Usinger's

The makers of America's finest sausage realized that, because of the Web, the move into the 21st century would be a little different that their move to the 20th century. A company that has been around since before the automobile doesn't make decisions quickly nor lightly. Although a bit reluctant, Usinger's made the decision to put their world-famous sausage business on the Web. Trivera has been honored to be the elves' first and only choice as their Web technology partner since the very beginning in 1996. As one of our longest and most valued relationships, the site has gone through several versions, looks and functionality sets.

The Strategy

Because of the non-conventional nature of their extremely perishable product, and the extreme customer service that Usinger's is known for, a complex, yet intuitive shopping cart experience was necessary. Presentation of their old world identity and personality was also a prerequisite.

Design and Technology

The Web site e-commerce module contains a complete listing of all the products sold by Usinger's, both gift boxes and bulk sausage, along with a secured, encrypted shopping cart to allow visitors to select, purchase and ship those products anywhere in the nation. The shipping requirements for these perishable items at various times of year and over various distances presented a real challenge for our programmers that they met with smart design and creative technology. They provided a mechanism to calculate those shipping charges, even when the same person was making multiple purchases, shipped to different locations. An administrative module allows the Usinger to easily modify the product information, shipping charges, zones, amount of insulated packaging and dry ice necessary to maintain the product quality all the way to its recipients. For those who prefer to do business the old fashioned way, visitors can request a paper catalog via the site, too. Usinger's has seen their online sales increase steadily and significantly every year, and are poised to have a record season again this year. Previous upgrades and enhacements to the site included shopper registration to remember the shopper's address book, details order history and online order tracking.

Work has begun on a brand new suite of sites, including a general information corporate site, a gift site, retail site and wholesale site, all running on the powerful new Magento Shopping cart framework. The new sites will be launching in first quarter 2009.

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