Case Studies - Big Sky Branding

Uniform & Company Stores  |  Big Sky Branding  |  Multiple Stores / Shared Administration

Opportunity & Challenge

In 2008, Big Sky Branding was hosting 7 company store websites on 4 different platforms.  One of those sites (www.navyalumnistore.com) which sells apparel and merchandise for Navy Academy alumni) had been moved to the Speartek retail ecommerce platform.  The success of that project and the desire for a single system to manage all of the stores with a shared administration tool led Big Sky to have Speartek evaluate the transition of the remaining 6 sites.  Although the sites were similar, they each contained unique rules for product access, pricing, and payments options.  Additionally, none of the companies were related so branding would be very unique from store to store. 

Strategy

Because the transition of the sites did not represent a direct revenue increase normally associated with a new company store client, the goal was to minimize the overall transfer cost.  To do so we developed a template program so that the layout of each site was consistent, but with the flexibility to change colors and content to maximize client branding.  Additionally, the data entry tasks for transferring content and inputting products was handled by Big Sky resources to further minimize costs. 

Solution

A “master” database that allows Big Sky to login to one location and manage all sites.  Content, products, and orders can be viewed but still filtered to see only one store at a time.  The presentation and domain name of each site is completely unique so that each customer gets a personalized ordering interface for their own shopping experience.  The rules for product access, pricing, and payment methods are unique to each shop and in some cases to user groups within that shop. 

Continued Success

Starting in February of 2009, we launched the first of 6 new sites in the multi-shop project and then launched an additional site each month thereafter.  With all of the sites under one system, the next step in improving operational efficiency will be to integrate online orders to Shopworx, the product management software used by Big Sky for their operations.  That is planned for 2010. 

Fast Facts

• Setup of a template program that allows efficient replication, but maintains unique branding per client
• Single database but multiple shops
• Product visibility, pricing, payment methods – configured uniquely per user group
• Multi shop management allows efficient management of content, products, and orders – but still allows filtering to manage only one site at a time
• Planned integration to Shopworx production management software