June 25 2013.


Pyramid Plastics has launched a new website to replace its original site which has been running since 2006 and was based on a version of osCommerce which dated back to 2003.

As we know, the web never stands still, with new technologies emerging all the time, along with newer mobile devices and browsers capable of delivering a richer browsing experience.

With a volley of comments slowly building up in the background about the inflexibility of the old website, Pyramid's own in-house IT expert, Justin Patchett, has built a completely new ecommerce platform from scratch, to present a new era for Pyramid Plastics' ecommerce strategy.

"I had been concerned about Pyramid's website ever since I started the job here at Pyramid in 2010," explains Justin. "However, the resources and time necessary to get something done were just not available.

"At the start of the new year, I received a rather irate letter from one of my colleagues who was attempting to purchase an accessory from the website, but found that it was a truly horrendous experience.

"After a very short meeting on the feasibility of building a new website, I agreed to spend time on writing a new, bespoke website from scratch, that would better serve our purposes and our customers.

"The lack of physical product catalogues, due to ever-increasing print costs, means our website is more than ever the most important tool to let bikers know what is available from Pyramid."

The new Pyramid website has been optimized for both PC and mobile device viewers, with speed and efficiency in mind. Page load times have been slashed by as much as 90% and site navigation has also been simplified from the monstrous JavaScript based pop-up menu, to a friendlier "top n' side" structure.

"Customers often wanted more pictures of the accessory they were interested in, but we were only able to send those through if they wanted to give us their email address," Justin explained.

"We now have the ability to add several pictures to accessories around the site, hopefully making the shopping experience a little more involved. So far the response has been positive from all angles.

"Shoppers also reported a lack of information on stock and availability. There now exists the option to pre-order an accessory if it is marked out of stock with a 99% guarantee of the item coming into stock within 14 to 21 working days."

Pyramid has also invested in a private "wildcard" SSL certificate to help safeguard bikers browsing the  site in public internet cafes or public areas with free wifi, which are often susceptible to wireless "packet sniffing".

"Many bikers congregate at public places with wifi enabled mobile devices and phones and need to know that while having a look at available accessories for their machines, they are safe to browse our site.

"Future improvements we have thought about include a "trade portal" for our resellers, so that they can check on stock codes, find images and download information on our stock ranges to better serve their customers.

"We are gradually building our availability of accessories from overseas accessory manufacturers Ermax and Puig, whose accessory ranges compliment our own. So the availability of stock and lead times are essential to keeping our resellers' customers as happy as possible.

"Constant improvements are being made and a keen eye is being kept on the horizon for any new internet technologies that we can use to make your browsing experience less of a pain and more of a pleasure."

Visit the new Pyramid website at www.pyramid-plastics.co.uk