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Model Engines XSQUIZZIT Story

Overview

Model Engines sell Radio Control Hobby Products and Accessories to Hobby Shops/Retailers Australia Wide. They are the largest Distributor in this industry in Australia and have been operating for over 30 years. They are a leader in their field and have developed some of the most enviable products such as Radio Control Planes, Cars, Trucks, Boats and Accessories.

Model Engines approached XSQUIZZIT in 2006 to replace the current website and limited online stock enquiry system with a content managed website and an online store integrated with their Accounting / ERP system Micronet. The old system was consuming development funds and difficult, if not, impossible to manage. Model Engines were attracted to XSQUIZZITs eCommerce solution for its flexibility in handling their business complexities, offering a content management website solution whereby their staff could make content changes quickly and having the solution integrated to their accounting system to facility true a fully automated online ordering process.

Business Objectives

Model Engines business objectives was to:

1. Increase sales accross the product range.

2. Reduce the Cost and time spent Processing Enquiries / Orders and Account Enquries.

3. Have an always up-to-date product catalogue available for their Retailers.

eCommerce Objectives

Model Engines had the following primary eCommerce objectives:

	Create a Website to increase consumer traffic to learn about Model Engines products and redirect them to an appropriate retailer.
	Allow consumers and retailers to browse the Product Catalogue comprising of over 7,000 products via the Google like Keyword Search feature or by navigating the Category Tree.
	Create a trade online store linked with Micronet Accounting/ERP system and reduce the cost of processing eqnuiries and orders via phone/fax/email. This will facilitate a fully automated ordering process will reduce expensive mistakes and increase customer satisfaction as they order 24/7.

eCommerce Requirements

Critical to Model Engines was the integration of the eCommerce Online Store to their Micronet ERP/Distribution System. Model Engines have a complex pricing matrix for their debtors including price levels, discount categories, debtor contracts, specials lists and volume discounts. Retailer web users need to see their specific pricing when logged into the Online Store.

Stock availability data needed to be queried live upon adding to cart and a warning system in place for quantities that exceeded available stock. Model Engines also sell items that are bundled into Kits which need specific stock rules. Model Engines also required a freight calculator that could work with product dimensions, chosen carrier and delivery zones.

Model Engines needed to allow certain products to be drop shippable which means the Hobby Retailer could request the product be delivered direct to their customer. Model Engines also sell some products to certain customers according to different reseller contracts they have in place. Finally, orders need to be submitted to the Micronet system and automatically sent to wireless PDAs in the warehouse for picking and packing. XSQUIZZIT integration technology has facilitated all of these requirements.

Finally, Model Engines wanted to enable customers to login and review their Live account information from Micronet including their Debtor account balance, view/pay outstanding invoices and view/print invoices, credits and payments. XSQUIZZIT activated the Live Account Enquiry module in the Trade Online Store interface in 2008 to facilitate these requirements.

The Verdict So Far

Model Engines were impressed with the large uptake of their eCommerce System in the first 12 months. Hobby consumers are highly demanding thus Hobby Retailers had a thirst for up-to-the-minute pricing and stock availability to ensure they win the business. In the first few months after Go Live, Model Engines supported their sales and customer service personnel to educate their customers and support them in using their Trade Online Store. This gave customers the confidence to place orders online. Towards the end of 2006, the phone system On Hold message was updated to advise customers that they could place orders online. This created enormous interest and significantly increased customer uptake.

Model Engines were also able to assess their retailers browsing habits. They were able to analyse data to see exactly what product categories were popular and those that were not. In fact, what they noticed was that some weakly performing product categories that had little to no promotion were starting to improve on sales. The online store enabled this because web users were buying products in other areas as they searched and browsed online. This fed back into marketing initiatives and offered insight into changing trends.

The website and Online Store have enabled Model Engines to free up staff from Phone Enquiries and move their talented personnel to more important sales and marketing related activities. Reoriented personnel have since worked on product development, website & product content and other strategic endevours. This has in turn increased traffic to the public website and overall consumer demand through their retailer network.

Statistics

Website
Approx. Unique Visitors per Month as at beginning 2006	2,900
Approx. Unique Visitors per Month as at March 2010	9,400
Visitor Growth over 4 Years	324%
Visitors per Month Finding Retailers	400
Most Polular Pages	Categories
% Of Visitors that stay in the Website after 30 seconds	52.2%

Online Store
Average Orders Per Month	320
No of Months to reach 20% of Online Order as % of Total Revenue	4
Peak Online Orders as a % of Total Revenue	43%
Average Online Orders as a % of Total Revenue	30%
% Reduction of Inbound Phone/Email Enquiries	55-65%
% Reduction in Backorders for Orders Placed Online	40-50%
% of Online Orders Submitted Outside Business Hours	42%
% Reduction in Internal Resources after Factoring for Growth	40-50%

The Future

Model Engines understand the enormoous potential of web technolgoy and continue to invest into their eCommerce strategy. They are continuing to expand their product content within their website to build consumer interest. XSQUIZZIT are working on a number of projects to further enhance the website and online store and continue the customer up-take and growth in online sales.