eBadges

“From the start of our relationship, Hallam has felt like a part of the team at eBadges and they’ve been instrumental in helping us achieve ambitious goals; internationalising our brand and improving our sales.  They took time to really understand us and initially helped us to plan long term. Since then they have used their expertise to deliver an excellent website, and online strategy that continues to help us sustainably grow.”

Andrew Vears – Owner, eBadges

The Client

A family-run business that have specialised in the manufacture and sale of badge makers and components for more than 40 years, eBadges is proud to be the number one supplier across Europe, and the UK.

Their machines are sold online globally to a variety of customers, ranging from multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerates like Disney and The National Trust, as well as schools, colleges, craft enthusiasts, restaurants, cinemas and retailers. Their badges have also been featured in blockbuster films such as Pride.

eBadges moved their manufacturing process from India back to the UK, allowing them to improve quality and production speed, as well as grow their team and generate additional work within the local UK economy.

The Challenge

As an online retailer, eBadges knew that the website was key to their success. Visitors weren’t finding the answers they needed online which subsequently generated enquiries for more product information at Head Office and low online sales.

eBadges came to us with concerns that their site was having a negative impact on their business as a whole; incurring high costs and not contributing to their ambitious growth plans. Their website needed to be user friendly, content rich and SEO optimised to naturally lead customers to purchase online; it also had to appeal to B2C not just B2B audiences.

With quality being a key focus of their business-model, eBadges needed to showcase their brand in the right way and deliver a user journey with a clear route to purchase for their broad audience demographic.

Our Approach

We completely overhauled their existing website with a strict focus on user journey models that would outrank their competitors.

We researched their competitor landscape and gained a thorough understanding of the growth plans for Europe with a user experience that was clear to B2B and B2C customers. This included a rigorous SEO audit.

Launching the new website coincided with a rebrand and we managed a transition from .co.uk and .com to a .net domain which gave eBadges noticeable advantages from a global perspective. Our expertise ensured that this change only saw a 2% drop in online traffic on the first day which recovered within 48 hours (this can take several months).

With ambitious growth plans for the next five years, streamlining the website’s multiple payment gateways was a high priority. We advised on and built the site with ecommerce capabilities using one payment method that can be used for both the European and UK customer-bases. Likewise, the site is multilingual and intuitive to customers’ needs with clear product descriptions and informative video tutorials that considerably reduce time consuming customer enquiries.

Staged launches across other European countries is a planned part of their strategy and we’re working closely with eBadges to ensure the success of their business expansion into these territories.

The Results

Since the launch, growth for eBadges has been significant, with an 83% increase in revenue and 63% improvement in conversion rates. Launching in France has seen a 128% increase in growth YoY, while Italy saw 138%.

Client testimonial

From the start of our relationship, Hallam has felt like a part of the team at eBadges and they’ve been instrumental in helping us achieve ambitious goals; internationalising our brand and improving our sales.  They took time to really understand us and initially helped us to plan long term. Since then they have used their expertise to deliver an excellent website, and online strategy that continues to help us sustainably grow.

Andrew Vear – eBadges Owner