Earlier this month at the annual English Asian Business Awards, Raishma.co.uk, a site we launched in March 2014, won the award for Best Online Business of 2015. Raishma are a leading Asian fusion fashion brand and when we started working with them over a year ago, they needed a website as beautiful as their collections. This award was a ringing endorsement of our work on the project and shows what can happen when you combine great design with clever strategy and flawless functionality.
Perhaps even more telling, Raishma were nominated by the public, testament to just how much affection for the brand has grown over the last year. Also in contention were tiles-direct.com, yukka.co.uk, andaazfashion.co.uk, poojasweets.com, prettylittlething.com and aabcollection.com. All worthy rivals, we were thrilled that the judging panel deemed Raishma.co.uk a cut above the rest based on the company’s dedication to developing their online business and social media presence.
These Awards have grown in stature over the years, with competition become increasingly fierce while the evening itself is always a glamorous occasion. This year’s event was hosted by BBC Radio Leicester’s Kamlesh Purohit and high profile guests included boxer Amir Khan, actor George Newton and Coronation Street star Marc Anwar. Everyone in attendance was there to celebrate the accomplishments and hard work of the Asian business community across the UK – and it was a privilege for us to be part of that.
Although Raishma.co.uk launched over a year ago and we were incredibly proud of the finished site, its success has in truth been measured by the months that followed. Their old site suffered from a dated design and frustrating usability, but we started from scratch with a new strategy. We invested a great deal of time in giving the site a gorgeous contemporary look and feel, and prioritised creating a space for engaging, readable content to drive traffic to the site.
We knew within the first few months that our approach had paid off – online sales tripled after the launch of the new shop and traffic to the site increased by 31%. Results like this underline just how crucial ecommerce is to the overall success of any retailer, and why it is worth investing in a market-leading website. Our Managing Director Simon Bell remarked: “I can bang on about the importance of beautiful design and top notch usability all day but when sites like Raishma’s perform as they have done, that speaks for itself. This award is a reflection not only of Raishma’s high quality products but proof positive that if you want to sell more online, you need a website that showcases what you have to offer in its best light.”
We believe this award is still only the beginning for Raishma.co.uk; with their vision for the brand and our ongoing support, traffic and sales will continue to soar. Here’s to the next year.
