Reaseheath praised for innovative online store

The Reaseheath Online Store has been commended for its quality and innovation by being awarded the WPM ‘Most Innovative Use of the Online Store Award’ at its recent annual user conference. The award comes less than two years since Reaseheath introduced the online store function to the college and recognises the success it is bringing for both Reaseheath staff and students.

This fantastic achievement is due to the college wide support of the store by all departments.

In less than two years the annual use of the online store and payment gateways has gone from £0 to £500k in year one, to over £1 million in year two. The benefits for our customers are huge, with the system being easy to use and available 24/7 making it a simple and convenient way to make payments.

WPM are the largest supplier of online store/payment gateways within the education sector, working with over 170 HE and FE clients, approximately 2 million students in the UK and process around £4 million transactions with a value over £2 billion annually.

This award recognises outstanding examples of innovation across the sector specifically within the Online Store. Whilst every institution has typically found ways of adapting the functionality to cater for, and typically improve, their service offering and efficiency, the award is aimed at those which really stand out from the crowd and are worth highlighting and rewarding.

Reaseheath was recognised has having a varied and interesting online store ranging from automotive repair to student events. The inclusion of a parent guide and the success of selling over 90% of the summer ball tickets online and the majority outside of normal college working hours. It was also recognised that the college is working hard to drive staff and student engagement with the Online Store.

Reaseheath’s Head of Finance, Stuart Cooper, commented: “This award is recognition for all the hard work and dedication by everyone involved in the online store from its implementation to day to day running.  It’s been a successful journey so far and we intend to build on this success by continually looking for ways we can improve the online store with customer experience being a key driver.“