About The Project
Time for an Upgrade
Driven by the increasing digitization of the retail market and boosted once again by the COVID 19 pandemic, my goal was to create a new digital sales channel for my own family business with several Trinkgut stores and to bring it to the people. This ambitious and extensive project proved to be one of my masterpieces. All of my skills were called upon here. But I was prepared and thus created tg-hoelscher.de and completely new opportunities for the company in stationary trade as well.
What to Do
The Task-List
Although I was already establishing new advertising formats in the markets via digital billboards, digital transformation was a long way off. Accordingly, the first thing I developed was a „task list,“ the tool with which this whole project consisting of many small puzzle pieces would be put together in the end.
Analysis
First of all, it must be clear what the requirements on the market are: How is the competition positioned? Which services can realistically be implemented? What conditions must be met in order to be able to implement these services? Here, it was purely a matter of understanding the problem, the facts. First you have to find the right tool before you turn the screws. That was essential for the entire project in the first step.
Technical infrastructure
After all facts are on the table, I can start to build the foundation. For this purpose, a wide variety of services were set up, first and foremost web hosting. In the beginning, this was done using existing UNIX-based servers until they reached the end of their lifespan. Thus, a standalone setup was necessary, which meant that a lot of time was spent on securing Apache and MariaDB. After that, a German-based hoster was contracted to do the web hosting, which shrunk the ongoing maintenance of these measures to a minimum. The entire setup was completely migrated within one day.
Content Creation
Content is Key. The composition of the future online portfolio was accordingly one of the most important steps in the transformation. In addition to the selection, the respective content had to be prepared. The photography and image editing was thereby handled entirely by me. In addition, all legally required information has been collected and sorted so that it can be easily assigned in article maintenance.
Functional realization
Wordpress was chosen as the basis. It offers the perfect compromise between functionality and usability, especially for users with little experience. Moreover, Wordpress can also do e-commerce via WooCommerce, which was essential for the project. Custom code snippets in PHP and adjustments using CSS ensured that the shopping cart can only be requested to enable a personal consultation on a quote. In addition, deposit values and billing periods were integrated. This is otherwise only possible via expensive WooCommerce plugins! Thus, a full-fledged store with minimal cost was created.
Marketing
Search engine optimization and advertising in brick-and-mortar stores, including with the help of my installed digital ads in the stores, led to existing customers taking notice of the digital offering shortly after the launch. QR codes on the rental material, especially the trailers, ensured that regular tenants would use the website in the future.
Monitoring and Optimization
Monitoring, ongoing analysis and optimization are important for any online offering. Google Analytics plays an essential role here and has been set up in such a way that all the necessary key figures can be measured in a target group-oriented manner so that adjustments can be made if necessary. For example, the structure of the website was revised again during the process, as mainly older people were visiting the site.
The Result
Digital works! Anywhere.
New media and digital offerings are the future in pretty much every industry. I jump-started the digital transformation of the company with this project in just a few months. Thoughts of expansion into the digital world can already be heard. I’m sure I’ll take the company to the next level there, too. Ultimately, these are my accomplishments in this project:
Website
A dedicated website with up-to-date information on the markets, weekly offers and a handy contact form for inquirers of any kind.
Rental store
An in-house rental platform based on WooCommerce, which was equipped with a quote and catalog system using custom-written code snippets, making it exceptionally cost-effective, yet feature-rich at the same time.
In-House Marketing
Digital billboards, branding of rental materials, brochures and a newly designed corporate branding set the family business apart from other markets.
Optimization
Optimize all digital offerings based on metrics measured by Google Analytics to ensure the optimal customer experience.