Ecommerce Case Study Madison & Rayne

Background
Madison & Rayne is a web-based business started by a mother of two and a local Chicago chef. Melanie Mityas, came up with the idea when watching a cooking show and thinking to herself how cooking is rarely that easy. Too much work is needed to prepare and clean all the ingredients, sometimes she would forget to marinate the meat... and her family would be hungry. Enter Josh Jones, former Chef de Cuisine at Spring Restaurant in Chicago. The two met and the idea took off. At Madison & Rayne, a customer is able to order individually packaged ingredients as part of an entire prepared meal complete with directions. Ordering can be done with a menu over the phone, but the ease and added ability to order online made the website a must.

Knowing that they needed a fully functional website with a unique design that would catch the eye of potential customers while being easy to navigate, SYDCON was trusted with the development of the website for Madison & Rayne while we collaborated with a design firm that made the custom visual interface.

Objectives
Madison & Rayne wanted a website that would showcase their meals and ingredients as well as outline their ordering and delivery process while explaining the benefits of using their service. SYDCON was sought out and began developing their website immediately according to the desires of the client. The following objectives were determined in our close conversations with Madison & Rayne:

• Program both the front and back end of their website
• Develop a database that they could use to store recipe information and ingredients regarding their dishes currently being offered
• Program a shopping cart customized specifically for the client's website that enables for the purchase of meals through the website
• Allow administrative access and control over all website functions via a custom Content Management System (CMS)
• Custom reports

Methodology
PHP scripting language can be used in most situations when a prior scripting language is not already in use. SYDCON, Inc. typically uses PHP for these reasons, as our team of programmers is familiar with all aspects of PHP in addition to other scripting languages. As part of LAMP stack software, PHP drives the interaction between the user and the components of the website that we develop, such as web servers and database content.

Madison & Rayne received a quote from us totally customized for their specific desires communicated in our consultation. The terms outlined in the quote were agreed on both sides and the development project began.

Two expert programmers were assigned to the project as a development team tasked with the following developmental steps:

• Discussed the goals of the client for their website
• Initiated the development of the Content Management System and showed the client how to make any desired changed using the system
• Each individual recipe offered by the client listed and described within the database we developed
• Began developing the visual elements of the front end into a functioning website complete with the database information
• Used authorize.net to program the website's E-commerce interface
• Website shown to and tested with the client
• Launched the website with the client on the day outlined in the quote

Technical Approach
User interaction between the website and its database content is driven by PHP, CSS, HTML, and jQuery scripting languages in this specific project. A MySQL backend was used to contain the displayed website content as well as give a site administrator the ability to list different recipes as well as add newly crafted recipes, explain the workings of the ordering process as the company continues to evolve, write, edit, and maintain social media, as well as manage online orders and add or manipulate pages as needed. The authorize.net E-commerce API that we used to interface our custom-developed shopping cart allows customers to add, subtract, or substitute specific ingredients in pre-existing recipes.

Results
Our client views this project as an absolute success.

• Madison & Rayne is now a live website that allows users to order meals that are unique and easy to prepare and contain a quality that you would see on a television cooking show
• Users can access information about the dishes offered and their ingredients, gather information about the ordering, cooking, and returning process, as well as find information about the company and order easily through the custom shopping cart.
• With the custom-developed Content Management System, Madison & Rayne can easily add new dishes to their website while updating existing recipes. They are able to perform website maintenance and update their social media with ease
• The website has been an effective tool for growing their business and allows for linkage with YouTube video advertisements

SYDCON is contacted upon any realized web maintenance needs and continues to assist with the website.

There were many contributing factors to our success with Madison & Rayne:

• The clear vision of the website's desired end product communicated by the client throughout constant interaction with SYDCON
• Madison & Rayne's time taken to establish a back and forth, constructive relationship with SYDCON during the entirety of the process through which the site was designed
• The dedication and development skills possessed by the SYDCON staff