1001listes.fr: New Version of Site a Gift to the Public, Thanks to CGI
Created in 1999, 1001listes was the first "à la carte"
online wedding gift registry in France. After investing close to 800,000
€ (Euro dollars) in 1001listes in March 2000, Butler Capital Partners
demonstrated its continued confidence in the company with new financing
to the tune of more than 1.5 million € in November. During the summer
of 2000, 1001listes expanded in other cities such as Lyon, Marseille,
Strasbourg, Bordeaux, Lille, Montpellier, Toulouse and Nantes. And the
company extended its registry service to include all types of events and
occasions for gift giving: birth announcements, anniversaries, birthdays,
housewarmings, special weekends between friends...
The Challenge
In the spring of 2000, 1001listes wanted to completely overhaul its Web
site to make it more comprehensive and widely accessible to all users
--from neophyte to expert surfer. To meet that requirement, the site would
have to offer users a number of online advantages where they could view
the wedding and event gift lists; organize an event, complete with management
of planning, invitations, creation of access plans, hotel room management
(with a partner), acknowledgements, photos and plans online; visit other
boutiques (that are partners with 1001 listes), see available products
and send a gift on a list with online payment. It would also provide fidelity
card management (with a partner).
With these improvements, the site would become a new and efficient work
tool for the team of 1001listes and its clients. CGI France (formerly
IMRGlobal) had already successfully worked on the development of the first
version of the 1001listes site. Given the trust and cooperation developed
between the two companies as well as the appeal of CGI's component-based
system, which would allow them to save time in development and create
a more reliable site that is easier to maintain, 1001listes decided to
call upon CGI France once again.
"We wanted to develop complex functionalities that require an advanced
solution. CGI France understood our issues and requirements. Their technical
expertise and the solid relationship we have always shared with CGI convinced
us to team up with them again," confirmed Marie Treppoz, Director
of Marketing at 1001listes.
The Strategy
CGI France developed the new version of the 1001listes.fr site by using
an innovative solution: CGI's component-based system. The site's tools
now enable the site to offer users the chance to see a gift list, organize
an event, buy gifts from the selection of boutiques, pay for them online
and have them delivered at home.
To ensure turnkey delivery of the project, CGI coordinated, within the
prescribed deadlines, the delivery, accounting verification and integration
of all interface elements produced by different providers/vendors: designers,
online payment, logistics for the delivery of packages, hoster, etc.
The project began in June 2000 and the site went live in November 2000:
it took only five months to complete the development. The international
site is bilingual, French and English. The system also offers a currency
exchange function which attaches to the request the equivalent price in
a different currency than the one selected. In all cases, all prices are
also posted in Euro.
The Technology
- The technical architecture of the site is based
on CGI's JAVA structure, JSP pages, SGBD mySQL and the Apache Web server.
- Different interfaces enable the site to communicate with other varied
systems such as logistics providers, bank card payment systems and fidelity
card management systems.
The Results
The new version of 1001listes.fr was developed by CGI in five months.
At the end of 2001, the site managed 700 wedding gift lists, a number
that has grown steadily without problem since it went live, thanks to
the flexibility of the solution adopted. The objective for 2002 is to
reach 2000 lists.
The new and improved 1001listes.fr has enabled CGI France to acquire solid
expertise in the development of commercial Web sites aimed at the general
public.
The use of JAVA and CGI's component-based system has proved particularly
effective in order to meet deadlines and ensure that site maintenance
is easy and adaptable.
Given the stellar results of the project, the company has subsequently
entrusted the maintenance of the site to CGI France.
"Working with CGI has proved to be efficient. They were able to meet
our expectations by developing an open-ended site that can be expanded.
Now we must ensure management of the information volume to be processed
and develop an accounting function on the site," concluded Treppoz.
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