Polaroad Thermologistics are a temperature-controlled, logistics business operating out of Langley, Berkshire; only 10 minutes from Heathrow airport and 25 minutes from Central London. The company is ideally placed to provide chilled and ambient same-day or next-day delivery services to the food and non-food industries throughout the United Kingdom.
Problem
The UK logistics industry, unlike personal and corporate postage and parcel delivery, has generally resisted moving to digital systems due to a lack of a ‘digital culture’ and training. This is at odds with customer perceptions and demands; in an age of smartphones and mobile apps, expectations are high for always available, always cost-effective service.
Polaroad were in this exact situation: order management was done by pen, paper and Microsoft Excel. We were approached to digitise the logistics process both for company admins as well as delivery drivers and consignment tracking. Polaroad had no online presence whatsoever and marketing was limited to traditional, industry-specific methods.
Solution
We created a brand, a client-facing website acting as an information portal, an order management web application and a driver’s delivery mobile app. Orders could be created, assigned, tracked and reported through a single, complete system.
It was important to allow flexibility for the company’s B2B clients, and so a stripped down portal was also created for a ‘client’ user type to add and view only their orders.
The result is a streamlined, seamless ordering system where orders can be processed and tracked digitally, with a marketable digital presence and point of contact.
Branding & Typography
Page Design
Homepage
The Polaroad homepage needed to serve as a entry point for the business. As the site itself was not a major part of the company’s day-to-day activities, its main objective was to advertise the benefits of using Polaroad as a logistics service. Focus was placed on educating potential users as to who they are, what main services are provided and why the company should be chosen over the host of other logistics services in the UK.
About
A compact “About” page was designed and built to show off Polaroad’s ideal location, digital nature and commitment to their environment-friendly ethos. The chosen layout was required to be clean, concise and engaging with enough detail to provide users with the company’s background.
Services
As the company could offer a varied number of services beyond simple pickup and delivery, a services page was required to market the available choices and inform users of Polaroad’s flexibility. A tabbed area was built to ensure that information didn’t overwhelm the page and users could select the services they are interested in immediately.
Contact
The contact page was designed to be inviting and information-dependant without extending the content length too much. Users needed to have access to contact information at a glance, with quick links to transfer to off-site social media accounts. A Google Map was placed on the page to further elucidate the business’ ideal location to potential clients and the scope this would bring.