With summer in full swing, BBQ’s and pool parties abound. Helping you keep your pool sparkling clean is the focus of this week’s store spotlight, Top Dog Pool Supply. Back in 1986 Jim Cecero started cleaning pools; in 2003 he took his business online with Miva Merchant to expand and now shares what he has learned over 23 years.
Jim, owner of Top Dog Pool Supply, recalls “I started using Miva Merchant in 2003. I had very little knowledge of how to build or operate an ecommerce site, so at the beginning I made quite a few mistakes. It was not until this year (2009) that I made the decision to upgrade my Miva package and get some professional design help. I asked Miva Merchant to redesign my site using their ecommerce expertise combined with my knowledge of my industry and products.”
On the Top Dog Pool Supply site, you’ll find anything you might need in automatic pool cleaners, cartridges, filters or pumps, as well as anything else related to swimming pool maintenance. A great new feature of the site is an exploded view of products having replacement parts with links to each part—a very visual and intuitive way to get the right part.
Jim’s vision for the replacement parts was a key goal of the new site and a product of experience. Mr. Cecero explains, “I have been working around swimming pools for over 20 years so I know my product really well. I tend to forget that customers don’t have that same knowledge. Most swimming pool owners just want to enjoy their investment, and really don’t need to know about the workings of their swimming pool or details of the products they may need. So keeping that in mind, I looked at the website from a pool owner’s perspective, viewing numerous ecommerce sites and getting opinions from people who may shop online occasionally but don’t really use the internet very much. It has become quite a challenge to keep the product offerings simple, yet informative. Another challenge was not to assume that everyone knows how to navigate through a website. I have tried to make the selection process easy, and the path to checkout a logical one. A great-looking site is also very important because it projects the image of your company.”
It’s great to see someone striving to create a better customer experience; I’ve found that to be a key ingredient to success. As you can tell from the article Jim had a lot to say about the process of revamping his online store. I couldn’t help but inquire about his experience of the upgrade, “Miva [Merchant] rebuilt my website…[and] made the transition from 4.x to Mica Merchant 5.5 at that time. I have really enjoyed working with the people at Miva Merchant during this renovation. I got some great advice along the way, and experienced really positive attitudes from the staff.” Jim said.
Top Dog Pool Supply is a great site offering an excellent customer experience both online and to the local community of Bakersfield for swimming pool supplies.
