We’ve been building custom eCommerce sites since 1999, for all types of clients. From this experience, here’s something we can say with certainty: There is no ideal eCommerce solution, because no two eCommerce businesses require the exact same tools.
Lee & Low Books, a Net Theory client since 2013, is the U.S.’s largest multicultural children’s book publisher. Their books cover a vast number of themes across many cultures that other publishers often miss.
They have no brick and mortar store, instead operating from their New York office on Madison Avenue, primarily dealing directly to educators and schools. These customers have a wide variety of needs, in order to satisfy required reading topics, various languages, and to introduce specific, challenging subjects to their students at all grade levels.
To their customer, there is great value to their traditional eCommerce site, with categorical separation, a dynamic cart, and advanced search filters that refine books by many different reading level types, themes, .
To Lee & Low Books, there is even more value to working personally with their clients to build out custom large-scale quotes. Custom Quotes spreadsheets have been a core facet of their business since its inception but had begun to feel deliberate and laborious, compared to the performance and usability of the website.
Early this year, we launched an online version of their Custom Quote system, also known as Quote Mode, utilizing the look-and-feel of the shopping cart and adding custom enhancements. It’s a dynamic system that allows their Salespersons to build a quote much like a customer builds their shopping cart, but with individual sections for classrooms, dynamic column filtering, easy discount application, and a searchable Address Book.
As with most development, we began by implementing a version that takes care of the basic functions first. The Lee & Low team continues to provide great feedback on the new system, and we look forward to its future growth and development.
Learn more about our partnership with Lee & Low books on the Net Theory site.