Strawberry

Strawberry: delivering websites that work

Hull-based marketing and web design agency Strawberry was established in 1993 and counts amongst its clients a diverse range of public, private and not for profit organisations from across the UK, including Hull City AFC’s retail site, leading designer jewellery retailer Xen Jewellery Designand online car accessory retailer MotorwayShop.

The Strawberry philosophy is to ‘listen, think, create and achieve’, and to build strong, lasting relationships with clients by putting them at the heart of everything the agency does. Strawberry’s web design and management portfolio includes a number of online retailers and its client-centric approach has seen its bespoke e-commerce platform take more than £1m in online sales to date. With Strawberry’s client list growing each month, the number of transactions is steadily increasing.

The ‘invisible’ ingredient: hosting

Web hosting is central to the service Strawberry provides to its clients – even if it’s not their first consideration when setting up a retail operation online. James Greenwood, Strawberry’s New Media Director, explains: “Hosting is a difficult thing for customers to get excited about – they know they have to have it and they’re aware that getting it wrong impacts their business.

“Having said all that, 99.9 per cent of the time, it’s invisible to our clients – and it should be. Internet shopping occurs at all hours and so the hosting platform we use has to be up consistently and performing as it should.” Strawberry’s e-commerce software was developed and is managed as a joint venture with local IT consultancy, BSC Solutions, and is hosted on KC servers. KC’s business services team designed the technical infrastructure that the e-commerce programme sits on, as well as providing ongoing support.

Responsive service from a local team

Features like KC’s 100% Service Level Agreement (SLA) and off-site data back-up were important factors in Strawberry’s decision to use its managed hosting service – but the additional benefits of dealing with a local firm also played a part.

As Strawberry’s James Greenwood says: “The uptime is critical to our e-commerce software, and if there are any service interruptions it’s crucial for me to be able to contact someone instantly and know that I’m going to get an answer and a resolution.

“Our KC account manager visits regularly to discuss where we are and where we are going, and my relationships with customers have improved as a result of them knowing that I have personal, face-to-face access to members of KC staff.

“They also know that if they outgrow their hosting arrangement, I have the ability to put in place a more resilient solution. “As more new clients come on board, additional pressure is put on our servers and the KC team is always on the ball with advice and solutions should any problems occur.”

Mark Conway, Director of Business Services at KC, said: “We strive to work in partnership with our business customers to help them achieve their goals and it’s rewarding to work with such a successful local company. “We look forward to continuing to support Strawberry as they develop the strength of their e-commerce offering and win more national and regional customers.”

Managed server hosting from KC: the benefits

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