ActiveYards

As one of North America’s largest makers and distributors of outdoor living products, Barrette’s line of goods are available just about everywhere. While many people choose Barrette for do-it-yourself projects, there are others who are looking for dealers that provide installation services. Barrette knew that if they could help consumers find those dealers and then help those dealers keep in better touch with Barrette, everyone would benefit. The trick was finding a streamlined method to make this possible. After working with {e}house on a number of previous projects, including the Built by Barrette corporate site, Barrette again turned to us to get the job done right.

The most effective and affordable means of communication available is the Internet. So, we built a website. But, since we are {e}house, this wasn’t just any website. The site, named ActiveYards, serves two purposes. The first is as an online tool for consumers to view Barrette products and, through the dealer locator function, find local dealers who provide installation services. Buyers can see what dealers offer and then contact dealers directly to place orders.

As for the dealers themselves, we built a customized application that helps dealers and Barrette work together smoothly. This application allows Barrette to easily manage dealers and their territories and distribute dealer news. Additionally, through personalized accounts, dealers can manage their profiles and quickly get in touch with their Barrette representative to handle any need that might arise. By developing a consumer-friendly site and a dealer-only web application, {e}house gave Barrette just what they needed: a way to ensure their dealers and their dealers’ customers get everything they need out of Barrette’s products.

While Barrette sells many of its products through national home improvement stores, 40% of the ActiveYards traffic is coming through the Barrette Outdoor Living site, indicating that there is a large market of consumers interested in buying Barrette products through dealers who provide installation. And the ActiveYards site is holding these consumers attention. The average time spent on the site is 10.5% higher than the industry average of 3 minutes, while the number of pages viewed per visit is 25% higher than average. Additionally, almost 80% of visitors to the site are new visitors, beating averages and demonstrating the site’s ability to attract new customers to Barrette.