Code Elves have teamed up with our marketing partners at NorthIQ to build an online subscription service for comic shops, that allows their customers to manage their own recurring orders. As a result, the pilot store All New Comics had a phenomenal success nearly doubling their revenue.
info.managecomics.com"There are more than 3,000 dedicated comic book stores in North America, with many of those stores having been around for 20 years or more. In the last decade, the comic book industry has been assaulted by a bevy of entertainment choices, and comics, while still a $1billion a year industry, are finding it harder to keep their market share than ever before. Technology has the ability to put comic shops on a level footing with competitors like Amazon, and the customer base they have cultivated remains fiercely loyal, but consumers are increasingly looking for more transparency into what they are getting and they continue to look for ways to stay up to date. With over 6,000 monthly products being delivered to comic shops every month, technology can play a key role in improving their ability to serve their customers, and their profitability."
Every comic book store registered in the system can create their online representation that's accessible on a unique URL. All of the stores in the system use the same layout, however can be customized with common branding elements, such as logo, colours and text content. Having a single layout for everyone allowed us to ensure that all stores are in accordance with the best practices, and are looking great on any kind of device.
Anyone on the internet is given the ability to sign up with a particular comic book store. Once that's done, such users are presented with an amazing library of comic books from more than 25 publishers, as well as other comic related products. Each user can subscribe to any number of products, pick shipping frequency, view their order statuses and pay for them - all in one place.
The other side of the system is Management Console. It gives store owners the ability to fully manage their online store by adding/removing products, tracking orders, updating look and feel of their store. Console also gives owners full insight into changes to customer lists, current order totals, current subscription revenue, and full reporting tools which can report on revenue, taxes, and much more.
I have worked with Code Elves on several projects. They do a terrific job of gathering specifications, clarifying things that are unclear, and fixing problems they see in what you want. Code Elves is not your typical development shop. They think like an end user, and don\'t create the "easiest, fastest solution", they are dedicated to getting it right. On top of that, they are just great people to deal with. I highly recommend Code Elves. If you want to see their work in action, check out ManageComics.com, it’s Code Elves at their finest!