The Client

Bessie's Attic is an online antique shop. The success of any shop, whether "brick and mortar" or on the web, is dependant on inventory and the environment provided for the customer. Bessie's Attic was designed for easy user access and inventory maintenance.

Visit the site at http://www.bessiesattic.com/

What They Wanted

• Integrate inventory of over 10,000 items from four different sources.
  • Two vendors have pre existing databases to be integrated and maintained within the newly created web site
  • Two inventory sources require a manual installation process.
• Remote updating capability - administration and maintenance to be preformed from five different offices in three different states.
• Cross-reference method to make users aware of similar items for sale.
• Ability to cross-post items on other antiques and auction sites easily.
• On line orders using Visa, MasterCard and American Express using the client's own secure server, as well as integration with third-party payment tools such as X.com's PayPal.
• Allow customers to create and manage orders in an online shopping basket that retained their selections over multiple visits.
• Automatic submission of inventory to be sold on various auction sites, including eBay, Yahoo, and Amazon.com. System manages payment and shipping information automatically for auction winners.

What We Provided

Earl's Towing.com performed the initial business needs analysis, planned the site's technical architecture, development, graphical design, and training for the administrative staff on the content maintenance features.

Technologies We Employed

Earl's Towing.com developed the site to serve and store content from a database (Microsoft's SQL Server 2000). This structure provides users with up-to-date information and gives administrators content management tools requiring minimal training. HTML pages are dynamically rendered using Microsoft's Active Server Pages and XML and XSL transformations.

What Comes Next

Tools are being developed in anticipation of an expanding vendor base to create a tighter database maintenance plan. FedEx automated Shipping services are to be integrated at the client's request.