivid Racing Blog. Websites that have dynamic content will keep visitors coming back to see what is new. Whether this is company news, product news, lifestyle news, or other, building a readership will lead to sales. The blog system can also integrate into popular Social Networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook. Vivid Racing has looped all 3 together to get the largest potential customer reach. When a blog is created, this goes to their Twitter profile which is then posted on their Facebook page. All of this links back to the VividRacing.com website encouraging sales.
The most important aspect of any company and most importantly an online company, is delivering a fast response. About 3 years ago, Vivid Racing added the Live Chat function to its website. This cut down on the amount of phone calls and support questions that would use up important sales time. Integrating the live chat feature also allowed the ability to track where customers were coming from when asking questions. Chat Operators were able to keep chat records and also forward transcripts to the customer. Depending on the size of your business, you can set this up to work and take messages to your emails when your office is closed or unavailable. The Live Chat feature has been a huge addition to helping Vivid Racing close both domestic and international sales.
The results of the EChise system are scalable. In addition to a strong business sense and desire to succeed, the tools and resources have enabled Vivid Racing to grow to one of the top Automotive Performance Parts websites online. Each year sales have increased approximately 15% even in the economic down turn. Reviewing the growth and changes of Vivid Racing can help you identify the capabilities of the EChise system for your business.
