Ampersand were invaluable in their execution of the Magento extension and integration pieces we required.
Mike Kelly, Former Technical Lead, Pentagon Direct (Giftbox UK)
Pentagon Direct is an Ecommerce company based in Jersey, Channel Islands, UK. They sell a large range of products across many categories including; Tools/DIY, Electronics, Cosmetics, Apparel, Toys & Games through their own website, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de and eBay.co.uk.
Pentagon Direct approached us with their new venture, GiftBoxUK. Refining their wide range of products, to offer gifts focused around occasions and people, they wanted to develop an easy-to-navigate gifting site to promote over the Christmas period. With a large TV ad campaign in the works, we were asked to develop a fast and reliable site that could keep up with the heavy retail demands of the holiday season.
Using the Magento Community Edition, we developed, tested and launched a scalable store, which seamlessly integrated GiftBoxUK with Pentagon Direct’s existing 3rd party systems, including Real Time Despatch. In anticipation for the holiday rush, we also implemented and benchmarked a scalable server setup solution to ensure reliability during the TV campaign.
GiftBoxUK launched on time and processed large volumes of orders in the run up to the Christmas period, whilst maintaining 100% uptime. The TV ad campaign that launched in tandem drove traffic to the site and resulted in a large volume of sales. The usability of the site significantly increased conversion rates compared to the other business’ stores.
