2. 2
Table of Contents
Cover Page 1
Table of Contents 2
Introduction 3
Design Thinking 4
Host Meeting 5
Online Research & Survey 7
Idea Generation 13
Recommendations 15
Conclusion 23
Appendix 24
3. 3
Ardkeen Quality Food Store
Creative Thinking & Innovation Project
E-Commerce Report
21 October 2015
Introduction & Innovation Team Challenge
As part of our Creative Thinking and Innovation Module of the UCD Postgraduate Certificate
in Innovation, Entrepreneurship & Enterprise we as an Innovation team of 6 were tasked with
a project hosted by Ardkeen Quality Foodstore in Waterford City. The challenge for the
company was to establish a niche in new markets using eCommerce to leverage their very good
relationship with many small suppliers of excellent quality food. The challenge faced by us on
the Innovation team was how to make the eCommerce project a great success. The company
launched and developed a new eCommerce website in April 2015 with limited success to date.
The tag line "The world's best range of Irish Artisan Food" is used. We were tasked with a
number of areas to tackle such as:
Driving traffic to the site
Conversion of that traffic to real business
Average spend online
The grand long term plan presented by the company is to develop a successful business as a
niche retailer firstly in Ireland, secondly in the UK and then internationally.
Company Background
The company is an independent, locally owned and managed food retailer founded in 1967. It
has grown in popularity and scale over the years and has developed a unique food offering. It
specialises in sourcing the best fresh produce and local foods from artisan food producers that
they know and trust and have created a strong working relationship with. Being independent
they have the flexibility to buy the produce their customers want and now possess a range of
fine foods that surpasses all competition in terms of food quality & provenance. An extensive
range of products is also cooked and baked daily at Ardkeen using only the best of ingredients.
The Ardkeen philosophy is to provide great value, better quality food and excellent customer
service.
4. 4
Design Thinking
The approach we used to help innovate a solution to the problem was "Design Thinking". This
is a 5 step process which aims to give a deeper understanding of the problem at hand, which
could potentially lead to a large number of varied solutions. The following steps are written
about in greater detail further into the report. This is just a quick summary of the process
The first step in the design thinking process is Empathy. The idea of the empathy stage is to
try to get a feel for what sort of things people who shop online go through and what makes for
good and bad user experiences. This we did in a number of ways - reading about online
shopping, looking at many different sites, interviews, questionnaires and shopping online
ourselves. We spent a lot of time on this step as its helpful to gather as much information as
possible here, to make it easier for us as we go further into the process.
The second step of the process is to Define the problem. This is not necessarily what people
perceive the problem to be, but what the actual need is. This is summed up nicely by Henry
Ford's quote "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said "Faster Horses"".
Once the problem was defined we moved onto step 3, Ideation. This is essentially a
brainstorming stage which allowed us to explore a wide variety of potential solutions.
Step 4 is to create a Prototype - a basic, functional model of what we envisioned our solution
to be, allowing us to move onto step 5, Testing. This is the fifth and final stage of the design
thinking process which allows us to see how viable the solution to the problem actually is, and
whether there are any potential flaws that emerge once it’s been put into practice. If this is the
case, the process can be repeated as many times as needed.
5. 5
HOST MEETING
Our team met with Kevin Jephson on Tuesday 6th October at Ardkeen Stores. Those present
were Kevin Jephson, Kelly Keane, Shane Murphy, Artemijs Poznaks, Paul Fitzgerald and Joe
Smyth.Information was gathered by Kevin giving us background information and direct
questioning by theteam.
Kevin gave us the following information on Ardkeen.com which included the following,
He realised the potential of business expansion in the online sector so set up a website
in April/ May 2015 but had no formal launch.
He wants to know and understand if there is a market for the online service and if there
is, what does he have to do to increase sales.
They have not had an official launch as Kevin feels they are learning this side of the
business and he wants to feel comfortable with it before a more formal launch. He
would rather make mistakes in private and is willing to change some things first.
Kevin queried if the site is working correctly? , is it targeted to the right audience and
are they presenting the goods correctly?
Kevin feels that something is wrong as people are not buying online.
The website name was mentioned and may be changed in the future but not now.
They do connect online with suppliers through their website and social media but no
connection with Irish food websites such as Love Irish Food.com as this site is not all
Irish Artisan food.
Kevin feels that suppliers would be happy with gradual growth as if they tied in with
multiples such as Tesco/ Lidl they may not be able to fulfil orders and may lose
independence.
Kevin questioned whether the products are organised correctly on the website.
We as a team asked the following question,
Who is presently using the site? ...... Kevin stated they are getting 800 unique hits
per week and sales of approx. 2/3 per week so online interest has not been converted
into online sales. Kevin would accept a 2/3 % conversion rate.
What is the target market? …… The target audience is people who value good food
and who are interested in where it comes from. Present inhouse market is SouthEast
region. Kevin spoke of opening a store in South County Dublin but the cost would
6. 6
be exorbitant so not practical at this time. They want to build a strong online
presence in Ireland and then expand into the UK.
Who are your competitors? …… Not interested in competing with Tesco (cover all
bases) and Lidl (cheaper). Focus is on quality, provenance, specialised service,
community of suppliers and independence. Present online competition is
fallonbyrne.com, donnybrookfair.com.
How far out from Ardkeen Stores do they deliver? …… At present they deliver in
Ireland and have delivered to UK. 500 products are available online in Ireland and
approx. 250 are available in UK, chilled foods can only be delivered to Ireland at
the moment.
What is present level of marketing? …… Present advertising is instore and on
website. It is important that large expense is not incurred at this stage. Ardkeen were
at Electric Picnic this year and some online discount vouchers were distributed but
no great level of activity was generated.
General Observations from the meeting
No loyalty card scheme at present
It must be right in Ireland before an expansion into the UK.
Discussions have been held with Enterprise Ireland and BordBia but Bord
Bia are more interested in the food producers.
Current customers who visit the store are not the target market.
Kevin realises that there is a problem, the Ecommerce is not generating
sales and can we advise him on what can and can’t work before they invest
more money into the project.
7. 7
Online Research
Firstly, in order to familiarise ourselves with the company and with the online system and
products that were on offer, we visited Ardkeen.com. We found the website very appealing,
bright and attractive with good use of product photos and offering option to review individual
products. We used Google search to find out the online presence of Ardkeen. We knew the
web address but wanted to see where it came in the list of general searches under the headings
(1) artisan food Ireland (2) artisan food (3) artisan food online shop, ardkeen.com came out on
top every time with Google ads. Ardkeen also featured a number of times on Biabeag.com, a
food blog promoting artisan, local Irish foods.
We looked at the other results of the search under the above headings and found there is another
company in Dublin, Artisan Foods, that sells artisan foods online but currently only to catering
companies and another company, Nolan’s of Clontarf, that have artisan product information
online but not the option to buy. It was apparent here that there was a space in the market for
Ardkeen to excel in. We researched other supermarket’s (Tesco, Supervalue) online service
and carried out mock orders to get an idea of the process involved, as no one in our group had
previously shopped for groceries online. We noted things like; delivery time slots, delivery
cost, delivery locations, ease of use and security of payment. We understand that Ardkeen are
not in competition with the everyday chain supermarket but felt that employing a similar
ordering system would still be beneficial. i.e. the option to choose a delivery time that suits.
We carried out online surveys, asking the general public five questions relating to artisan foods
and the notion of shopping for food online. We gathered valuable information from this that
was imperative for how we came up with our proposal. The online survey is reported on in
more detail under the market research heading.
We tested Ardkeen’s online service and placed an order for delivery. We found that some
products needed additional information such as size/weight of product, nutritional information
and clear pricing, this is mentioned again in more detail under website recommendations. After
selecting our items and continuing to the checkout we were prompted to give out contact,
billing/shipping and payment details, with so far no mention of delivery times. We continued
to the next stage which was confirmation of order and subsequently received an email
explaining that when item were dispatched we would receive further notification and a tracking
number. This system is customary when ordering non essential items i.e not food. There is a
certain expectation when ordering from a known supermarket/store, especially with food items,
8. 8
that delivery would be same day or within twenty four hours and indeed allow you the option
to select the time that suits seeing as it is a courier service and not an post. We rang the staff at
Ardkeen straight after receiving the confirmation email and asked for a guideline delivery time,
the staff member who answered the phone was polite and even though they didn’t have the
information they took our details and assured us that they would find out and call back.
We placed the order at 10:20, spoke with Ardkeen at 10:30, we got a prompt response and
Christine called back at 11:10 explaining that usual delivery is next day but that they would
accommodate us and send the items that same day. We got another call at 12:10 informing us
that one particular item was no longer in stock and we were offered a refund or replacement.
The possibility that an order can be placed online and then an item sell out in the physical store
needs to be addressed. Items were delivered at 12:30 as promised. It was a very personal service
and showed the level of care that the team at Ardkeen have for their company and their
customers, at the same time these teething problems need to be addressed if the online service
is going to be a success.
The Online Survey
After the results of our first questionnaire, we wasted no time in sending out a survey using
Surveymonkey.com. The survey contained 5 questions (2 open, 3 closed) and received 85
responses in 5 days. The questions asked were as follows.
1) Have you ever shopped for food online?
2) Would you shop for Artisan Irish Food online?
3) What would encourage you to shop for artisan food online?
4) What was the reason for shopping/ not shopping online?
5) Do you shop regularly for any other foods/services online?
9. 9
I’ll start by looking at the answers to the closed questions.
Our first question "Have you ever shopped for food online" was asked to get a feel for how
many people were using online food shopping services of any kind (not just Artisan foods).
The result was that 36% had while 64% had not
The second question "Would you shop for Artisan food online" was just a straightforward way
to gauge what sort of interest there was for the service Ardkeen is offering. The result was that
52% would be willing while 48% would not.
The fifth question we asked "Do you shop regularly for any other products or services online?"
was asked to see how many people shopped online at all. The result was that an impressive
78% of respondents shopped online while online 22% did not.
The answers we were particularly interested in were to questions 3 and 4 (the open questions).
The answers to these would help us define why people weren’t interested in shopping online
for artisan food and what could be done to encourage people to use the site.
After going through all the answers to question 3 "What was the reason for shopping/not
shopping online" we saw that there were two answers as to why people would not shop online.
The first answer was that people "Would rather shop in a real shop" (31 responses such as "I
enjoy the store experience", "Concerns over quality and freshness", "Lack of information",
etc.). The second reason people would not shop online was that people were unaware of the
service offered (20 responses such as "I didn’t know I could shop online", "I’ve never heard
of this shop", etc.). All the answers as to why people would shop online could be grouped
together under the headline "Convenience" (8 responses such as "Easy way to get good quality
food", "time saving", etc.)
10. 10
The answers to question 4 "What would encourage you to shop for artisan food online could
be broken down into 5 categories.
Quality "Quality guarantee" (11 responses)
"Service guarantee" (5)
"Same Day delivery" (3)
"Fresh, seasonal produce" (2)
Variety "Products unavailable anywhere else" (7 Responses)
"Large selection" (4)
Exposure "Better advertising" (9 Responses)
"Familiarity with brand" (3)
Price Price (16 Responses)
Offers (6)
Free Delivery (5)
Free samples (3)
Loyalty rewards (1)
Website "Easy Layout" (8 Responses)
"Information (On producers, nutritional information, health benefits)
(8)
With these results in mind, we were able to define possible barriers to potential customers.
Question 3 tells us the main problems are that people prefer the "In-store" experience and that
people are concerned about quality and freshness when buying online. As well as this, we also
saw there is a lack of awareness out there, not only of the availability of artisan foods online,
but also of the Ardkeen brand itself.
11. 11
Question 4 showed us that more than anything it was the price of produce that determined how
likely people were to shop online. Other key factors included how easy it was to navigate the
website and how much information about the products was available online. As before,
familiarity with the brand was also shown to be an issue.
These were all important insights we would have to keep in mind as we moved towards the
ideation stage.
12. 12
Street Survey
The first bit of market research we did was a loosely structured open interview. We specifically
chose to ask open questions to encourage our interviewees to share as much information about
their online shopping experiences as possible. Up until this point, we only had the experiences
of our group members to work with so we hoped this interview might expose us to some other
ideas which had not occurred to us. The information gathered from this survey would help
inform the questions we would ask in the online survey
Our questions were as follows:
1) Have you ever shopped online? If so, what products have you purchased?
2) Why did you choose to shop online for these products?
3) What made you choose the site you chose to shop from?
In response to question one, we found that nearly everyone we spoke to have had some
experience with online shopping. Some had bought food, but for the vast majority it was non-
perishables such as clothes, books and electronics.
When asked why they decided to shop online the two most common answers were that it was
cheaper to shop online and that shopping online gave them access to a much larger selection
of products, many of which were unavailable locally. Some interviewees went on to mention
that they did not like the idea of buying food online as it was important to them to be able to
handle the produce to check quality, read labels and see the nutritional values. Some said they
did not trust a website to be as discerning as they would be.
Nearly every interviewee had the same answer to the final question. The main factor in
determining what website they had decided to buy from was that it was a brand name they
recognized and trusted. Given that people were buying non-perishables for the most part, by
far the most commonly used website of everyone we spoke with was Amazon.com
With the information we gathered from this survey, we were ready to begin writing questions
for our online survey.
13. 13
The Generation of Ideas
The following is a list of ideas generated by the team to fulfil the challenges set forth.
Website:
4 seasons boxes on homepage
User-friendly for tablet and phone
Make your own gift basket/hamper
Proof-read food descriptions
Change website name/title to include Artisan and Irish
About Us - include bios and pics of owners/employees
Include Health Benefits/Info in food descriptions
Have separate About section - not first thing on homepage
Better tablet experience
Link to: Expat Fb pages, websites, GAA sites, food blogs, expat pubs, food producers
Update site offers regularly
Make the website a portal for Irish artisan foods
Website needs to be targeted as a driver of online sales
Have offers on homepage
Need for 2 twitter accounts?
Wishlist
Pop-up personal online shopping assistant – avail for questions etc.
Online virtual farmer’s market
Incentives:
Get people to make accounts
More recipes
Loyalty card/accounts/incentives
Free delivery loyalty options
Throw in free samples every now and again (online)
Give discounts to suppliers for ingredients
Seasonal products
Deals of the week
First time purchase offers
Subscription services (like 4 seasons hamper)
14. 14
Hampers - cater for vegan/gluten free
Give discount according to how many times they shopped
Newsletter? Old ones to view? How often? Special offers
Encourage people to leave reviews/testimonials on products
Highlight positive wording - bold/italic
More Free shipping
Sending chilled/frozen internationally? Ideas?
Exposure:
Ploughing match
Instagram Account/ Pinterest
Dedicated stall at farmers markets for a few months/ highlight the website
Travel to all the country's farmer's markets
Pop up shops in tourist dense areas e.g. airport
Advertising - radio/tv
Foodie bloggers
Video on website and social media - cooking demos
Target TV programmes - Irish chefs e.g. Rachel Allen
Reach out to specific restaurants
Link to other foodie websites
Host events to meet suppliers/producers
FB competitions
St Patrick's Day in London
More active on social media
Cooking competitions with their products
Food events/festivals around Ireland and UK
St. Patrick's Day - Irish Food Market - London 2014 Trafalgar Square over 80000
people visited
Portable food vans to provide sandwiches etc. using Ardkeen artisan produce
15. 15
Recommendations:
Virtual Farmers Market
After considering the main issues people had with online shopping in relation to food items,
the main one being trust; we came up with a concept that solves the issue of people wanting to
choose their own produce by getting the customer as close to seeing, feeling and smelling the
products as possible, online. The Virtual Farmers Market would offer a similar experience to
that of a traditional farmers market, but without having to leave home. Similar to popular
‘platform’ computer games, the layout would be from the point of view of the customer who
is free to walk around the field where the market is set. An Ardkeen Quality Food Store banner
would be the first thing you see highlighting the market entrance. The market itself will feature
all of the artisan and local producers’ products, each of whom will have a stall with their
company name above and lifelike portrayals of the products they have for sale on the stall table.
The producer’s avatar stands behind the stall and their profile is available to view along with
the option to chat, see FAQ’S and product information all with a wave of the cursor. It would
give visitors to the website an authentic experience where they can walk around, browse stalls,
look at products and their nutritional information etc, and even interact with the suppliers. It
would allow customers to get all the necessary information on products while giving them the
opportunity to ask their own questions to the producers themselves. The idea would be that the
market is available to view anytime but once a week there will be a two hour slot where
producers are online and available to talk with customers. If a customer wants to buy a product
they simply add to their basket and when they are ready to pay click ‘go to checkout’ and they
will promptly be redirected to the Ardkeen website where they can finish the transaction
securely.
The concept of the farmers market making the transition into the virtual world has many
positives. For one, it will help the artisan producers to reach a larger clientele nationwide,
perhaps even internationally, without having the inconvenience of packing up a truck load of
produce and spending hours travelling and setting up a stand. It will also cut out the speculative
nature of the traditional farmers markets where producers have to guesstimate the number of
items that might sell as opposed to the online market where products are selected and packed
as the orders come in, this is especially beneficial for perishable or harvested produce. For the
consumer, the benefits are boundless, there is no rush or panic to buy, they can take their time
16. 16
and browse leisurely around the market knowing that they can purchase their goods when they
are ready without fear of them selling out like at a traditional market. It is possible to see what
goods are on offer 24/7 so you can have a good idea of what you’d like before the market
‘opens’. The consumer will have access to any and all information that is required on all
produce and can even get the inside story from the person who produced or grew the item, all
without having to leave the comfort of their home. The virtual market is a very practical way
to get the quality products to your customer in a way that is convenient, informative, time
saving and modern with the added appeal of the authentic market experience and being able to
interact with the suppliers. The main reason people shied away from buying food online was
that they couldn’t get a feel for the item, most wanted to smell and touch the products to get a
better idea of the quality. The virtual farmers market eliminates this issue by giving all the
product information, and talking to the supplier about their produce thus earning the trust of
the consumer.
The other major concern which arose when surveying the general public, was the lack of
comprehension of the term ‘artisan’. We felt that if people understood what artisan signified
then they would be more likely to seek it out and purchase such items. The term ‘farmers
market’ is widely recognised and instantly portrays an image in your mind of fresh,
handmade/produced, traditional and top quality goods, therefore by employing this phrase we
immediately have the customers understanding without having to explain the notion of artisan.
The virtual famers market would have its own website which would be linked to ardkeen.com.
All payments would be processed through the existing website and we would offer the option
of delivery of items or collection from the store, with further plans to host physical farmers
markets in addition to the virtual one where you can also meet the growers and suppliers but
have your products ready to go.
17. 17
Exposure
One of the principle areas to tackle was increasing exposure and driving traffic to the website
which currently is not as high as the company would like. We identified a number of reasons
for this:
Local knowledge only of company
Local reach only of website
Lack of external social media links to website
Lack of website launch and website advertising
We focused on tackling these issues for the Irish and UK markets for the sake of this report.
We believe this is the route to take first before tackling the mainland European market. There
are three principle areas; 1. Festivals & Farmers Markets, 2. Social Media and 3. Website
Launch where we believe should be targeted. Use the website more as an online sales
portal/distributor for Irish Artisan foods as opposed to simply a company website (see Website
recommendations section).
1. Festivals &Farmers Markets
Ireland
A dedicated Ardkeen artisan food stall at the National Ploughing Championships in the
local food enterprise tent highlighting particularly the company's website and its online
ordering capability.
A dedicated mobile Ardkeen artisan food stall to travel around the country to all local
food festivals and farmers markets (those permitting retailers), not only in the southeast
region but nationally, and again highlighting particularly the company's website and its
online ordering capability.
UK
A dedicated Ardkeen artisan food stall at the Bord Bia organised All Ireland Speciality
Food Market in Covent Garden, London held annually over the St. Patricks Day
weekend. This annual event attracts over 80,000 people a day to the food market. Again
highlighting particularly the company's website and its online ordering & shipping to
18. 18
the UK capability. Highlight that Ardkeen are the only current Irish supplier of Irish
artisan food to the UK.
2. SocialMedia
Links to Online Food Blogs (Videos & Pictures)
Create and build relationships with online food bloggers with direct links on their blogs
to the Ardkeen website to drive new artisan food type customers to the site.
Send them samples to review. Include both pictures and videos. Research carried out
by us have shown that videos of food products are even more effective than pictures.
Links to Ex-Pat Facebook Sites
Create and build relationships with UK expat facebook pages, UK expat GAA club
facebook pages and UK expat Irish Pub facebook pages.
Create direct links on these pages to the Ardkeen website highlighting online shipping
of artisan Irish food products and hampers to the UK expat Irish community
Example Facebook Pages to target: Irish In Britain, London Irish Centre, The Irish Post,
London GAA
Twitter & Instagram
Consolidate the company's two Twitter accounts in to one. There is currently one not
very active Ardkeen twitter account and one very active Colin Jephson @ Ardkeen
twitter account. Two accounts are splitting the message.
Create an Ardkeen Instagram and Pinterest account where product pictures and videos
can be uploaded. These in particular can be linked to third party food blogs and third
party facebook sites. Food production videos and food cookery videos particularly
appeal to the artisan foodie blog community.
Facebook
Become more active on the company's facebook site. Develop competitions and
giveaways.
19. 19
Create direct links to third party facebook sites mentioned above.
3. Website Launch
The company has invested a lot of time and money in to creating quite an impressive
and visually appealing website. However there has been no official website launch and
very little advertising from it.
We recommend an official website launch to grab attention and a lot more advertising
of the existence of the website and online purchasing capability.
20. 20
Website Recommendations
Overall the team believes the website is really great. It’s user-friendly, interesting, colourful and not overloaded with information like other
websites of its kind. The search tool is good and the stories and pictures of the food heroes are lovely.
Please find below a list of some recommendations for the website (for ease of use this list can be emailed if requested)
Supplier Product Error Type Suggestion Website Page
WildOats Gift Pack
More information
required
Info about WildOats, Ingredients ofproducts,
Picture ofsupplier (2Soaps gift pack has much more
info) https://www.ardkeen.com/shop/sundries/wild-oats-gift-pack
Ciara’s
PantryJams
3 Jelly Gift
Pack
More information
required
Ingredients List needs tobe completed,
first sentence ofinfoabout product has grammatical
errors https://www.ardkeen.com/shop/larder/3-jams-blackcurrant-and-apple-jelly-four-fruit-marmalade-chargrilled-red-p
Ardkeen
Online & In-
store Gift
Vouchers Image misleading
The €20voucherimage usedfor all voucher
types couldbe replacedwith a betterimage https://www.ardkeen.com/shop/hampers-and-gifts/online-gift-voucher/
Big Red Kitchen Box of 4 Jams
Informationnot
clear The ingredients list is not clear as towhat product https://www.ardkeen.com/shop/larder/box-of-4-jams
Joe's Farm Crisps
Gluten Free
Mixed
Beetroot
Crisps
More information
required No ingredients listedornutritional information https://www.ardkeen.com/shop/larder/mixed-beetroot-crisps-with-a-sprinkle-of-irish-sea-salt
Joe's Farm Crisps
Vegetable
Crisps
More information
required No information/photoabout supplier https://www.ardkeen.com/shop/larder/joes-farm-vegetable-crisps-parsnip-carrot-and-beetroot-with-irish-sea-salt
Ardkeen
Great Granola
Bundle
More information
required
No informationabout individual products –
ingredients/size of product etc https://www.ardkeen.com/shop/larder/great-granola-bundle
Gubbeen
Farmhouse
Produce
Gubbeen
Smokehouse
Pepperoni
Spelling/Grammar
mistake
Supplier's name is spelledincorrectly oninfo about
product https://www.ardkeen.com/shop/larder/pepperoni
Killowen
Farmhouse
Yoghurt
Killowen
Probiotic
Blueberry
Spelling/Grammar
mistake "bluberry" in product description https://www.ardkeen.com/shop/chilled/probiotic-blueberry
Burren
Smokehouse
SmokedFish
Platter
Spelling/Grammar
mistake The paragraphabout product is filledwith spellingerrors https://www.ardkeen.com/shop/chilled/smoked-fish-platter
O'Neill's Dry Cure
Bacon Co.
Dry Cured
Rashers
Spelling/Grammar
mistake
"shrinkingthepan","bout bacon""that the average",
"phosphtes"in infoabout product https://www.ardkeen.com/shop/larder/dry-cured-rashers
Ardkeen
Seaweed
optionin
larder Error 404 Website errorforlink https://www.ardkeen.com/shop/larder/seaweed/
Ballymaloe
Ballymaloe
Original
Relish
Squeezy
Spelling/Grammar
mistake "Yasmin no produces"in product description https://www.ardkeen.com/shop/larder/ballymaloe-original-relish-squeezy-350g
21. 21
Ardkeen Quinoa
More information
required
It would be great to haveproduct historyandcountryof
origin https://www.ardkeen.com/shop/larder/ardkeen-quinoa-500g
Clearspring
Organic
Japanese
Brown Rice
Udon
Spelling/Grammar
mistake "satisfyinh"in product description https://www.ardkeen.com/shop/larder/clearspring-organic-japanese-brown-rice-udon-200g
Tobys Cider
Toby's
Original Cider
Spelling/Grammar
mistake "sweetners" under dietaryinfo https://www.ardkeen.com/shop/beverages/original
Writers Tears
Pot Still Irish
Whiskey
More information
required no information about product or ingredients or storage https://www.ardkeen.com/shop/beverages/pot-still-irish-whiskey
Stonewell Cider
Tobairin Irish
Craft Cider
Spelling/Grammar
mistake
"Operations have progressednowmore modern
press is used" in supplier information https://www.ardkeen.com/shop/beverages/tobairin-irish-craft-cider
White Gypsy
Brewery
Belgian
Dubell
Spelling/Grammar
mistake
"WhiteGypsy even goes so far s togrowtheir
own hops" in supplier information https://www.ardkeen.com/shop/beverages/belgian-dubell
Trouble Brewing
Dark Arts
Porter
Spelling/Grammar
mistake "definately"and"altogethr" in product description https://www.ardkeen.com/shop/beverages/dark-arts-porter
Along with correcting the information as above, we also suggest adding more information about the products including more photos and more
information about the nutritional content and health benefits of the products. The ingredients lists should clearly show the more prominent
ingredients to least prominent ingredients.
We suggest offering more fruit and vegetable options and also believe it would be beneficial to improve the filtering of products – sometimes
when filtering for vegetarian not all of the available vegetarian products showed up. Adding a “vegan” option to the filters is another
recommendation.
The stories and pictures of the food heroes are great. We recommend offering short video clips of the food heroes producing/preparing/cooking
their products on the website along with on social media. Videos of employees cooking with the products is also a great option.
Incentives that grab the customer’s attention are needed on the homepage – first to encourage that first buying experience and secondly to show
the benefits of customer loyalty. Offers such as free delivery or a discount for first purchase, followed by free samples or weekly/monthly special
offers should be advertised clearly.
22. 22
Website Recommendations
Include “ Artisan Food “ in company name on website, example: “Ardkeen Irish
Artisan Foods“
Use the website as a sales portal for Artisan Irish Food which means maybe becoming
the central distributor of all Irish Artisan Food online.
Amend homepage to emphasise the availability of varied hampers and utilise your
present instore customers to build this strand of business.
Amend the homepage to offer offers/ incentives which would include deals of the
week, seasonal hampers, free samples and first time delivery offers.
Amend homepage to become sales portal as described above.
More nutritional information and health benefit information in product descriptions.
A personal online shopping assistant to answer any questions/ queries while the
customer is online.
23. 23
Conclusion
The recommendations more or less comprises two suggestions and one innovation. The
suggestions speak for themselves and should be cost effective and simple to implement.
Obviously our innovation is a simple prototype made in 6 days to give a basic idea of how a
program like this could be implemented. For the online virtual famers market, to go further,
there are a number of steps that could be taken.
A completed version could feature all of Ardkeen’s suppliers, as well as room for expansion
should more suppliers wish to be a part of this service. A fully functional live instant messaging
service will be available to allow customers interact and chat directly with the food producer.
Given the near limitless possibilities when creating a digital world, the online market could in
theory offer virtually anything else you can imagine.
