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Case Study: A Quarter Of
We actually came up with the idea for a fun, old fashioned sweet shop after a conversation we had in the pub. We trundled off down memory lane, remembering all the sweets that we used to buy from the little sweetshop at the end of our road. We didn’t think that the idea would go any further as we were certain that they couldn’t possibly still make the sweets that we remembered with such fond memories.
But in most cases they did (and still do!) make them. And so the idea was born…
When it came to setting up the business we remembered the reactions of friends and family when we first told them about the idea, and the way their eyes would glaze over when they started listing all the sweets that they told us we just had to have in the shop. We therefore decided it would be a website that people would like, and that this is what we needed in order to display all the different varieties of sweets we had on offer.
When it came to designing the site we drew inspiration from a comic we used to read called Whizzer and Chips – we wanted an online sweetshop that looked like the comic. We found Colin Whittock, a superstar cartoonist, to draw the cartoons for A Quarter Of to give it that perfect feel.
So finally A Quarter Of went live in July 2002. We always intended the business to be an internet only venture – there is no physical sweetshop, just the online one. Initially the shop was only a bit of fun. I had found sweets that I didn’t think were made anymore, and I thought there might be some other people out there who shared my passion and excitement.
Two years later we were dissatisfied with our existing payment processor, and we decided to look around the market at the alterative solutions available. We were specifically looking for a solution which we could integrate into our site that would allow the customer to remain on the site throughout the transactions process (for aesthetic reasons).
Several of the alternative payment processors required the customer to leave www.AQuarterOf.co.uk and go to an external site, which we thought was ugly, cumbersome and implied less security. Whereas with Protx, we could use their product VSP Direct. This meant that the payment page (and the customer) could remain on our website.
We also looked for a solution that offered excellent fraud protection. We had been hit by fraudulent transactions on a few occasions with our previous provider…and Protx’s excellent security measures and information reporting were key elements in our decision to use the company.
In fact, fraudulent transactions have reduced by over 95% since using Protx. Our sales have continued to increase and Protx has handled the increased volume of transactions with ease.
The other advantages we have found from using Protx is the ability to enter payments using the virtual terminal, which as been a massive bonus to us.
Finally, price was also important to us, and the Protx pricing policy more than met our financial requirements.
We are pleased with our relationship with Lloyds TSB Cardnet and with Protx. Our payment system has now become an integral part of the site – the customer is reassured and the site aesthetics are not compromised in any way.