Kahua Music - eCommerce Web Design
Middlesbrough, Cleveland
Kahua began in 2005 as a record store in Middlesbrough in the north-east of England, specialising in 12" dance vinyl records, CDs and DJ equipment. After 3 years of successful trading online and in-store, it was decided to concentrate all efforts on the web and sell solely online.
Kahua was awarded 'Cool Cuts' status in 2006, placing it amongst the top 20 tastemaker record stores in the UK. Part of Kahua's success is down to constantly staying ‘on the ball’, with new records arriving several times a week alongside an extensive back catalogue including many rare and sought after gems. By building up close links with record labels and distributors there's always a healthy stack of upfront releases and promos for sale.
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Kahua Music Says
We wanted a web company who had experience of web design, particularly in e-commerce, reliability and who could provide fast support when needed. We did speak to a couple of other providers who did not convey the same levels of confidence or professionalism as Visualsoft. We were impressed by Visualsoft after our first meeting – the three people we met were confident and knowledgeable and also able to point us in the direction of sources of funding for the development. The range of other sites in Visualsoft’s portfolio was also appealing.
The main reason for developing a new site was to bring in an extra revenue stream - market conditions dictate any successful record shop has to trade online and can’t rely on just a physical store with a smaller reach. Our product targets a very niche market and so it is vital for us to reach as much of that market as possible. Our previous website (which we had inherited) was poor, brought in little trade and reflected badly on the image we were trying to convey to our customers.
The new website built by Visualsoft generated additional income and allowed Kahua to look more professional, contributing to a stronger and more visible brand. It has become the central focus of the business and is a great way to show people what we are about in the first instance. Its professional appearance matches other areas where we try to excel, such as customer service and being up to date with new products. Customers find it easy to navigate through the site, which enables us to compete with larger companies.
Kahua continues to be involved with Visualsoft to further develop the site. Our current priority is implementing a more effective marketing strategy, particularly improving the delivery of information to customers about new products and special offers. Additionally, incorporating a fast music player to the site would be very useful.
I have no hesitation in recommending Visualsoft to people looking to develop their own websites. In fact some of them now have sites developed by Visualsoft – I should be on commission!