Christmas Night's experience teaches that effective eCommerce requires both thought and design - it is much more than merely creating a simple site and purchasing an off-the-shelf shopping cart.

By Adam Szot

Amsterdam — How can improved search engine marketing and an effective web design contribute to the bottom line of a small, family-run business? According to Donald and Claire Henderson of Christmas Night, Inc., the answer to that question is "quite a bit."

Yuletide revenues soared this past Holiday season for the online retailer, who specializes in the sale of Christian nativity sets and other wintry depictions. "We had plans for a certain growth last year, which we achieved," says Mrs. Henderson, the firm's official President. "This year we were even more confident in an increased rate of growth, and it seems like we achieved our goal again."

Such success is attributed to having hooked up with Saratoga's Mountain Media two years ago. The Hendersons insist that their increased accessibility on Google and other popular search engines led to the boost in sales. This art, commonly known as "Search Engine Optimization," is a core competency for the Mountain team.

"We are a niche marketer and we want to dominate that niche," says Mr. Henderson, second-in-command of Christmas Night, Inc. Since using Mountain Media's eCommerce skills, the Henderson's immediately noticed a spike in sales to fellow New Yorkers. Shortly thereafter, they experienced an influx of orders from other regions, particularly from southeastern states such as Georgia and South Carolina. "We did very well this year," explains Mr. Henderson. "We hade more orders coming in than ever before."

Before starting Christmas Night Inc. in 1997, the Hendersons resided in Toronto. There, Donald ran a plastic manufacturing operation known as TPI Plastics. Christmas Night was an offshoot of TPI eventually expanding their product line and brand arsenal. Including TPI products, CNI sells a wide range of indoor and outdoor nativity scenes from a variety of manufacturers, both domestic and foreign.

Sample offerings include a 7-foot seraph - yours for about $2000 with shipping and handling included. If that's too steep, a 29" polar bear statuette will run you a mere $22.

Mountain Media specializes in the reformatting of business Websites, creating stable, cross-platform compatible, and high-functioning Web pages," according to Jim Curley, the company's boss and retired musician (see TVT - February 2004). "If a business has a deficient website or e-marketing structure of shopping cart, we can fix the problem."

In the case of Christmas Night, Inc, Mountain Media performed what was essentially an e-marketing makeover: improving the website visually while increasing its prominence on the major search engines. The site received a complete re-design, and custom application development was added for the unique needs that were uncovered. With the exception of pricing, Mountain Media controls all aspects of the Christmas Night, Inc. site.

Henderson not-so-fondly recalls working with an Albany-based web consultant a few years back. "Perhaps we weren't their biggest client, because we didn't seem to be a high priority to them," she says. "Mountain Media treats us like a family."

Christmas Night's experience teaches that effective eCommerce requires both thought and design - it is much more than merely creating a simple site and purchasing an off-the-shelf shopping cart. Equally important is the need to be highly-placed on Google, Yahoo, and others.

It is also apparent that is it nice to be treated as a part of the family.