Case study: SuperCamps

SuperCamps run school holiday activity camps for children aged 4-14. They operate at over 40 venues, all of which are selected for their facilities and location to give children on camp the perfect environment for play and exploration.

After struggling with an out-of-date and poorly integrated course booking and camp management system, SuperCamps were looking for a new solution that would deliver benefits right across the business. Giving customers a smooth and reliable experience through a very complex booking process was the number one priority, while supporting this with a powerful customer service feature set. SuperCamps also needed the ability to execute marketing initiatives and efficiently administer the camps on-site at their multiple venues.

The requirement was for a new, responsive website with integrated booking engine, customer portal and content management system. Bookings were often complicated, with multi-person, multi-event scenarios, add-ons, telephone and online booking options, multiple payment pathways, and booking approvals needed in some cases. Historical data would need to be imported for customers and bookings. A complete SalesForce integration was also specified.

KLOC conducted a detailed requirement gathering exercise and commissioned a thorough UX design process prior to the commencement of any coding. During this process it became clear that an off-the-shelf e-commerce platform would not be able to meet the requirements and that developing a bespoke solution was the best option.

KLOC developed a bespoke e-commerce engine and modular content management system using .NET MVC. The e-commerce platform allowed full flexibility to update designs, customer journey and processes. Although the solution was bespoke, proven design patterns were utilised throughout to ensure that the project was still able to benefit from previous experience

Jim Parsons, Managing Director of KLOC said, “The core product selection and booking mechanism for this site was the most complex scenario that I had encountered in 25 years working in e-commerce. A single booking can contain multiple children booking different camps on different dates for different prices, and each can have different add-ons, all managed with their own validation rules. A solid technical design was absolutely imperative and we are lucky to have a highly experienced team in this regard.”

The complex requirements meant that innovative solutions were required across the board to ensure that all project goals were achieved. The deep integration with Salesforce CRM required a consistent approach to data synchronisation across the platform. An asynchronous processing queue was developed to ensure that high integrity was achieved without compromising front end performance at times of peak demand.

SuperCamps now have a new, modern, market-leading booking platform, which also allows for efficient camp administration. The platform delivers an excellent customer experience, allowing users to quickly and easily navigate through multiple options, complete their booking and manage their account.

The solution provided has succeeded in delivering all of the original project objectives. KLOC continues to work with the SuperCamps parent company – the Active Learning Group – to provide new innovations to the site and has recently re-used the resultant platform to support other initiatives within the group.