Company of the Month
Touch Therapeutics, Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil

Touch Therapeutics are a manufacturer of handmade Welsh organic skincare products based in Dowlais near Merthyr Tyfdil.  Although the company has been in existence for around ten years it's only been run as a serious concern for the last five years by owners Simon Ford and Linda Williams.

In February 2005 Simon approached Opportunity Wales whilst looking for funding for his business.  Whilst we couldn't help with funding Simon decided to undertake one of our free eCommerce reviews.  They already had rudimentary Website which was used to promote their range of organic products, most of which were sold direct to salons and spa's.  

Much of this demand was generated by carrying out mail-shots and producing brochures, both of which are very expensive.  A small proportion of their products were sold direct to the public mostly in their local area.

Despite talking for years about upgrading their Website to handle eCommerce, it was something that they never quite got around to but the review was all that they needed to persuade them to make the leap as Simon explains "We were put in touch with a consultant, who came along and had a chat about our business and what sort of things we were looking to do on-line and came up with a list of recommendations very soon afterwards.  Those recommendations were really the foundation of what we have today."

As Simon has a technology background he chose to develop the Website himself and the resulting site (http://www.purskincare.co.uk) went live in July 2005.  Simon bought a commercial eCommerce package which he integrated into his existing site.  By using royalty-free stock images Simon kept the cost down allowing the website to recoup its investment quickly "It's amazed us how effective it's been in those first three or four months".

Now the bulk of their sales now come from the Website and orders have been delivered as far away as Canada and Australia.

The Website is just one part of their marketing efforts.  Although traditional mail shots are still used, they encourage people to visit the Website where they can enter competitions to win products.  This has generated an email database which will be used to promote new products that the company plans to develop over the coming months.

Simon is enthusiastic about the Opportunity Wales eCommerce review.  It "showed us what was possible, showed us that it wasn't going to cost us a fortune and prompted us in the right direction.  It gave us the most relevant information for our business."

You can listen to a full interview with Simon Ford, on which this article is based, from the link below:

Company of the Month Interview (MP3, 5.7 MB 8 minutes)

www.purskincare.co.uk