Major UK Electronics Retailer saves 30% on Website Hosting Costs

The major UK Electronics Retailer, Maplin, has undergone a hosting re-evaluation recently working closely with Claritas Solutions Ltd, and has now saved 30% of its website hosting costs over a 3 year period, estimated as a saving over £250,000.

These two Yorkshire companies joined forces to ensure the most cost effective and efficient system was used for Maplin’s online business, which is a key part of its multi-channel retail strategy alongside its 192 stores and mail order division, all serviced from Maplin's South Yorkshire HQ. Maplin also has operations in Taiwan, China & Hong Kong, and employs 2,100 worldwide.

The company supplies a range of over 15,000 products, from the everyday essentials to the most specialist electronics components which are available from its catalogue, website and store network. With sales to more than 11 million customers, Maplin has over 32 million visitors to its internet site and handles over 1/2 million customer telephone calls. Maplin introduces hundreds of new and innovative products every month, priding itself on being the ‘Electronics Specialist’.

The sophisticated hosting platform installed and supported by Claritas, designed in partnership with Maplin's IT and eCommerce teams, was chosen after a comprehensive tender process involving 4 other companies.

Peter Hood, Business Development Director, Claritas Solutions says: “Maplin’s previous hosting structure was insufficient for both its current level of activity and that planned for the future, while its data storage was proving uneconomic. Working as a key partner of the Maplin IT team we designed and implemented a tailor-made eCommerce hosting platform, and ensured it was completed with no interruption to Maplin’s critical services. The new system is fully supported 24/7 by Claritas”.

Meticulous planning throughout the project ensured all objectives were met and exceeded within the agreed time frame.

Mark Smith, IT Director, Maplin Electronics Ltd, said: “The Claritas team were extremely diligent in their approach, understanding the inner workings of our business quickly, and set about architecting a solution to ensure our short term requirements were met, but also to implement a hosting system that would allow for the future expansion of our business, as it is always evolving and we review it on a regular basis. It was a steep learning curve for all involved and very challenging at times, but the business is now reaping the rewards.”