Talking to Danielle Sensier, Marketing Director at TM Electronics, the UK temperature experts, seven months on from the launch of their new-look website.
So how is your new website actually performing?
We’ve been surprised and very pleased by just how big a difference having a modern, easy-to-navigate website has made. We’ve seen an 80% rise in online orders, as well as a 76% rise in online order revenue, and a Global Traffic Website Ranking increase of 81%.
Why is a modern website so vital for your business?
Because of our global reach, our website is the first point of contact for most of our customers. We know that they prefer the convenience of choosing and purchasing their temperature equipment online. We want them to have as helpful an experience as possible, which is why it’s so important for TME to have an up-to-date, user-friendly site.
What does your new website say about your business?
We wanted the new site to sum up everything that’s great about TME: our emphasis on quality, strong design and manufacturing capabilities and our long experience in the temperature industry. This is why we have worked hard to improve both the content of the website and its branding to get this message across. Now that we have an instantly recognizable look that’s consistent across all of our social networks and online directory listings, more people are viewing our products, and crucially, more people are buying them.
What made you decide to update the website?
In the office, the website is often referred to as the ‘fifth sales person’, and the fifth sales person needed to go on a training course! The look and usability of the website has been dramatically improved – it’s now much easier and quicker for customers to buy products online. The site is fully e-commerce, so customers can log in, save the products they like to a wishlist or to their cart, and then buy products on the site. We’ve made sure we support a wide variety of payment methods and that payment is quick and most importantly, secure.
Do you have a favourite feature of the new website?
The new website is not only much easier on the eye, more importantly, it’s designed with the TME customer firmly in mind. So we use tabbed navigation, with tabs catering for the different applications we design for, including product types, news and articles, repairs and calibration and a direct contact section. Also, our homepage regularly updates visitors on special offers, product highlights, and a ‘What’s Popular’ section.
What does that mean for the customer’s browsing experience?
It makes the website a lot easier to navigate. For example, if you’re a chef, you’d simply select the ‘Food’ page from the ‘Applications’ tab, and then drill down to the ‘Catering’ page. Once there, you’ll only see the products that are relevant to your application/industry, but still with the option to link to other products that might be of interest.
Can customers really get into all the detail online?
Yes, absolutely. We now have a lot more information on individual products, with close up images, detailed data sheets and specifications, suggestions on compatible products and relevant articles about new products and common temperature problems and solutions.
And how have you factored social media into the website?
Social platforms have become vitally important in the past few years, and TME is now caught-up on all things Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Google+ and Pinterest, with integrated social media buttons on the site, and a Youtube video embedded on the homepage.
So let’s get back to the statistics, what do they really mean?
Although we know there’s always room for improvement, first indications are really promising. Apart from the pleasing increase in orders, one of the most exciting trends is the change to our global website ranking. In a recession, when many companies are struggling just to stay afloat, we have been delighted to note an 81% improvement in our global website ranking during the past 6 months.
For more information about TM Electronics click here