Showcase site and e-commerce site
Since 1768, Revol has been creating and manufacturing china crockery prized by the chefs of the greatest restaurants. This family saga stretches beyond France as Revol has opened an office in the USA. When tradition meets the web...
The story began 250 years ago in the Drôme department of France, where Pierre Revol settled from a line of master potters. Inspired by the china clay deposits in the region, he developed a range of fireproof ceramics. Subsequent generations continually improved the production process up until the early 20th century, which was marked by a then unknown cooking technology: the tunnel kiln. 1980 saw a new turning point combining beauty and functionality along with a motto: “from the oven to the table”. So, china crockery comes out of the stove and onto the tablecloth. While the techniques have evolved, artisans still favour work by hand, in French workshops.
Three years ago, Alizée Boucher, a web project manager, was employed to launch the brand’s three websites: two showcase sites and an e-commerce site, all managed under PrestaShop and Store Commander.
How are your sites organised and why not have three commercial sites?
Alizée Boucher: let’s talk about the showcase sites first. It’s a real strategic choice for the brand to entrust the sale of its products to distributors or shops, which also sometimes sell online. The first site, revol1768, is designed to show off our collections to the general public who can find a list of outlets selling our products, of which there are around 400. The second site is bigger with 1,200 products. This is for professionals only: revol-pro. Here chefs can request a quote, which is very common when opening a restaurant. We then pass this on to the distributor which they depend on.
As for the third site, this is a commercial site in English specially for the American market. The collections are the same but with one distinctive feature: we approached a well-known barbecue specialist in America to create a line based around this theme!
Who’s your target clientele?
A.B: They’re men and women aged 25-50 who enjoy the good life and are characterised by their generosity, creativity and aesthetics. They’re mainly city dwellers.
And your flagship product?
A.B: There are two: the tureen with lion’s head handles and crumpled china! It all started from a seller who got the idea from a plastic cup one day. We developed this technique 15 years ago; it requires over 10 steps by hand. The Revol crumpled cup has become a cult object and is available in more than 25 colours.
Actually, let’s talk about offshoots! How do you manage them?
A.B: At launch we were working exclusively under PrestaShop. This is a web agency that told us about Store Commander. With the SC multi-store module, I manage all the sites, including the American commercial site. I use Store Commander in my everyday work to manage categories and offerings. On each product sheet, you have to enter the different sizes and colours. Store Commander is very handy in terms of saving time on this mass management. I also use it a lot to improve title tags, meta descriptions, and alt tags. for images.
Do you have any peak periods in managing the back office?
A.B: Most of the work is done in January and September when our collections come out. Each year, we launch new models and phase out others. For the e-commerce site, there are no sales in the USA (apart from0 black Friday) but we do offers in the year. It’s then that I use Store Commander’s “special price management” features.