Website builder for very small and small businesses - Direct & Proche

Context

As part of a strategic partnership between Banque Populaire, a French cooperative banking group, and Publicis Groupe, an ambitious project was launched to open up an online presence to very small and small businesses. The goal: to build a complete platform for creating and managing websites, matched to the specific needs of small and mid-sized companies.

Issues identified

Process complexity: a multitude of contributors and steps in creating a site
Operational load: repetitive, time-consuming tasks for the teams
Customer follow-up: a need for transparency on how projects were progressing
System integration: the need to connect with the existing tools

What was at stake in the transformation

The project was built around three main areas:

1. Process automation

   • A standardised creation workflow
   • Fewer manual tasks
   • Shorter production lead times

2. An optimal user experience

   • An intuitive interface for every contributor
   • Multi-device access for the advisers
   • Transparency on how projects were progressing

3. End-to-end system integration

   • A connection with the CRM tools
   • Integration of the search solutions
   • APIs to automate tasks

Our approach

Our work was structured around several areas of expertise:

1. Team organisation

Project management

• Dedicated project managers
• An Agile Scrum methodology
• Short iteration cycles

Content production

• Specialist content editors
• An optimised editorial process
• Multi-level sign-off

2. Technical excellence

Design & development

• UX/UI expertise
• Optimised HTML integration
• A custom-built Symfony framework

SEO & performance

• Search optimisation
• Performance testing
• Continuous monitoring

3. Support & training

• User training
• Comprehensive documentation
• Dedicated technical support

Results

1. Operational performance

• Automation of the key processes
• Shorter production lead times
• Better quality of deliverables

2. A modern infrastructure

• A containerised architecture with Docker
• Automated continuous deployment
• Robust automated tests

3. User experience

• An intuitive interface validated by users
• An optimised user journey
• Improved customer satisfaction

Business impact

The platform achieved the following:

• An industrialised way of producing websites
• A significant reduction in delivery times
• Improved customer satisfaction
• Optimised production costs

This solution illustrates how automation and process standardisation, combined with a user-centred approach, can transform the production of websites for very small and small businesses.