Digital Transformation - Dundalk Style

Transforming the Shop Local Dundalk Platform

Shop Local Dundalk – Online Vouchers Project

Introduction:

• Jascom Ltd is the current website development partner for Dundalk Chamber Of Commerce.
• Dundalk Chamber of Commerce (DCOC) is the leading business representative group for Dundalk, Co. Louth in Ireland running the Shop Local Dundalk Voucher scheme.
• Its essential to have a strong online presence for any business in todays environment and especially so for a high profile, business representative and networking group like DCOC.
• The client has an existing Shop Local Vouchers website but wanted to expand the functionality of ordering and paying for the vouchers online. They wanted to offer more delivery and payment options and an option to complete the order and pay in person at the DCOC offices.

Client Background:

• Dundalk has an extremely active Chamber of Commerce. Dundalk’s business network and business voice consist of over 300 members representing all business sectors in the town. Chamber council members meet monthly with a view to promoting economic development throughout Dundalk. The Chamber structure is designed to meet the needs of the key business sectors in the community and to ensure their development objectives are met by appropriate representation on each sector’s behalf.
• The primary goal of the organisation is to promote Dundalk as a place to do business, network members via events and interaction and to increase the membership base. The client also wanted to streamline and connect its digital marketing platforms based on a new digital marketing strategy.
• The Shop Local Voucher scheme has over 330 outlets, has been running for 8 years and generates over €2.5 million in the local economy annually.

Project Objectives:

• ?Dundalk Chamber sought to utilise Jascom Ltd? to deliver the following website services

Domain and Hosting Setup - Website Technical Evaluation - Requirements Gathering - Competitor Analysis - Website Development - Outlet Directory - Refreshed Content - Full Ecommerce Shop - Website Optimisation - Hosting Migration - Training and Knowledge Transfer

Approach:

• The approach was Waterfall/Agile approach based on User Stories and Tasks via a shared project management tool.
• Key personnel in the form of a Project Manager, Content Editors and Website Designer were assigned to the project as well as internal stakeholders.
• WordPress CMS was the recommended platform with Asana as the PM Tool and Loom as the knowledge transfer tool as well as technical documentation shared via Office365.

Implementation:

• A requirements document was complied, revised and approved by DCOC.
• The nature of the organisation meant that approvals at Board and Sub Groups levels were necessary for the project to proceed and were managed by the PM in a timely fashion with formal approvals.
• Tasks and Milestones were all managed via the Asana Project Management tool with questions and clarifications all being contained on one shared platform.
• The new Ecommerce Shop weas extensively tested and training was supplied to the Shop Manager.
• Hundreds of particpating outlets were added to the new site.

Key Features:

• The new design was based around organisation priorities – For Buy Now, Outlets, Why Shop Dundalk and Join Up.
• The information architecture and navigation menu elements reflected these priorities where visitors could easily find information groups around these categories.
• The content upload was performed in partnership with the Web Designer and the Content Editors who performed extensive work on uploading News and Business Listings.
• The website was loaded on a new VM server architecture with its own security, performance and monitoring services.

Results:

• The new website went LIVE on 1st Oct 2024 with approval from the DCOC Board and all project stakeholders.
• The domain, web hosting and content updates are all now managed by DCOC Staff with technical / security support provided by Jascom Ltd.
• The website ranks no1 in Google for the phases “Shop Local Dundalk” and “Shop Local Vouchers”.
• The news website has already made online sales within 24 hours of the launch.

Conclusion:

• The success of the project was down to teamwork and communication. The team worked together via the PM and communicated via the Asana Tool (plus calls/emails) where required to proceed from milestone to milestone with approvals.
• The importance of having clear shared tasks and milestones cannot be understated. Everyone was on the same page and knew what was happening all of the time.
• This Digital Transformation Project meant that the DCOC organisation now has a future proofed platform, which they fully administer, update and collect information from members and visitors.
• Additional transformation elements will also be rolled out as part of a new Digital Strategy and Social Media Campaigns.

Visit www.shoplocaldundalk.ie

END