The e-commerce website, www.kingsmums.com, is a major asset of King’s Mums, LLC, a small business located in Oregon City, owned and operated by Ray and Kim Gray. The business is a greenhouse nursery that specializes in propagating over 400 varieties of exhibition, garden, and vintage chrysanthemums, which it sells and ships to customers throughout the United States and Canada as rooted plant cuttings. During production season, which runs from January through the end of June, King’s Mums earns an annual revenue of just over $100,000. Approximately 60% of the company’s orders are received through its website while the remaining 40% are accepted via catalog mail-order, phone, fax, or email.
The original website and administrative interface was created in 2008 by a free-lance IT consultant. From the beginning, the website and accompanying order management software was obsolete and difficult to use. In order to fully automate transactions, provide improved customer experiences, and better compete with alternative chrysanthemum suppliers, the website design, functionality, and feature-set needed a substantial overhaul—or a complete redesign—from the top down to the bottom, with special considerations for the logistical and practical needs of the business owners as well as their customers. This project addressed those needs.
This report documents the results of Paul Louthan’s work on this website upgrade project. It explains how he analyzed the existing website, business systems, and processes, and subsequently researched alternative solutions, including available e-commerce software platforms, web development tools, design standards, and security considerations, as well as competing industry solutions and standards employed bysimilar businesses. This report explains how and why he ultimately selected the Magento Go e-commerce software platform to address the needs of the King’s Mums website, and how he used the Magento Go software to design, develop, and plan for full implementation of the new e-commerce solution as a replacement to the existing website and management software.
