CARL Manufacturing USA has traditionally relied on its retailers such as Staples to sell products to their customers. In searching for a new way to sell directly to their customers in addition to their traditional retail partners, CARL looked to Lucca Alla Moda to design a brand new ecommerce website that not only allowed customers the ability to purchase from the company but, to also tell their story and strengthen their brand.

 

The new website project had a number of requirements including a secure and easy way to shop, numerous shopping and account management features, a store locator, an internal sales resource center and a store and dealer locator for each product.

Starting this project, we knew building a strong branding experience required a unique visual and interactive experience that connected CARL’s rich past with its exciting and innovative future. We knew their products and quality was a very important part of the company and that it had to play an important role in how we were going to create this new visual design. Each page within the new website was designed to put the focus on the product and content. We set out to create a clean and easy-to-use experience despite the challenge of making CARL’s large product portfolio easy to layout. In order to help the customer navigate through this large product selection, we utilized search, a drop down navigation, product sections with a grid layout for a clean view of products, pagination and shopping filters which gave the customer tremendous power to find exactly what they are looking for.

 

Selling directly to the customer through their new online store brings in a new revenue stream for CARL but, they also have a strong relationship with their retail partners and understand the importance of brick-and-mortar stores. To allow customers to find a store near them, customers now have the option to view a product in person before purchasing. We designed a completely custom developed store and dealer locator which allows customers to find a retailer near them by entering their address and selecting a mile-radius for stores near them. The store locator integrates with Google Maps and provides store information and a link for driving directions.

 

CARL wanted a way to share marketing materials and information with their sales teams across the nation. To accomplish this goal, we developed a password protected sales resource center that CARL could use to upload their latest sales and marketing materials from any browser, securely. CARL can also create different groups and users which allows access to materials that are relevant to each sales representative and region. Sales representatives have the option to download documents such as pictures, word documents, PDF’s and multimedia formats or view them live directly within the site.

 

From the customers perspective, this new site gives them powerful tools that they have never experience with CARL online. The new customer side of the site is loaded with numberous features such as:

Customers aren’t the only ones who benefit from the new website; CARL also benefits. With extensive management capabilities, CARL can manage product stock, shipments, credits and refunds, manual ordering options, customer management, site and ordering statistics, a plethora of reports and more, all online and dynamically updated. This new store gives CARL a richer and more powerful view of their customers and sales than ever before.

 

  

 

Established in 1999, CARL MFG. USA, Inc. offers a broad range of Paper Trimmers, Paper Punching Systems and Personal Security Products. A Japan based company since 1929, CARL has been designing cutting edge products for use in the office, home and school environments for over 70 years…..

 

CARL has been designing punch products since 1949. CARL started to produce small punches using press-steel plate technology, which was unusual at that time. CARL constantly pursue technical innovation and the best quality to meet our customer’s needs. In response to high demand, the “Heavy-Duty Punch” was launched in 1981. In 1982, to deal with diversifying formats, “Gauge Punch” was launched. The innovative multi-hole punch “Glisser” was launched in 1994. The universal design and ultimate punch “XP-4″ was launched in 2005.