Sandbach-based marketing agency, Swift Cheshire, has completed a complete refresh of its client, Express Indian's website, with the revamp already leading to increased web traffic and sales for the Indian food preparation delivery service. 

The Chester-based company, which delivers authentically cooked then frozen Indian meals to homes across the UK, sells its meals through its website, which prior to the overhaul was "not reflective of what they offered and hard to navigate for users", as said by the client. 

Swift Cheshire were tasked with giving Express Indian's website a complete overhaul, bringing it up to date with a fresh and modern look (Swift).

The brief 

Swift Cheshire were tasked with giving the website a complete overhaul, bringing it up to date with a fresh and modern look, while maintaining elements of the brand identity that existing customers had become familiar with. 

As an e-commerce platform, a key requirement was also ensuring that the user journey was simplified, with as minimal number of steps as possible required to go from selection to checkout – this was to be integral to the success of the website and thus, the company. 

Getting the job done

Headed up by graphic designer and photography expert at Swift Cheshire, Conner Davies, the team set about getting to work, focussing on the following key elements: 

• Photography – previously the Express Indian website had featured a small selection of low quality images so addressing this was the first port of call for Swift. The team set about creating a tantalising, eye-catching image bank of real life product shots that showcased the dishes in all their glory. 
• How it works – Where once a video described how it all works, Swift completely overhauled this function, replacing it with 4 words and 4 icons that clearly and concisely communicate the buying process 
• The personal touch – With Express Indian being a family-run business and this being an integral part of their brand story, Swift decided to shine a light on it, adding a photo of the family so customers can put a face to the name.
• Fast filters – In efforts to further simplify the customer journey, the team added in the most common filters so users can search by diary requirements and product requirements, such as; dairy free, gluten free, vegan etc. 
• Familiarity – Keeping the existing brand logo and colour palette was an intentional part of Swift's overhaul, knowing it's what made Express Indian instantly recognisable to existing customer.

Once the updated design and functionality was agreed with the client, Swift's web developer, Noor, took to completing the overhaul and the job was done …

Although we all know the job is never actually done, as companies an websites evolve all the time.

Set for success 

Founder of Express Indian, Bruce Khanna said: "As a solely e-commerce business our website is our 'shop window' and is critical to our success. We're absolutely delighted with the outcome from Swift Cheshire, their expert advice, innovative design and web building capabilities have been to second to none and we're now left with a website we're incredibly proud of and can't wait to show off to new and existing customers!"

A word from the expert

Project lead, graphic designer and lead photographer at Swift Cheshire, Conner Davies, said: "With Express Indian it was all about going back to basics, asking ourselves; What makes Express Indian unique, how can we make the website more visually appealing, how can we improve the customer journey, what would increase the likelihood of a sale and in what ways can we encourage upselling!

"A good website alone is not enough though, especially in a solely e-commerce business like Express Indian, it is now imperative that a good marketing strategy is in place to drive people to the website. Whether that's through social media, digital advertising, PR - or as per our recommendation in Express Indian's case - an engaging advert and ongoing PPC campaign. Now the destination is ready, it's time to start driving people there!

"We're delighted that Bruce and the Express Indian team are happy with the updated website and are really looking forward to continuing the relationship as we move onto the next stage of their marketing strategy."

Check out Express Indian here, or to learn more about Swift Cheshire visit www.swift-cheshire.com.