The Island Railway Shop: New web site launched

We are delighted to announce that we have been working on a new e-commerce web site for The Island Railway Shop, a retailer of Hornby and other OO-gauge model railway products…

Launched in November 2018, just in time for the company’s first ever Black Friday promotion.  It features a new look and new design features based on customer feedback.

What’s new for The Island Railway Shop?

Throughout 2018, we carried out customer research on their behalf.   The aim was to find out how customers felt about the web site, how it worked for them and what could be improved.

While some of made for difficult reading, there were fundamental issues with the usability of the previous site.  These included the lack of product images and the ability to zoom; no product videos; poor product indexing and difficult to understand stock information.

In July 2018, we sat down for the first time and agreed that a new web site would be needed.  Although the most difficult route, they found that starting from scratch built around the customers’ wishes has seen a much larger growth in sales than predicted.

New features such as integrated YouTube videos, more product information and better product descriptions have helped the customer find products faster, and a new layout has made it even easier to use via mobile.  Customers can still pay by credit or debit card, or use one-click PayPal Express payment to complete purchases faster.

Royal Mail integration is now a key component of the new site, allowing customers to log on and track orders, find previous order receipts and quickly re-order parts using their new dashboard tool.

Getting the customer involved

Thanks to its new design, customers are encouraged to get involved more.  This can be done via a desktop computer or from their smartphone or tablet.  From leaving product reviews and downloading instructions for older products, their customers have so far given positive feedback.  This also includes links into their social media platforms and support from a new email campaign.

Why not take a look at their new web site at www.islandrailways.co.uk today?