BACKGROUND
Alfred Music is a world leader in music education which has helped more than 10 million people learn, teach and play through a range of resources and sheet music. It has a rich 100-year history with over 150,000 active titles on sale around the world.
We have worked with Alfred Music for more than a quarter of that century, including on the design and hosting of e-commerce sites.
CHALLENGE
As a global organisation with thousands of products across different markets, suppliers and licences, Alfred Music needed a cohesive and integrated e-commerce solution, where digital products could be safely ordered and downloaded.
For the customer, the new sites had to showcase the offering in the relevant markets. At the same time, products from different suppliers needed their own websites, but accessible from the Alfred Music homepage.
And it all needed to integrate seamlessly with back-office functions, bringing together multiple stock feeds from the US, Germany and the UK, and linking those with the UK distribution company.
SOLUTION
Alfred Music required a safe and secure e-commerce site which reflected the different global markets. For example, the US website showcases the entire product range, while the UK and Germany have unique ranges based on licensing agreements. Germany also has different VAT rules, VAT rates and postage.
We created a bespoke software solution which could combine these multiple stock feeds into a single master feed that generates orders, manages stock and informs customers of lead times. It automatically incorporates the different postage and VAT rates applicable.
We also built a management system which enables the Alfred Music team to easily update the site and availability of products.
As an extra layer of support and reassurance, we provide a monthly maintenance package to create feeds, maintain the e-commerce site and update security.
RESULTS
The bespoke solution incorporates the complexities of different markets, products and licences into one automated system.
There is now a robust and smooth process for global sales, where customers can safely order and download digital products and Alfred Music can receive and manage those orders through one master feed.
The Alfred Music team can easily update the site, create new offers, keep customers informed and track activity. Ultimately this has led to an increase in orders.
Bespoke automated system
Safe and secure online ordering platform
User-friendly content management system