On target and online for a big gun “transactor” business

The client:
Winchester Australia was established in 1967 and is responsible for sales territories in Australia and extending through Japan, Asia and Europe. The business produces shotshell, rimfire and centrefire products in a range of specifications, and is a distributor of several firearm brands, ammunition and accessory lines.

The trigger:
As part of a Brand Audit exercise conducted by DDG, Winchester identified that their online presence was outdated, problematic to maintain and not focused on providing easy visitor access to the high volumes of available product data.

The journey:
Winchester engaged DDG to develop a dynamic, customer-centric website to deliver product information with maximum ease and minimum clicks.

Winchester’s business model is “transactor” – put simply, they sell things.* A product-driven website would align their online communications with their business type.

With literally 1,000s of products across numerous categories, the challenge was to devise an information architecture to organise the content in a visually engaging, navigable and editable format.

The diversity of the Winchester product offering is daunting – firearms, ammunition, reloading gear, gun safes, optics, accessories and apparel - all ranged across numerous categories and sub-categories. Alongside the highly-regarded Winchester brand are several other high-profile international brands.

A key consideration is the customers’ expectation for high levels of product specifications. Each product has a unique set of data and the spec’s differ enormously between categories, making comparable spec’s charting complex and untenable. For example, the spec’s categories for pistols have little in common with those for shotguns or ammunition or optics.

Previously, the product data was presented in multiple Portable Document Formats (PDFs) – time-consuming to load or update, and difficult to transit between.

The comprehensive web development process concentrated on devising a superior solution.

The solution:
The outcome is a first-impression home page that conveys simplicity and order, yet delivers two-click access to the remarkable mass of product data that sits a layer or two deeper.

No matter what their browsing style, visitors can reach their target via product categories, sub-categories, brand names or the search function, using drop-down menus, text, brand icons or images as the directional cues.

Each product has been allocated its own spec’s page. Previous PDF spec’s have been replaced with HTML format, eliminating interruption to reader flow and potentially improving the site’s search result rankings (search engines love HTML content).

For the Winchester team, the most exciting feature is superb edit-ability, based on an Excel spreadsheet content management system. Winchester staff can simply delete, amend or add product data and images to the master spreadsheet database and the changes are automatically reflected in the website. Headings, tables, pictures are all populated to align with the visual design and layout. The product information is up-to-date and the look remains professional and congruent.

It’s hard to imagine the effort that went into collating the volumes of data and images, or the technical expertise that devised the architecture and provided the intricate behind-the-screen links and interconnections.

Uncomplicated, unpretentious and unmistakably product-focused, the solution embraces the fundamentals of successful brand-building.

The client perspective:
It’s early days … the website only went live in September. But Winchester Australia are “more than happy” with the outcome and report positive feedback from their sales team, dealer network and consumers.

Brian Mewha, Winchester’s Marketing Administration Manager, was the main liaison with DDG during the development process and is pleased with all aspects of the project. ”I had excellent assistance from DDG’s Conal McClure and Brad Johnston. They were very patient throughout the development and generous with their ongoing back-up and support,” says Brian. “This was a bigger project than any of us envisaged in the beginning, but the inputs have been well worth the effort. There were many hours spent uploading product information and images but now we have a very workable database that is much simpler and quicker to update. “

Brian has so far been responsible for any site updates, but can see that changing. “Before long I’ll be able to delegate the work down the line. With the old website, any changes needed to be referred externally to our web developer, incurring additional costs and delays. This new management system allows us to do them in-house as often as we need. The system also provides valuable statistics about the way the site is being visited and used and will certainly help us manage the site effectively.”

Visit Winchester Australia at www.wichesteraustralia.com.au

*What is your business type? Are your communications aligned? Find out … click here to receive your COMPLIMENTARY copy of DDG’s Brand Strategy Report.