Cook Communications Ministries

Cook needed to revise their legacy ColdFusion-based Web site to include many new graphic features, add significant functionality to make it easier for customers to locate and order products, and improve site performance.  Also, the marketing staff needed the flexibility to create uniquely-branded areas of the site, while retaining the overall look and feel.

Additionally, Cook was making increasing use of email marketing.  While extremely effective at driving sales, the server resources required to send tens of thousands of custom email messages had outstripped the capacity of their dedicated server.  They needed to use a high-volume mailing service that could seamlessly interface with their Web site, so that customers could opt in to receiving marketing emails as part of their purchase transaction. 

Being acquanted with their programming expertise from previous projects, Cook turned to Superlative Solutions to provide the programming and database support to make the new site a reality.

Superlative streamlined legacy ColdFusion code with object-oriented programming and use of SQL Server stored procedures to provide significant increases in performance at the server level.  To make product searches easier and more effective, Superlative used a ColdFusion implementation of VerityTM (a powerful full-text indexing tool) that allows customers to use a single search field to search on title, author, keywords, brand, item code and ISBN.

Among the many new features integrated to the ecommerce system, dynamic quarterly curriculum order forms allow the Internet staff to create order forms for entire curriculum lines that are calendar-driven, displaying according to the Sunday School quarter schedule.  This improved the integration of ecommerce with marketing and news content on the site, so that customers could transition from reading about a curriculum line to ordering curriculum products with a single click.

Part of the graphic redesign included use of brand-specific styles and logos.  Superlative developed a system of dynamic style sheets that radically simplifies adding new sections to the site, while use of linked external stylesheets reduces download times.  Additionally, the use of print-only stylesheets improved customer usability of the site.

Changes in browser technology required new solutions to popup windows.  Superlative developed a DHTML solution that combines soft drop shadows with a simple, intuitive interface customers can easily understand.  The DHTML windows are used throughout the site to provide product details or special forms the customer can use without leaving the current screen.

Tight integration with EmailLabs for mass emailing required major development efforts.  Fortunately, EmailLabs has a remote access Application Programming Interface (API) allowing the Web site database to be kept in synch with the EmailLabs address databases.  Superlative wrote object code to update EmailLabs at the same time the Web site customer database is updated, so that when a customer places an order, the EmailLabs database is updated with their information and opt-in status.

Superlative also developed a collection of tools for the Cook Internet Team to perform specific functions with the EmailLabs database, that simplify performance of complex tasks.  These are integrated into the online editor system that manages product information and other content on the Web site, so staff can perform all necessary site functions from one location.

Cook Communications Ministries' online sales continue to grow.  With the complete makeover of the site, and improvements in ordering processes, more and more customers are ordering online.  The customer experience is significantly enhanced.

Internet Team members have much more control over look and feel of site areas, and greater flexibility with the display of products.  Also, due to the complete rewrite of the online editor functions, integrating product information and editorial content is easier than ever.  And, the dynamic curriculum order forms radically reduces the time and effort to maintain this key function of the site.