Our objectives for this client was to create a fully functioning and dynamic website that would function on all browsers and operating systems - all while growing revenue and improving search visibility in one of the most fiercely competitive markets in the UK.
Azure Collection is one of the UK’s leading independent travel agents. The team at Azure Collection are passionate about travel and dedicated to making sure that guests have the perfect holiday every time. Operating 24/7 – 365 days of the year, their website is at the heart of what they do and that’s why they partnered with Click Consult on the launch of azurecollection.com
Azure Collection required a website that would run across all browsers and operating systems (OS). The purpose of the website was to allow users to interact with the Azure Collection portfolio of holidays and to get in touch if further information is needed or to book online.
The new site was to fit the following brief and have the following components:
Another important feature of this site is that it has a fluid CMS that can be edited quickly and easily by the site administrators. We had to make sure that changes and edits could be made to the following areas:
Some of these areas such as the Home Page, had many editable components such as Sales Banner Text, Text Fields, Exclusive Holidays, Tailor Made Holidays, USPs, Destinations, Traveller’s Journeys and a section for Traveller’s Stories. This level of detail ensured that the site was best prepared for optimum performance.
To meet the objectives of the client brief, we took a systematic approach with various teams involved. This allowed us to cover all bases and make sure that we had the correct areas of expertise pulling together with the final goal of achieving all of our targets. The site was built, as promised in Magento 2.2 and had a fully responsive design. We ensured the user experience across desktop, tablet and mobile was consistent and recognisable and that all future devices would be covered. We achieved this via a fluid approach, using percentages rather than fixed width break-points in the HTML.
In terms of the top level navigation we made sure that the website featured a full mega-navigation menu as the primary/top-level navigation. This was developed to show/hide using CSS rather than JavaScript/jQuery to ensure users without JavaScript enabled had full access.
The top level menu (left) can be expanded to show the “mega menu”, customers are able to see the following (below image) which allows for a better user experience (UX).
As this website was for a business that specialises in bespoke, luxury holidays we made sure that there was advanced filtering in place. Based on the attributes saved in Magento, users are able to filter through holidays via select fields, with dropdown filters on key components. For example we may have a user that knows the destination and even the hotel they wish to visit but wants to understand the extras. We added in content pages around starting price, activities, facilities and a price based on when the trip was booked.
Integration was a key part of this website build. For video integration and optimum performance the website featured HTML5 video, hosted locally rather than originating from an iframe. When it came to social integration the website featured a live grid of social media feeds.
Based on a timestamp, a series of channels are shown including the companies Twitter, Instagram and Facebook feeds.
The nature of the purchases that are likely to be made on this site lends itself to the fact that much research is needed. The investment can be high and as the holidays are bespoke it is vital that the users are offered personalised touch points at every opportunity. This was achieved in a number of ways. We incorporated a ‘Guest Wishlist’ which allows users to bookmark various parts of the sites.
When a user reaches a brochure page, they will be encouraged to download the document as a PDF. This ensures quality and acts as a two-fold approach as the data captured in the download form means that further emails or other forms of contact can be personalised. As this is such a vital component of a good website we also met the brief by installing a live chat feature and pop outs that answered queries and after a period of inactivity, or if a user chooses to close the website, the website will open a pop out feature box which will encourage downloading a brochure.
When we built, set up and launched the site we did so with the templates below in mind. We first laid out the plan for the navigation (see below).
Then we built out the site map further (see right)
Additionally, we briefed in a number of key features for each page on the site. For the ‘Home page’, as an example, we understood that this is the main entry point to the site and that search functionality needed to be prominent on the page. This page also had to contain a cross-section of holidays on a carousel and a contact form.
This project went from an initial idea to a fully functioning, dynamic site that aids the business growth and development of Azure Collection.
In order to give you the best experience on our website, Click Consult and our partners may use cookies and similar technologies to analyse usage, personalise content, and optimise our site. Our Privacy Policy has more information on the cookies we use and how to amend your settings.