NorthCountryKen
(Ecommerce Website)

The Brief

Ken Holland supplies speciality veg and micro herbs to some of the most acclaimed chefs and restaurants across the UK from his walled garden and indoor farm in Northumberland.  As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and the closing down of the hospitality industry over night, Ken faced closing his business permanently after 15 years of trading.

Ken approached Bite Hospitality and asked for our help. Ken saw the opportunity to diversify his business but he needed to act quickly. Not having any kind of web platform he required a robust yet easy to use eCommerce website so that he could promote and generate sales for his home delivery service. For Ken it was paramount for the lasting stability of the business that this needed to be a reoccurring/subscription based payment system. In addition Ken required support with simple branding, photography of his products and also the added inclusion of social media content to help promote the website. Equally important to Ken was the ability to communicate with customers easily and effectively as he recognised that this would be important to build a community and create loyalty.

Finally it was important for Ken that the website was user intuitive from an owner perspective allowing to fulfill orders, respond to enquires and plan out delivery schedules easily.

The Solution

It was obvious from the outset that we needed to provide a quick yet strategic solution that would provide a professional basis in which to assist the business diversify. We quickly set about working on Ken’s clean yet effective branding along with an eCommerce platform that provided a user experience and order process that was simple to navigate through due to the anticipated user demographic. Professional photography was commissioned before the ‘lock down’ was implemented to support the website build. While respecting social distancing we were able to further develop the website and consult with Ken via video calls and live demonstrations throughout, to keep him fully involved in the project.

The Result

Within 48hrs Bite Hospitality developed a fully functional eCommerce website promoting NorthCountryKen’s home delivery scheme to the general public. The website went live exactly a week after we first spoke to Ken about his worrying situation on the 23rd March 2020, the day of the Prime Ministers Lock Down announcement and enforcement of social distancing. Within 2 hours of the website being live we were forced to suspend taking subscriptions for Ken’s home delivery scheme due to the overwhelming demand and the concern that he was not able to cope with the level of orders. Even though we suspended new orders we were still able to capture data from interested customers that were later used to attract further subscriptions.

In addition to the website Bite Hospitality have created a CRM system for NorthCountryKen allowing them to easily manage and communicate with subscription customers and prospects. Weekly emails and automated notifications to customers about their deliveries along with sharing content such as collaborations with chefs sharing recipes have helped Ken create a community that it is anticipated will last well into the future.

Could your business benefit from its own ecommerce platform that can be managed from anywhere.
Talk to us about how we can quickly implement an online solution that work’s for your business.