Jurassic Ridge Web Hosting & Development

Web development project for Jurassic Ridge vineyard on Waiheke Island.

The client wanted to redesign some key aspects of their existing website’s online shop and approached Purple Dog following a recommendation by another of our customers.

Jurassic Ridge is a boutique vineyard that produces their own wine and then sells it globally from their website.  Unfortunately, the customer’s online shopping experience was confusing and cumbersome and this had a negative impact on sales.

As well as providing the website hosting and domain name services for the client, we also performed a general website redesign. This enabled the client to easily update the products in the admin section, and display them in a more visually appealing manner on the front end.

By re-engineered some important aspects of the site’s online shop functionality, we made the purchasing experience simpler, more enjoyable and more efficient, resulting in an dramatic increase in sales.

The net result is that shoppers are now able to quickly find and view the product information they seek and purchase wine in a more user-friendly and streamlined fashion. And Jurassic Ridge is enjoying an increased revenue stream!

We recently re-jigged our website with Purple Dog and it was a pleasure to work with Sol Harris who provides a fast and efficient service with great results.

Highly recommended!
Lance Blumhardt, Church Bay Rise Company Ltd

View the website: www.jurassicridge.co.nz

NB I can also vouch for the amazing and delightful wine quality too, and highly recommend the Cabernet Franc 2008

Fun Rentals New Website

It’s with great pleasure that we are happy to announce the latest site to go live; Fun Rentals.

Based on beautiful Waiheke Island, Fun Rentals is a car and scooter hire company serving locals and tourists alike.

Greg Minter, the owner, needed a revamp of the one page site he inherited when he bought the business and approached Purple Dog to provide some ideas.  Our solution includes a bold orange colour scheme to match his company branding, photo galleries and of course, the essential online booking engine to accept credit card payments.

The vehicles may not be new, but Greg’s customer service and knowledge of the Island is legendary.

Now car hire on Waiheke Island is easy, with Fun Rentals’ new website!  So if you’re planning a trip to Waiheke in the near future, make sure to call Greg @ Fun Rentals first…

Visit www.funrentals.co.nz for more information.

Customer Testimonial

Purple Dog Design ROCKS!  I came to Sol Harris, owner of Purple Dog, looking to energise my business through e-commerce, define and promote the Fun Rentals brand, and expand the reach and influence of Fun Rentals through social networking.  I wanted a one-stop shop that would take care of not only my website, but my hosting, domain registration, and more.

Sol worked with me every step of the way from initial design concepts through implementation and beyond.  I can rely on Sol to troubleshoot and fix any issues that crop up.  He took the time to listen to my needs and we worked out a plan to address every one of my concerns.  His solutions were thoughtful, insightful, and effective.

One of the most important aspects of the Purple Dog designed Fun Rentals website was the ability to book our cars and scooters online.  Sol’s solution is just perfect and he provided extensive online testing, effective communication (and with his developer) and thorough support all the way.

I would recommend Sol Harris and Purple Dog Design to any business looking to invigorate itself through an intelligently designed website and using online marketing strategies to generate more sales, identify and expand the business brand, and fully integrate itself into the ever-expanding opportunities and markets that social networking represents to businesses big and small.

Sincerely,
Greg Minter
Director
www.funrentals.co.nz

Gunters Vegan Cakes website and ebook

It’s not every day that someone writes a recipe book, let alone one dedicated to vegan cakes! So when Gunter Eberwein approached us to help him create an ebook – and the accompanying website to sell it, we were very excited – especially since he was offering free tastings !!

Gunter is a talented chef who originally hails from Germany and now lives in Australia. Over the course of several years, he has put together over 100 delicious vegan cake recipes, and gathered some beautiful photography of the baking process and finished cakes too.

The issue for Gunter was one that is, unfortunately, common to most start-up artists, musicians, writers and creative types all over the world!  Having great “material” – idea or product – is not usually enough in itself – it’s just the beginning.  The real question is “how on Earth do I get myself out there and get noticed?”.

Being a part-time musician and composer myself, I know how hard it can be to jump from being the creator to the marketer.  With this in mind, I wanted to make Gunters eBook distinctly personalised – a vegan recipe ebook that would not only be great for making vegan cakes, but would also tell a good story about the “artist” himself – some history and where the recipe inspiration came from.

After sampling quite a few delicious cakes, we ended up with an eBook that has over 70 easy to follow recipes, with background information, step by step instructions, and awesome images to accompany it.

The next job was to set up a website to sell the eBook.  In truth, that was a much easier job, since the design and functionality largely fell out of the eBook.  Facebook was next and that has also proven to be another very popular avenue for publication of short snippets and of course, direct feedback.

Overall, Gunter’s Vegan Cakes eBook has sold extremely well from the website – with many satisfied customers writing reviews and thank-you notes.  Visit the website and take a good look around and perhaps buy yourself (or your mum / girlfriend / lover / husband!) a Vegan Cake eBook:  www.guntersvegancakes.com

Here’s what Gunter had to say about our work:

Sol & his company Purple Dog were recommended to me and from the moment we made contact, I knew I’d made the right choice.   Sol has provided me with a professional website and eBook product that I am proud of.  Purple Dog was definitely the right choice for my business and I would not hesitate to recommend Sol’s services…

Gunter Eberwein, Business Owner, Gunter’s Vegan Cakes

www.guntersvegancakes.com

The Sk8factory ecommerce website contributed credibility to the brands and increased profits

The Sk8factory is an online store selling everything to do with skateboards, street clothing and more.

It’s the online retail presence of the well known Australian brands of BOOM, Edwards and Strobe, amongst others, that have been popular in Australia and New Zealand for over 30 years.

Originally trading at wholesale only, the company directors decided it was time to approach the growing ecommerce market and sell direct to the public.

Purple Dog was approached to develop the online strategy, including creating and managing the website, online branding, ad campaigns, online marketing and more.  What started as a 6 month project has continued for several years…

In the first 8 months, the new site attracted over 1 million unique users, contributing enormous credibility to the company’s brands and enabled continued business growth form increased sales.

Sol Harris of Purple Dog has proven to be invaluable in helping our company achieve its e-commerce and e-marketing goals. He has excellent knowledge and insight into the world of the web and is hard-working, honest and has a well structured approach to business – a winning combination!
Jonathan Edwards, Director, Boom Skateboard Co Ltd

[Click Here To Visit Website]

- accept payments online

- maximise your sales

- increase profitability

45% of Kiwis now spend their hard earned money online buying 1) books, 2) toys, 3) clothing and shoes.  This trend is set to increase further over the Christmas and Summer periods.

Many people are expected to avoid crowds and shop online this Christmas and this is one of the reasons many of the large retailers are investing heavily in online shops.  Stuart Yorston, Marketing Manager of The Warehouse says his company has recently invested millions of $s in their new online shop presence and that they are “in it for the long-term because it’s the way of the future”.

Buying online has become much easier and safer and means consumers don’t have to face the shopping mall crowds, can have a wider range of choice of products and can do it all in a more comfortable environment.

If you would like to investigate the possibilities of opening and running an online shop for your business, please get in touch.