Case Study
Howdens DepotLink catalogue Find out how the SharePoint catalogue delivered for Howdens improves depot efficiencies and increases upsell rates.
The Challenge Howdens is the UK’s leading trade supplier of kitchens, employing over 5,000 people across the country. They operate successfully in over 500 different depots, and in each
What did Howdens have to say?
one of them, local life is an integral part of the business. For more information, please visit www.howdens.com.
“This has been one of the most
Howdens wanted to have a depot information system where staff could access and share
successful IT projects we’ve run in
product information quickly and easily. The challenge was to offer a solution that would
terms of feedback of the result. We have
permit multiple content authors across multiple offices to contribute to the site, as well as ensure that the solution would be simple to use and navigate through, empowering staff to use the system without having to undergo any training.
had a flood of positive reaction from the depots. Many of them expressed that they don’t know how they ever
The Solution
managed without this tool. To get this
Content and Code delivered a customised, intuitive Microsoft SharePoint intranet catalogue
type of response from them was very
with a strong focus on usability, design and visual representation. The site offers advanced
satisfying.
search, displaying results with thumbnail previews, as well as graphical navigation. To help
Content and Code’s agile methodology
drive efficiency and enable staff to respond to customer queries faster, product specifications
worked well for us. The proof really is
and information is published directly on individual product pages rather than buried in PDFs
the end result and it was fantastic. We
and other documents.
are now using the scrum methodology for our own internal IT projects and are
The Results The level of feedback from the depots has been fantastic; people are getting the right information at the right time, quickly and easily. The navigation, search function and
already in discussions with Content and Code for future projects. We value
individual product pages were key to making the new intranet a success. From a sales
ourselves on trust so once we choose
perspective, the intranet has made the depots more efficient as sellers have more product
reliable external partners we stick with
knowledge and can better advise on products that their customers are looking to purchase,
them for years.”
ultimately making it easier to upsell and helping them establish a trusted advisor status.
Mark Lloyd Intranet & Communications Manager Howdens
The adoption of the site has been overwhelming and the solution is now viewed as a business critical system. Whilst their previous intranet generated an average of 170,000 hits per month, this has nearly doubled to 280,000 hits. In addition, from an IT perspective, this has allowed the business to move away from their previous intranet and consolidate business solutions to use the same SharePoint platform.
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Content and Code Ltd
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T: +44 207 101 0930
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www.contentandcode.com