Sites:
Havahart
Birdfeeders
Victorpest
Saferbrand (coming soon)


Request:
Woodstream is a huge company that is subdivided into a number of companies that deal with animal handling, control, and care, pest control, and plant and lawn care. Their request was to create web sites for each of these sub companies with online stores as well as information pertaining to the products. They wanted a robust store and checkout where all products could be pulled in from their AS400 and would dynamically appear on the web site. They also wanted to be able to manage all the sites and products from one administration.

Solution:
A content management system was put into place, the difficulty was making a CMS robust enough to manage all the pages, content, products, product categories, both administrative and site registered users, news and events, advertisements, and reporting of both finances and products. A product system was developed that allowed for the management and control of all product content, pricing, reviews, and placement of products on the websites. The products were directly pulled from Woodstream’s AS400 and integrated into the web site. Further organization and categorization was also developed which allowed shoppers to quickly find the products they were looking for. Additionally, the products were interchangeable found on sister company web sites. Products could also be combined to form kits or packages at a reduced price and still be recognized by their AS400. Woodstream also wanted the ability to setup dynamic discounts and coupons for shoppers. Users were given the ability to create personal accounts where they could manage saved carts and wish lists, billing and shipping information, their profile, and interests. The robust My Account section developed for Woodstream’s sites allowed for quick and easy payment processing which required would then require a multistep checkout process. Woodstream also requested a very robust reporting system in which their financial department and shipping department could view and manage orders and create reports based on site, dates, products, and many other criteria. This allowed for Woodstream to see break downs of sales and orders and view how much money was used in areas such as tax, discounts and shipping.

Contribution:
Woodstream and all of its sites was the largest project I worked on with Pipeline Interactive. I was put in place to do the large majority of the development. The largest task was creating an administration that managed multiple sites and all of its aspects there in. I developed and worked on every portion of Woodstream, but received additional help with product management, checkout/payment processing, the sending and receiving of data from Woodstream’s AS400, and coupon system.