“A thing of beauty is a joy forever,” said Keats, and what better way to ensure that it does endure forever than by taking it online? Kalanjali, launched by the Ramoji Group, is a tribute to Art, and a celebration of beauty. Kalanjali is India’s first fully functional E-Mall for arts and crafts. It showcases the rich Indian tradition, history and culture, through beautiful, rare and exquisite pottery, metal ware, woodcrafts, paintings, textiles and more.

Objective

In seeking to revitalize its existing website, Kalanjali had a two-pronged objective. Firstly, through its external face, it wanted to reach newer markets, both domestic and global. And this could be done by providing a rich and easy-to-use platform to market an exclusive portfolio of products, and offer high-quality and personalized service to customers. The platform would have to be conceived of as an e-commerce one, allowing an efficient shopping cart management, smooth payment transaction and perfect order status tracking. For the internal customers, Kalanjali sought to provide a suitable interface to manage the administration of the site, and smooth integration with the Land Application. The objective here was to provide the flexibility and ability to integrate various marketing tools and tie-ups in the future, including statistical and analytical reports of website activity.Kalanjali chose iridium Interactive (ii) as its partner in creating and preserving this bit of Indian heritage online.

Solution

ii commenced the engagement by defining the scope of work in terms of technology, design and development. The website was designed to have a rich look and feel, with an easy-to-use interface. For the customer, ii created a payment gateway integration system comprising a secure mechanism for online payment through credit cards. Payment options through cheque, DD and bank transfers are also available. The design and information structure of the site was revitalized to truly reflect the beauty of the artifacts being advertised. Some of the features developed include redeeming gift certificates online, reserving gifts, and auctions – all making the site a very e-commerce based one. For the internal team, a Self Administered Module was developed, functioning as the admin login to monitor activities, respond to queries and feedback and maintain a client database. Also included was a Catalog Management System to facilitate easy navigation through products, categories and other links on the site and to allow for efficient capture of client information, like history of purchase. Finally, the back-office of the website used a Content Management System (CMS) that could be easily operated by a non-technical person. A CMS also offers various exciting possibilities to enhance the richness and creativity of a website. All leading to easy shopping cart management, smooth payment options and reliable order tracking.

Results

The Kalanjali site was launched successfully in December 2007, with basic ecommerce functionality and one product category (handicrafts). Due to the success of the site, the Ramoji Group decided to extend it, including multiple payment options, corporate services etc. New product categories (like handlooms and textiles) were also added and now the Kalanjali site incorporates an entire gamut of products and services.

About ii
iridium Interactive Limited (ii) specializes in providing online business solutions. With a presence across three continents, it has been at the forefront in integrating strategy, design and technology to build unique and robust user-centric e-business solutions. At ii, a holistic approach is adopted towards complex business problems to arrive at a complete solution. ii’s talented team has worked on a variety of disciplines for a multitude of clients drawn from various industries, and has a number of award-winning works to its credit. ii offers it services in the areas of interactive marketing, web marketing, e-learning, enterprise consulting and web accessibility initiatives.

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