PARK RIDGE, IL —March 30, 2007— Americaneagle.com, a leading Web site design, development, and hosting company based in Park Ridge, IL, today announced the fully redeveloped Web site for Colonial Candle located at www.colonialcandle.com. The new Web site represents an overhaul of the site design and functionality in accordance with foremost e-commerce standards and practices.
As the leading manufacturer and marketer of fine quality candles for more than 97 years, Colonial Candle required a Web presence that would showcase their inventory of nearly 1,000 candle products. For the new site, Colonial Candle not only faced the challenge of presenting aromatic products in the online environment, where the sense of smell is absent, but also faced the challenge of presenting their products in a way that would best appeal to their target demographic — women ages 25 to 50. With women accounting for more than 60% of online spending, Colonial Candle had to achieve an e-commerce site that would best meet the needs of the Web's largest group of shoppers. Given these challenges, Colonial Candle selected Americaneagle.com's idev® e-commerce platform as the optimal structure for their site. The idev® platform provides Colonial Candle with a fully customized system which utilizes the latest advances in e-commerce technology.
Indeed, new technology was used throughout ColonialCandle.com in an effort to best accommodate the requirements of their target audience. Focusing on usability, the site's homepage now includes an intuitive navigation system, which allows shoppers to quickly filter through candles by fragrance, color, and type. The site also taps into the home décor market with a section on decorating ideas, enabling visitors to narrow products based on occasion and see products in a lifestyle setting. Furthermore, Colonial Candle currently utilizes the new Americaneagle.com idev® Search Tool. This new tool operates using the most up-to-date features within the online search industry. As visitors enter terms into the search bar, the search tool queries the product database, providing a list of items that match the letter sequence being typed by the visitors. The tool also provides alternatives based on spelling errors or closely matched terms, while drill down menus within the results pages allow users to narrow products based on specific criteria. What's more, the idev® Search Tool provides sorting capabilities, corresponding breadcrumb navigation, and a "more like this" option which calls on DHTML technology to present products within a pop-up window, graying out the rest of the screen.
"We worked closely with Colonial Candle to improve all facets of the site," said Mike Svanascini, Chief Operating Officer at Americaneagle.com. "By utilizing our latest idev® platform and Search Tool, we were able to build a fully enhanced Web site that provides customers with the best possible shopping experience." As for long-term maintenance, Americaneagle.com provided Colonial Candle with a robust content management system. This system provides the tools and resources necessary to control nearly all aspects of the site, including the ability to swap out color areas and manipulate page layout. This functionality ensures enduring reliability and growth.
To explore the new Web site, visit www.colonialcandle.com
About Americaneagle.com, Inc.
Americaneagle.com, Inc., founded in 1978, is a leading Web design, development, and hosting company based in Park Ridge, Illinois. Currently, Americaneagle.com employs approximately 110 professionals in offices throughout the country including Chicago, Cleveland, Washington D.C., New York, and Los Angeles. Some of their 3,000 clients include Fannie May Candies, New York Giants, Donald J Pliner Shoes, NASCAR, Chiasso, Chicago Bears, Abbott Laboratories, and the U.S. Army. For additional information about Americaneagle.com, visit www.americaneagle.com.
About Colonial Candle
Colonial Candle is the leading manufacturer and marketer of the finest quality candles for more than 97 years. The company designs, markets and distributes a wide array of candles and other home fragrance products exclusively to retailers in the premium and specialty retail channels. Colonial Candle is recognized for its legendary quality and exceptional fragrance, performance and designs. Colonial Candle is part of the Midwest family of brands, and Midwest is part a Blyth company, which is traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker BTH.