Garrison Locks partners with eCommerce platform Visualsoft to secure sustained success

One of the UK’s leading van security providers, Garrison Locks, has seen sales skyrocket through its partnership with eCommerce specialist, Visualsoft.

Established in 1985 Garrison Locks is the longest established and most recognisable brand for van locks and security systems. Well known for providing a fully nationwide installation service for van security, the retailer now also supplies a full range of security products via its eCommerce website.

With the retailer's previous platform and website built on Magento 1, it had limited functionality and capabilities. Therefore in order for the retailer to reach its aspirational goals, they partnered with Visualsoft to develop and design a new website.

Just a few weeks later, Visualsoft had undertaken a full UX audit to inform the design and influence best practice recommendations for Garrison Locks. The new website offers a smoother and faster shopping experience, allowing customers to find what they’re looking for more easily.

Central to the creative process was ensuring that not only was the site fast, but it was secure, enhancing customer confidence. The retailer has seen sales increase by 60% and lock installations by 80%.

Additionally, the new platform has given Garrison Lock’s employees and day to day users, the ability to add products easily with personalisations, add meta data and utilise the CMS pages for SEO - with little additional training.

Richard Breslin, CEO at Garrison locks, commented: “We decided to partner with Visualsoft based on a lot of research. We looked at many platforms such as Shopify, Magento 2, Woocommerce and a few more, but we felt that Visualsoft offered more support and knowledge on eCommerce. This is something I personally felt was missing from other companies. We have grown from using a small magento platform to now being seen as the market leading online reseller of van security products.”

“The additional digital services, such as PPC, offered by Visualsoft have further enhanced sales and enabled the brand to grow significantly. The benefits were not overnight, and I feel any company that states overnight success rarely sees continual growth along with sustainability. Having said that, as soon as the website was launched we saw the brand had its feet firmly on the ground and ready to engage with a much larger audience.”

Garrison Locks is planning further upgrades. Having moved to the Optimum professional + service in April 2021, they are also in the process of building a new site due to go live later this year. Working closely with Visualsoft’s eCommerce strategist, the retailer is also looking to venture into new marketing channels, such as email marketing, allowing them to send emails directly to consumers through the Visualsoft platform, as well as social media marketing to engage with customers seamlessly and further growth.

Dean Benson, CEO at Visualsoft, said: “Working with SME businesses and helping them grow to their full potential is at the core of what we do at Visualsoft. What we have seen over the last year to 18 months is the necessity for all businesses to be able to sell online and utilise the digital tools that will maximise their reach to a greater audience. As a UK business ourselves, we’re proud to work with homegrown brands such as Garrison Locks, providing them with a complete eCommerce ecosystem that will allow them to grow. We can’t wait to see what Garrison Locks does next and look forward to helping them achieve not just their digital goals, but their overall business objectives.”

Garrison Locks was recently named the winner of the Van security specialist of the year 2021 award. This prestigious award, run by SME News, is the flagship programme that is open to small and medium-sized businesses within the UK.