“In a perfect world, the most important connections we make in life wouldn’t require batteries or illuminated screens.” reflect Millican founders Jorrit and Nicky.

An idyllic thought really but given the significance of the Internet in today’s business world it’s not one we can ignore. Millican are a forward-thinking and innovative company born out of the passions of its owners. Named after Lake District legend and Godfather of sustainable living Millican Dalton, Millican sell organic canvas rucksacks, shoulder bags, overnight bags, cooler bags and travel accessories beautifully hand crafted from locally sourced materials and methods. Millican’s inspiration comes from far and wide; from wooden gateposts worn smooth by decades of fell walkers to finding someone’s vintage bags, photographs and boxes at a local auction. Jorrit, Nicky and the team at Millican aim to inspire others to care for the planet and to get out there and live your own adventures.

Millican recently moved over to Space 48 to finish their Magento Community Project. We also carry out on-going development work for Millican and provide consultations with their online marketing campaigns. Their site is charmingly crafted and gives off a serene feel with its cross fade transitions and earthly serif fonts. The photography and product shots are crisp and echo the site’s ethos brilliantly. We enjoy working with such radical thinkers and anticipate a bright future working together with them.]]> http://www.space48.com/things-we-like/home-of-millican/feed/ 0 http://www.space48.com/things-we-like/greenhouse-sensation/ http://www.space48.com/things-we-like/greenhouse-sensation/#comments Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:43:20 +0000 jo http://www.space48.com/?p=4232

Greenhouse Sensation was established by botanist John Molyneux to provide products that make it easier for anyone to grow stronger, healthier plants. Greenhouse Sensation products include soil and hydro growing kits and propagators.  The Planters, Propagators and Click & Drip irrigation products are all designed and manufactured by the Greenhouse Sensation team in Lancashire and tested by a team of horticulturalists at their research and development site in Lancashire.

Greenhouse Sensation’s website never fails to make us smile when we visit as its colours are so vibrant and inviting. The feel of the site is fresh, fun and the imagery is crisp with an organic feel to them.

We look forward to working on some exciting future projects with Greenhouse Sensation!]]> http://www.space48.com/things-we-like/greenhouse-sensation/feed/ 0 http://www.space48.com/news/the-future-of-b2b-ecommerce/ http://www.space48.com/news/the-future-of-b2b-ecommerce/#comments Thu, 26 Jan 2012 12:34:42 +0000 jo http://www.space48.com/?p=4012

Over the last few years, growth in B2B ecommerce has continually risen and evolved.  B2B ecommerce provides the perfect medium to provide a solution to many of the problems with regular B2B sales. So, what are the key reasons for growth in B2B ecommerce?

The ability to build stronger relationships with customers

• B2B ecommerce websites make it easier to do business as communication between the business and customers is easier and more direct.
• B2B ecommerce websites allow businesses to be responsive to customers and available constantly without the need to pay to keep a call centre open.

• B2B ecommerce websites allow for customers to process their own orders quickly and easily.
• Customers can search and select the products that they need.

Most B2B trading takes place through phone, fax and sales representatives; each of which are restrictive channels.  B2B ecommerce websites provide a solution to this problem making it easier for customers to place their order and browse the products as and when they would like to.  Online stores allow customers to shop like this already; there is no reason why it should be any different for business to business sales. B2B ecommerce websites strengthens the relationship between the business and the consumer.  Rather than relying on a sales representative to give information to the customers, your website does it all reinforcing your brand.

So, why choose to use a B2B ecommerce website rather than traditional B2B sales?

• Customised catalogues, prices and offers can be produced for each customer.
• Different delivery options can be offered to the customers.
• The ‘store’ is available to browse and buy from 24/7.
• Invoicing and reporting is much simpler and more in depth information is available at your fingertips.

• Further personalisation; this could include different products depending on the customers location and buying history.  Customised catalogues and personalised alerts to remind customers of quotes and current promotions.
• Improved ordering processes.
• Multichannel integration; this could include mobile apps.

Back in October when we first began the rebrand, we also started looking in to redesigning our business cards. We decided that we wanted cards which were different from most. Oh, and a little bit sexy. After searching around for a quality, bespoke print house we discovered the fantastic impressiondp who offered exactly what we wanted.

The cards we designed were printed on a sturdy 540gsm colourplan stock* with a black foil effect on the front and Pantone 382c on the reverse.

We think you’ll agree, they look great and are certainly catching our client’s eyes! Great job impressiondp.

*makes ideal emergency ice scraper

David Robert Jones. Walter Willis. The Rain. Backrub. Brad’s Drink.

Recognise the above names? Nah, we thought not! Believe it or not these are all huge worldwide brands, celebrities and bands that changed their names in order to appeal more to their audiences.

So what’s in a name? A lot. It can quite literally mean the difference between success and failure. When naming a brand or company it needs to be relevant, catchy, memorable and marketable.

We’ve been undergoing a major rebrand here at Optimise Internet and have now become Space 48. Don’t worry, the services we offer remain exactly the same as before and our smashing hold music is still in place (a must for all alternative music fans) We hope that you like our new look and that you enjoy browsing our shiny new website!

Oh, and for all you knowledge-thirsty geeks out there, the names belonged to: David Bowie, Bruce Willis, Oasis, Google and Pepsi.

Fancy that.

Established in 2008, Space 48 is a digital agency which provides creative and innovative ecommerce sites built on the Magento Enterprise platform. We also have the accolade of being a Magento Gold Solutions Partner, quite a feat! We are based in Warrington, Cheshire which is an ideal location to work with clients right across the North West and beyond.

As we are a digital agency, we don’t just provide eCommerce solutions-even though we’re rather good at it! Our team is made up of both creative boffins and technology geeks, each of whom is a specialist in their own specific area. We provide our clients with a complete digital marketing package and our superb team enable us to do this.

2012 is set to be an exciting year for Space 48 and we hope you’ll join us on the journey!

On Monday 5th of December, online purchasing rose by over 17% compared to the same date last year, according to Sage Pay. Mega Monday or Cyber Monday as it’s sometimes called has been heralded as the busiest day of the year for online shopping, but predictions show that this is set to change this year.

Next Monday, the 12th December, is predicted to better Cyber Monday’s heightened sales and all because consumers are leaving their online shopping until later because they trust the retailers to get all of their products to them on time. This growth is set to continue throughout the rest of the week, too.

For most online retailers, it’s been a fairly slow year, with many wondering just how sales will develop over Christmas, but thankfully they have been rewarded with sales even better than Christmas last year, with the sales figures set to rise further. Not great news for the high street, but for online retailers and the economy it’s encouraging to see consumers using online shopping so much.

We’ve known for a while that delivery rates and also the efficiency of delivery affects whether or not a consumer will purchase from an online retailer and this is highlighted here. The online retailers who have provided an excellent delivery service all year will reap the benefits this Christmas time.

After the busy past few months we’ve had, we are very pleased to welcome Jo to our team!  Jo is a super talented designer, bringing lots of creativity to the Space 48 offices as well as to our clients eCommerce sites!  Her ideas and designs have already impressed us all hugely and were very excited about having a designer on board our team.  As well as Space 48 being able to offer the very best in eCommerce site builds, we can now also offer each of our clients great designs and concepts, too.

In other equally exciting news, keep your eyes peeled for an announcement!  That’s all we can say for now….Enjoy the rest of the week everyone!

In last week’s blog post, we announced the launch of Naylors.com , a fantastic online equestrian store.  We’ve since had some great feedback from Naylor’s themselves and we are happy to tell you that we are now also managing both their SEO and Pay Per Click campaigns.  We really enjoyed working with Naylor’s on the build of their website and it’s great news that we will be able to continue our relationship with them by developing their SEO and PPC campaigns.

There’s nothing better than having a happy client and the feedback that Naylor’s have given us so far has made all of the hard work worthwhile.

“When we decided to move our ecommerce site to the Magento platform, we needed a partner that would work closely with us to develop a site true to our brand and which showcased our products. We also needed some specific functionality which not all Magento agencies could have delivered. The Gold Partner status that Space 48 has is well deserved. From the very first meeting it was clear that their knowledge of the system and their experience with it was the key to a successful deployment. We’re now refining and developing the website further with space 48, taking on board their ideas for sales growth and have also retained them to manage our SEO and PPC campaigns”.

Take a look at Naylors.com here and keep watching for news about their SEO and PPC campaigns.  Have a great weekend!