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Article Date: 16 January 2009

Background

The Recycle Works was established in 1995 specifically to encourage people to recycle their organic waste.  The company manufactures and sells a range of compost bins, raised flower & vegetable beds and organic products direct to the public via their website. Their existing site was 7 years old and offered little means for them to expand their product range and to diversify into new areas. The facility to achieve these objectives were key factors for growing and developing the business.

Manufacturing Concern

The company was keen to grow and expand their business particularly by expanding into the wider environmental markets of soil improvement and water conservation. They also planned to get involved in the education sector's ‘food for life’ programme.

In addition they wished to increase their product offering to all customers.

Activities Undertaken

The new Recycle Works' website was designed to display their complete product range.  It also provides them with the facility to add, modify, and remove main categories & sub-categories, and give them full control and manageability over site content.

Visitors have access to detailed product descriptions and high quality images, and prices can be displayed in multiple currencies. Simple and advanced search facilities are also available.

Results

The benefits to the business have more than justified the investment made. They include:

• Increased customer base from 60% to 80+% of total unit sales;
• Monetary value of core business increased by £120k;
• 2 x full time jobs have been created at their suppliers;
• 1 x full time job has been created at The Recycle Works;
• Number of visitors to website has increased from 50,000 to 250,000;
• The admin area has given improved scope for online activities, including special offer codes, voucher codes, affiliate marketing, video, blogs and weekly e-newsletters;
• Much more search engine friendly as each product can be fully optimised.

Furthermore, the shopping cart is very easy to use and the site is great fun to look at. Nothing on the website is more than 3 clicks away.

The Future

Managing Director Sylvia Hopwood recently met Prime Minister Gordon Brown at a reception in Downing Street to celebrate Britain’s oldest entrepreneurs. This invitation reflects the hard work she continues to put into the business and the plans to continue to grow the business.

Not one to let the grass grow under her feet (ouch, sorry!) , Sylvia has already commissioned us to build her another new website aimed at schools, children and parents - www.gardeningwithchildren.co.uk. Her aim is to encourage more worming, food production, health eating and lifetime skills, as well as organics in schools as an integral part of the curriculum and to get families involved, not least the grandparents.

The new website is entertaining, informative and provides a gateway to the many exciting products available from The Recycle Works.

A few words from The Recycle Works ...

"Just 12 months ago we launched our new website, www.recycleworks.co.uk.

"The benefits are phenomenal. The design was revolutionary and customers compliment the site daily. It has changed the way we work, it has facilitated different buying patterns and has a flexible back end to maximise sales.

"We have comprehensive statistics. It has turned round an ailing company into a vibrant company with a terrific future."  Sylvia Hopwood – Managing Director

Visit their website at http://www.recycleworks.co.uk

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