NEWS: PEUGEOT'S WEB SITE SHIFTS INTO GEAR
Cullemore, Robert (RCullemo@dlj.com)
Wed, 3 Jun 1998 12:07:49 -0400
This came from Computer Weekly.
Brann Interactive has overseen a major revamp of Peugeot's Web site.
The
consultancy had already helped to overhaul the car manufacturer's
existing
system.
One of the key goals of the revamp was to link the Web site more
closely
with the company's existing call centre operations which Brann also
runs.
Now, customers can access information on forthcoming models, reviews
of
Peugeot cars, a news service, and insurance and finance information. But
perhaps
the most useful part of the site is the firm's dealer locator, enabling
customers to find their nearest dealer.
Bill Sullivan, direct marketing manager at Peugeot, said the company
needed
a locally-hosted site. Until it went online, the only Web presence was
provided
by a worldwide server located in the firm's French offices.
"The French site doesn't tell customers about the specifications of
the cars
over here, or the prices, or available colours. All our research tells
us that
the customers want this information," Sullivan said.
The firm also wanted to make its Web-based customer response more
efficient.
"Before this, any customer wanting to go down the Web route would write
something to the French peugeot.com site. It would be faxed to customer
services
here, and maybe two or three weeks later the customer might get a
response. Now
it goes straight to the call centre. If they have information, they
respond
immediately via E-mail."
Tamlyn Driver, producer at Brann, said rather than conducting online
database queries to satisfy customer responses, she chose to take Active
Server
pages generated by the SQL Server database and convert them into HTML
pages on a
batch basis using a proprietary tool written by Brann.
Driver dismissed concerns that this approach could become
unmanageable as
the site grows. She estimated that there are currently about 200 HTML
pages, and
that the level of information on the site will not increase very much.
Driver added that she hasn't taken this approach with the dealer
locator
area, which still accesses the database directly.
The team will work to introduce more features this summer. Peugeot
wants to
see more insurance and financing functions, an online finance
calculator,
Peugeot Business Class memberships, and even a UK-wide used-car
database.
The site is now ready for the launch of the next small car from
Peugeot, to
be introduced this summer. Promoting this car will be a major part of
the phase
two development, explained Driver.
The site can be accessed at www.peugeot.co.uk.
Robert K Cullemore
London, England