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Docnet Client Wins Drapers’ ‘Best Independent Etailer’ Award For Second Year Running - 29th January 2010
Fashion Retailer, Sarah Coggles Wins Award & Special Mention At Prestigious Drapers Awards Ceremony
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Independent fashion retailer, Sarah Coggles have swept up ‘Best Independent Etailer’ for the second year running at the Drapers Etail Awards 2010, held last night at the Bloomsbury Ballroom in London. Their web site also earned them a Special Mention in the ‘Etailer Of The Year’ category, awarded to the most outstanding fashion retailer in the UK, demonstrating how well the site is performing compared to larger, non-independent retailers.
Manchester Deansgate-based full-service e-commerce agency, Docnet has been working alongside Sarah Coggles to develop and manage their web site for the past 5 years in addition to managing their email marketing and online order processing systems.
When asked to comment on Sarah Coggles winning the Drapers Independent Etailer Award for the second year running, Chris Maule, Managing Director of Docnet said, ‘The whole team here at Docnet are very proud to have helped make this award become a reality for Sarah Coggles, and we are very excited about our planned developments for 2010, designed to keep them at the forefront of the fashion retail for years to come.’
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NOTES TO EDITORS
About Docnet:
Founded in 1997, Docnet is a full-service e-commerce agency based in Manchester Deansgate. Docnet’s services include full service e-commerce, EPoS systems, email marketing, customer relationship management (CRM), pay-per-click (PPC) and search engine optimisation (SEO) for SMEs and larger organisations. Docnet believe in a service-led approach to e-commerce and online marketing, helping clients create workable strategies for online success and providing the tools and advice to achieve it.
About Sarah Coggles:
Sarah Coggles was founded by Victoria Bage in York in 1974 on a single market stall and has since grown into one of the largest independent etailers in the UK, selling a diverse range of designer labels and one-off clothing items. In addition to its e-commerce website, Sarah Coggles has a store in York that receives more than 260,000 visitors a year.
Record 1,057 Parcels Shipped In Twelve Hours By Online Music Retailer - 10th December 2009
Gear4Music is hitting all the right notes with its dynamic online store in the run-up to Christmas
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Gear4Music, one of the UK’s largest online retailers of musical instruments passed a landmark in its company history on Monday. For the first time since it launched, it shipped over 1,000 orders in less than 12 hours (on average, about one every 41 seconds) through its web store, www.gear4music.com. This surge in orders reflects increasing consumer confidence in online retail and demonstrates how successful the most effective web sites can be.
Over the past two years, Gear4Music, who sell a wide range of musical instruments including electric guitars, orchestral instruments and drums has grown tremendously, more than doubling its annual turnover. From the end of 2007 to the present Gear4Music have increased sales from £4.4m to almost £10m per annum.
In addition to being one of the UK’s largest online musical instrument retailers, over the past year Gear4Music has sold and dispatched instruments to customers in countries all across Europe, including locations in Turkey, The Canary Islands, Estonia, Slovakia and Gibraltar. Gear4Music’s international reach has been growing steadily since it first launched in 2003 and continues to expand.
Gear4Music’s web site is designed and hosted by the Manchester-based full service e-commerce company Docnet, who also design and run web sites for winners of Drapers’ Independent Etailer of the Year 2009 Award, Sarah Coggles (www.coggles.com) and the UK distributor of award-winning Xen-Tan fake tan range, Skin Solutions Ltd (www.xen-tan.co.uk).
On passing this prestigious landmark, Gear4Music owner and Managing Director, Andrew Wass said, “Monday was a fantastic day for Gear4Music, and the signs are just as good for the rest of December. Christmas is always a very busy time of year for us - but the past few days have been exceptional. It is thanks to our innovative and highly successful web site that we’re able to ship as many instruments as we have.”
Managing Director of Docnet, Chris Maule added, “We are very pleased to see Gear4Music passing this milestone and are happy to have helped underpin their success. From the first parcel Gear4Music ever shipped to over 1,000 in a single day, it has been a pleasure to work with Andrew and his team. In turn, my team are 100% behind Gear4Music in helping them to sell their excellent product range online and we have exciting plans to help empower their future growth.”
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NOTES TO EDITORS
About Gear4Music:
Gear4Music’s mission is simple: to make purchasing and owning musical instruments and equipment easy for everyone by providing great prices and excellent service.
Founded and launched by Red Submarine Ltd in 2003, Gear4Music stocks over 6,500 musical instruments from over 300 internationally recognised manufacturers, as well as selling their own range of self-branded stock. The web site boasts over 140,000 registered customers who are able to book their own delivery date and arrange to receive email or SMS text updates on the progress of their orders.
Gear4Music also have a large showroom and exhibition centre based on the outskirts of York where customers can try the stock for themselves.
Retailers Eliminate ‘OUT OF STOCK’ Headaches With New EPOS System - 8th October 2009
Docnet helps retailers enjoy greater synchronicity between online and offline channels, increasing customer satisfaction
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Full e-commerce service provider, Docnet have built an electronic point of sale (EPOS) solution that will greatly improve levels of customer satisfaction both in-store and online. The Manchester City Centre-based firm is now offering EPOS as part of their full-service business model.
The new EPOS system updates inventory levels in the stockroom, on the shop floor and online in near real-time. This ensures online customers no longer place orders on items recently gone out of stock and that stock is removed from the warehouse / shop floor as soon as an order has been taken online.
Managing Director, Chris Maule commented, “We began developing this system when we first noticed many EPOS systems only update web sites once every 24 hours. This inevitably led to complaints from customers who placed orders online believing the item(s) to be in-stock, when in fact the last one had been purchased by someone else hours before. This mistake was costing retailers time and money through the refund process, as well as potentially costing them customer goodwill.”
Mr. Maule continued, “The new EPOS system is designed to meet the demands of today’s online retail environment. As more shoppers turn to the Internet, retailers need to prepare for the increasing volume of sales with a web site that provides accurate, up to the second information. With increasing choice for consumers, retailers risk losing sales and potentially customers for good if they don’t provide an excellent customer experience.”
The real-time EPOS system is part of Docnet’s full-service e-commerce offering, designed to eliminate the problems commonly associated with using multiple vendors for online retail and marketing solutions. By working with Docnet, companies can bring all of their activities under one umbrella and ensure consistency and synchronicity in their operations.
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E-commerce Provider Expands Into New City-Centre Location - 12th August 2009
Docnet continues growth programme with move to Speakers House, Deansgate
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Manchester city-centre based Docnet are relocating to Speakers House on Deansgate as of the end of August 2009. The move from their current premises, Pleer House opposite the Urbis, comes at a time of continued growth for the company.
To meet increasing client demands, the office space will accommodate more staff whilst retaining their city centre-based operations. A number of recent client wins include the UK supplier of Xen-Tan, Skin Solutions Ltd.; Harley Street laser eye clinic, Advance VisionCare and Lancashire creative agency, JGM.
Of the office move, Managing Director Chris Maule had the following to say: "Our ongoing expansion programme has helped us to outgrow our current premises and the move to Speakers House will ensure we can continue that growth in line with our business plan.”
Online retail has been growing at an exceptional rate throughout 2009, charting figures up 13% on 2008 according to the e-tail membership community, IMRG. Companies wishing to increase the amount of revenue from their online retail sites can contact Docnet at their new premises from September on 0845 521 0444, or by visiting www.doc-net.com.
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Market Leading Self-Tanning Web Site Makes Competition Pale in Comparison - 7th August 2009
Xen-Tan launches transactional site to facilitate exceptional growth and promote its celebrity endorsements
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Spots in fashion & beauty magazines; television slots; celebrity praise: Xen-Tan has been causing a stir lately with its unique brand of fragrant, streak-free tanning products and has beaten off the competition to become the new first choice sunless-tanning option for the UK. To match its growing popularity, Xen-Tan now has a redeveloped UK web site, www.xen-tan.co.uk where visitors can purchase the full range of their products and sign-up for alerts and notifications about the brand.
Brought over from America to the UK by Skin Solutions Ltd, Xen-Tan has been specially developed to overcome all the common drawbacks associated with most sunless tanning products. With no unpleasant odours or any of the ‘tell-tale’ signs of traditional tanning products, Xen-Tan offers a solution for those who want to enhance their skin tone but haven’t escaped the infamous ‘British Summer’.
The new Xen-Tan site has been designed with the visitor in mind: it is now the perfect place for first-time self-tanners to learn about which products are right for them, and for the more experienced self-tanners to find their favourite products with ease. With a comprehensive press and news section, visitors can also keep track of what Xen-Tan has been doing, and news alerts will break the latest gossip to subscribers (visitors can also win £50’s worth of Xen-Tan products when they sign-up for Xen-Tan news alerts).
When planning their web site, Skin Solutions Ltd chose to work with Manchester-based, full-service e-commerce company, Docnet because of their success with other online retailers, such as Ark Clothing, Sarah Coggles (winner of the Drapers’ Independent E-tailer of the Year 2009 award) and Gear4Music. With Skin Solutions Ltd dedicated to making people look their best, and Docnet proven experts in online retail, Xen-Tan.co.uk is set to give online self-tanning retail an exceptional makeover.
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NOTES TO EDITORS
Skin Solutions Limited is the exclusive UK & Europe-wide distributor for Xen-Tan. Set up by Salford Unversity graduate, Natalie Roche, Skin Solutions Limited employs three full-time members of staff and is expected to break the £1m turnover barrier in its third year of trading.
Docnet Manager Takes Home 'Man of the Match' from Old Trafford - 5th June 2009
League Managers Association Raises Money for UNICEF UK with Charity Pitch Day Event
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The League Managers Association (LMA) hosted a charity pitch day at Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium on Monday 1st June to raise funds for UNICEF UK, in which Manchester-based e-commerce firm Docnet took part. 
Docnet’s Managing Director, Chris Maule and Business Development Manager, John Coyne (formerly of Wigan Athletic) took part in the match, playing on an away side made up of players from all over the country. They went head to head against a Grimsby based team wearing Man United’s home colours for the trophy.
Although the end result was 4-1 to the home team, Coyne was awarded ‘Man of the Match’ by the organisers in recognition of his exceptional performance. The away team was managed by Denis Smith, recently inducted into the LMA Hall of Fame 1,000 Club for managing his 1000th league game; former Man United striker Lou Macari managed the home team.
Shortly after the game, Coyne had the following to say about the event:
“It was a tough match and the heat made the conditions difficult, but every player gave 100% and knowing it was all going to a good cause ensured everyone stayed in good spirits. Playing at Old Trafford was a once in a life-time opportunity, and Chris and I felt very proud to be bringing a bit of Manchester to the game itself. I’d like to extend my congratulations to the winning team as they played exceptionally well.”
On the day, participants were welcomed by Manchester United Foundation Chief Executive, John Shiels, and introduced to their managers. A tour of the ground then took place followed by the match itself, complete with entrance onto the pitch through the players’ tunnel with match day soundtrack. The awards were handed out at the end of the game by Blackburn Rovers team manager, Sam Allardyce.
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NOTES TO EDITORS
About League Managers Association (LMA):
The League Managers Association is the collective, representative voice of all managers from the Barclays Premier League, the Coca-Cola Championship and the Coca-Cola Leagues 1 and 2. Since its inception in 1992, the LMA has continued to develop its support and service offering to its members and its influence within the game.
About UNICEF UK:
UNICEF UK is one of 36 UNICEF National Committees. These National Committees raise funds for UNICEF’s worldwide emergency and development work. In 2007 UNICEF UK raised £41.3 million for UNICEF’s work with children worldwide.
UNICEF believes that every child should have clean water, food, health care, education, and a safe environment in which to grow up. UNICEF upholds the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and works to hold the international community responsible for their promises to children.
About Docnet:
Docnet is a full-service ecommerce provider. Based in Manchester, UK, Docnet’s services include ecommerce, email marketing, customer relationship management (CRM), pay-per-click (PPC) and search engine optimisation (SEO) for SMEs and larger organisations.
Docnet believe in a service-led approach to e-commerce and online marketing, helping clients create workable strategies for online success and providing the tools and advice to achieve it. Success stories of the past include Sarah Coggles (winners of Drapers’ Independent Etailer of the Year Award), Waterstones, BAA and ARK Clothing.
SprintEcommerce Client Wins 'Independent Etailer of the Year' Award - 20th February 2009
Bespoke website design for Sarah Coggles impresses at Drapers Etail Awards 2009
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York based Sarah Coggles have been chosen as a model example of independent online fashion retail sector at this years' Drapers Etail Awards, having walked away with 'Independent Etailer of the Year'.
The winners were announced at a ceremony held on the 29th January 2009 at fashionable Mayfair venue, Sketch. The awards were recognition for best practice in one of the fastest growing fashion retail sectors and included categories in customer service, innovation and initiative.
Sarah Coggle's site is provided by Manchester based full-service e-commerce company Doctor Net, using their bespoke SprintEcommerce platform. Over the past two years, the companies have worked together to increase sales revenue and create a 'one of a kind' online experience for shoppers that reflects Sarah Coggles' image, making it one of the largest and most popular independent fashion etailers in the UK.
Mark Bage, Managing Director of Sarah Coggles said about the website, “Doctor Net has provided us with a fully-featured, flexible e-commerce solution that has empowered our online growth over the last two years. We would like to thank all the guys at Doctor Net for their hard work and helping us win 'Best Independent Etailer' at the Drapers Etail Awards this year.”
Chris Maule, Managing Director of Doctor Net, added, “I would like to congratulate Sarah Coggles on their success. It has been a pleasure to work with them and I look forward to ensuring their sales grow even more in the coming years.”
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NOTES TO EDITORS:
Sarah Coggles was founded by Victoria Bage in York in 1974 on a single market stall and has since grown into one of the largest independent etailers in the UK, selling a diverse range of designer labels and one-off clothing items. In addition to its e-commerce website, Sarah Coggles has a store in York that receives more than 260,000 visitors a year. For more information, please visit the Sarah Coggles website.
Drapers Etail Awards is a new, dedicated award ceremony for the fastest growing sector in fashion retail. It is hosted by Drapers magazine in association with PayPal and Venda.
Manchester Marketing Firm Knows How to Handle The Big Issue - 20th February 2009
Big Issue in the North awarded year long free marketing campaign
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Manchester e-commerce firm Doctor Net has awarded its first pro-bono account of 2009 to the Big Issue in the North. Worth approximately £6,000 over a period of 12 months, the city centre digital specialists will help the Big Issue launch its new Big Deal initiative and provide promotional support to the England Team in the Homeless Football World Cup.
Thirty Five North West charities applied for help from Doctor Net following an appeal in the Manchester Evening News in January. The Big Issue in the North was selected by staff members at Doctor Net.
Doctor Net's Managing Director, Chris Maule is excited about the prospect of working with the Big Issue. He said:- “It was very difficult to decide which charity should benefit from our support, we wish we could help all of the charities who applied. However, we picked the Big Issue in the North because we felt that they could get the most from working with us. It is a very worthy cause and this partnership will help us lead the way in promoting corporate responsibility amongst SME’s in the North West”.
Richard Brown, Advertising and Business Development Director for The Big Issue in the North said: "We're very pleased that Doctor Net has awarded The Big Issue in the North this pro-bono account and look forward to working with them in the coming months. We're currently developing our Big Deal initiative, which is a subscription package for organisations wanting to ensure they get The Big Issue in the North magazine on a regular basis, and we're also once again putting together England's Homeless World Cup team, who will be travelling to Italy in September to take part in an international street soccer tournament playing against around 40 other teams of homeless people. I'm confident Doctor Net will prove invaluable in promoting these projects and raising the profile of The Big Issue in the North."
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NOTES TO EDITORS
Doctor Net is a Manchester based full-service e-commerce company offering a variety of online services, including e-commerce, email marketing, website development, customer relationship management (CRM) and search engine management.
The Big Issue in the North is a business solution to a social problem. It’s a limited company employing staff to write, design and distribute the magazine.
The Big Issue in the North is sold by homeless people across the north of England. Alongside selling the magazine most of our vendors take part in The Big Life Plan, a tailored programme of support to help vendors achieve their goals and move away from the streets for good.
Selling The Big Issue in the North gives homeless people the opportunity to earn a legitimate income. It also gives homeless people motivation and self-esteem.
- 85%of vendors say that selling gives them the motivation to change their lives
- 79% say it has improved their self-confidence
- 95% say they want more from life than selling The Big Issue in the North
- 82% say that since selling the magazine they have committed less crime
Manchester Firm Docnet to Represent the North West at Nationwide Technology Conference - 16th February 2009
Full-service e-commerce company champions North West's expertise, launches new e-commerce platform
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Manchester based firm, Doctor Net is flying the flag for the North West at this year's Technology For Marketing & Advertising show, held at Earls Court 2, London on the 24th & 25th February.
Doctor Net will be using this opportunity to showcase its cutting-edge digital marketing expertise and launch its fully integrated e-commerce platform. The platform includes fully-hosted e-commerce, email marketing, customer relationship management, pay-per-click (PPC) and search engine optimisation (SEO), eliminating the need for multiple vendors and streamlining the e-commerce process.
Several years in development, this technology is being launched at a time of exceptional growth for Doctor Net. The firm has seen four new staff members join in the past 6 months and annual turnover overtake the £1m mark. Managing Director, Chris Maule expects the company to reach £4m in annual turnover by 2012.
Chris Maule had the following to say about Doctor Net's attendance at the show: “We are very excited about this years' Technology For Marketing & Advertising show, which is a highlight in every marketers' calendar. Last year we met several companies and subsequently have helped them to transform their online sales and marketing. We hope to repeat that experience again and invite anyone who is curious about how fully-integrated e-commerce can dramatically increase their online sales to come and speak to us at the show.”
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NOTES TO EDITORS
Technology For Marketing & Advertising is one of the largest trade shows of its kind in the UK. In 2008 it attracted 8,132 attendees and visitors with a combined annual marketing budget of over £1.8 billion.
Doctor Net is a full-service e-commerce provider. Based in Manchester, UK, Doctor Net's integrated platform includes e-commerce, email marketing, customer relationship management (CRM), pay-per-click (PPC) and search engine optimisation (SEO) for SMEs and larger organisations.
Doctor Net will be located at stand F-22 at TFM&A 2009, where visitors will get the chance to speak to Chris Maule and his team of experienced marketing and technical consultants.
A Healthy Glow for SprintEcommerce Following Xen-Tan Client Win - 3rd February 2009
Manchester-based company celebrates 24 month UK contract with international tanning brand
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Full-service e-commerce firm Doctor Net has landed a 24 month contract with the UK & Europe-wide distributors of Xen-Tan's international self-tanning brand. The 2 year long partnership will see Doctor Net providing Skin Solutions Limited with a full-service e-commerce solution, SprintEcommerce to ensure sales growth over the coming years.
Xen-Tan comes with a range of celebrity endorsements from the likes of Ali Bastian, Danielle Lloydd and Gok Wan, and has won the Women's Own 'Beauty Hero' award. It is already one of the USA's most popular self-tanning products and is now taking the UK by storm. It differs from other self-tanning products by being streak-free, naturally coloured and attractively scented.
To enhance their capacity following the new client win, Doctor Net has recruited two new software developers, James Tunstall (31) and James Jaber (38). The new arrivals will further support Doctor Net's ongoing expansion plans to increase turnover to £4m per annum by 2012.
Chris Maule, Managing Director of Doctor Net, is optimistic about the firm’s progress. He said: “Our new 24 month contract with Xen-Tan & Skin Solutions Limited is just one of several large client wins we've had over the past few months - which just goes to show how hungry businesses are for cost-effective, accountable forms of marketing in the current economic climate.”
He continued: “We're on target with our expansion plans and have taken on two new developers to keep pace with the growing demand for web based marketing. We think encouraging growth is important and with a forward-thinking attitude, businesses can help counter the effects of the recession. We aren't going to let anything dissuade us from achieving the best for our clients.”
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NOTES TO EDITORS
Xen-Tan is the first self-tanning spray to be streak-free and naturally coloured, making it the most popular, natural-looking and celebrity endorsed self-tan product on the market. For more information, please visit the Xen-Tan website.
Skin Solutions Limited is the exclusive UK & Europe-wide distributor for Xen-Tan. Set up by Salford Unversity graduate, Natalie Roche, Skin Solutions Limited employs three full-time members of staff and is expected to break the £1m turnover barrier in its third year of trading.
Just What the “Doctor” Ordered at New Year for Manchester Charities - 7th January 2009
Local Firm Targets Local Charities with New Corporate Responsibility Campaign
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Manchester e-marketing firm Doctor Net has launched a New Year appeal for applications from local charities who need help with their marketing, as part of their new corporate responsibility and sustainability programme for 2009.
The 20 person agency - established in 1995 - has recently undergone a period of growth despite the impending recession and has established its new corporate and social responsibility programme to add to the success of its “low carbon” initiative launched in 2007.
The new initiative will see the firm offer life long pro-bono marketing support to four North West based charities per year. Charities and Social Enterprises are invited to apply for support starting in 2009. Doctor Net employees will decide on the first of the four organisations that could benefit most from support in early January. The programme will be delivered in stages, with one charity being allocated a pro-bono account in each quarter of 2009.
Doctor Net Managing Director Chris Maule is optimistic about the success of the project. He said:- “This is a fantastic opportunity for local charities to really benefit from private sector support. The right kind of marketing can be a huge boost for fundraising and recognition and it is part of our philosophy that our new Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability initiative should help us to support local causes in any way we can”.
Doctor Net Business Development Consultant and Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability specialist Rick Yates believes sponsorship in kind is the way forward for private sector investment into charitable causes. He said:- “Charitable organisations are more frequently seeking infrastructure based support alongside financial contributions from donors. This initiative will allow charities in the North West the support they need to market themselves at the same calibre as private sector firms on a sustainable basis, and will lay the foundations for long term growth instead of a short term injection of funds”.
Charities or Social Enterprises who would like to apply for support from Doctor Net can do so by contacting Rick Yates at rick@doc-net.com or calling 0161 839 0101.
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NOTES TO EDITORS
Doctor Net is a Manchester, UK based full-service e-commerce company offering email marketing, e-commerce, customer relationship management and online data backup.
Doctor Net Eradicates 'Hidden' Email Marketing Costs with Modular Template-Editing System - 25th November 2008
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Doctor Net, a full-service e-commerce company based in Manchester, UK have developed a software feature designed to combat the email marketing inefficiencies losing businesses as much as £42,000 each per year.
The new eMailCampaigner modular template-editing system allows marketers to design, compose and administrate their email campaigns with greater efficiency, saving time and money spent on the 'hidden costs' of email marketing.
Recent research conducted in the UK has shown that in worst-case scenarios it can take as many as 19 hours to prepare an email campaign for broadcast, costing the equivalent of £800 per campaign, or £41,600 over the space of a year for a weekly email.
Doctor Net has found it can dramatically reduce the amount of time it takes to prepare an email with its new modular template-editing system. Since its launch it has helped numerous eMailCampaigner clients regain the ability to modify the content and design of their advertising campaigns quickly, generating a higher ROI and greater customer satisfaction.
With the new system, marketers can integrate, remove and adjust modules as they compose the email and see it represented as it will be delivered without the need for any technical knowledge.
Chris Maule, Managing Director of Doctor Net had the following to say: “Our clients have seen the time it takes to put together an email campaign massively reduced since we introduced this system - by as much as 80% in some cases.”
He continued: “The hidden costs of £800 to design a campaign will be worrying to some and just surprising to the rest of us. Any email campaign that takes that long to produce and costs that much to set up clearly isn't adhering to best practices. Our system goes beyond what is typically expected and I'm delighted that our clients have seen a positive return from it, producing professional email campaigns in less time than ever.”
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NOTES TO EDITORS
eMailCampaigner is an email marketing platform developed by Doctor Net, a UK based full-service e-commerce company.
Doctor Net Harness Wikipedia Technology for New Customer Relationship Management Interface - 24th November 2008
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A Manchester, UK-based firm are employing Wikipedia technology to enhance their SprintCRM software and increase the efficiency of their client's business processes.
The technical team at Doctor Net have decided to take a leaf out of the internet encyclopaedia's book and develop a feature that allows SprintCRM users to work collaboratively on documents hosted on-line. The new Wiki's editing process works on the similar principle to Wikipedia's: users are allowed to contribute and amend documents from any remote location with internet access.
This has greatly simplified the document creation process within their own company and in their clients', ensuring the most up-to-date version of the document is accessible to everyone in the user group. This has reduced the likelihood of making costly, embarrassing mistakes based on old information and has also had a positive effect on the way people share knowledge in the company.
Chris Maule, Doctor Net's Managing Director commented, “We've already noticed a high user uptake of the program and they're showing a real enthusiasm and willingness to generate content in the Wiki.”
“What I find especially useful is it evens out the knowledge base. You can host documents on-line for people to see and contribute towards, and it simplifies so many communication problems commonly experienced by businesses.”
The new Wiki feature is likely to be of especially useful for teams of people working collaboratively on large projects, whether it be research programs, reports or presentations.
“It can be hard to get people's schedules to line-up,” continues Chris, “but having the Wiki means it's no longer an issue. Employee sickness, annual leave and out-of-office appointments can slow down advancement on projects greatly. With the Wiki feature, work can continue from any number of remote locations and responsibility for looking after information no longer has to rest with one person. As a result, businesses will see more projects delivered on time.”
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NOTES TO EDITORS:
SprintCRM is a subsidiary of Doctor Net, a UK based full-service e-commerce company.
Record Year Predicted for Digital Advertising Spend - 9th October 2008
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Despite daily reports of a global financial crisis, recent figures from the Internet Advertising Bureau show online expenditure jumped 21% last year to £1.6bn despite tough trading conditions. This figure is likely to rise much further in 2008 as organizations decrease their spending on traditional advertising such as television and print, and turn their attention towards online advertising instead.
Chris Maule, the Managing Director at Doctor Net, believes the reasons for this growth can be attributed to a number of factors:
"The main difference between online marketing and traditional channels is accountability. You can track where every penny of your online investment goes. That kind of transparency you just don't get with TV or print advertising."
Digital advertising has a big role to play in the current economic climate and is responsible for advertising's overall growth as an industry: without it, market spend would actually have shrunk by 4.6%.
Maule continued, "Despite the slowdown in other advertising sectors, we continue to receive fresh enquiries from organizations keen to maximize their marketing spend. It's important for marketing professionals to be able to invest their budget correctly and to know exactly what they are getting for their money. From our point of view, there's nowhere to hide and the challenge is to ensure we are providing real value on returns for our clients."
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NOTES TO EDITORS
Doctor Net are a full-service e-commerce company based in Manchester, UK. In addition to e-commerce, Doctor Net provides online marketing and customer relationship management solutions to SMEs and large organisations.
Doctor Net Embark on Expansion Programme - 23rd September 2008
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Manchester City centre based firm Doctor Net are making leaps and bounds in terms of growth, recruiting new members of staff in marketing and software development.
Recent additions to the firm are Rick Yates, 25, formerly of Weber Shandwick in London and Gareth Cutter, 21, a recent graduate of Manchester Metropolitan University. Both recruits have joined the marketing department and look forward to helping the company through its expansion programme.
They join the team as part of plans laid out by Managing Director, Chris Maule to increase business turnover from £1m to £4m by 2012. Plans also include to hire two new software developers.
Of the new arrivals, Maule had the following to say: “We have picked some of the very best graduates to help us with our development as we go through this period of expansion. The growth of our team reflects the growth of the industry and the demand for our effective e-business solutions.”
2008 has been a good year for email marketing so far and analysts project spend to increase by a further 24%. This will take its overall value to £274 million by the end of the year.
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NOTES TO EDITORS
Doctor Net is a UK based full-service e-commerce company providing e-commerce, email marketing and customer relationship management solutions.
Email marketing spend to grow by 24% in the UK in 2008 - 22nd August 2008
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Spending on email marketing services will grow by 24 per cent this year in the UK, according to a new report from E-consultancy.
Forecasts within the 2008 Email Marketing Platforms Buyer's Guide suggest that email marketing will reach a value of £274 million by the end of the year.
Manchester based Doctor Net believe that there are a number of reasons behind the growth. Business development manager John Coyne puts this increased spending on email marketing down to the medium making better economic sense, especially in comparison to traditional marketing channels and during this period of economic uncertainty.
He says, “Despite the doom and gloom surrounding the UK economy, we’ve noticed a significant upturn in customer spend. I think businesses are starting to understand the strong benefits associated with targeted email campaigns. They are cost effective, fast and the ability to track your marketing campaigns in real time allow for a quicker sales process”.
As email marketing becomes more integrated with both online and offline campaigns the industry’s future certainly looks bright.
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NOTES TO EDITORS
Doctor Net is a UK based full-service e-commerce company providing e-commerce, email marketing and customer relationship management solutions.
Healthy Figures Despite Global Economy Fears - 14th March 2008
UK online marketing spend buoyant
- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Full-service e-commerce company, Doctor Net are celebrating a great start to 2008 after winning some high profile accounts within January and February. The Manchester based firm have noticed no decline in customer spend despite fears over the economy. This news comes hot on the heels of findings that UK Internet advertising budgets grew further in the fourth quarter of 2007 despite cutbacks in other channels, that's according to the latest Bellwether report from the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA).
Doctor Net, who provide email marketing, e-commerce and CRM solutions, said the market was buoyant and that it showed no signs of slowing. Exhibiting at this years Technology for Marketing & Advertising show (TFM&A) at Earls Court further highlights the growing numbers of companies who are turning their spend to online channels.
Doctor Net's business development manager John Coyne, exhibited at the show; "We had been quoted figures on the number of attendees in 2007 and initial results show a good increase on those figures. Our stand was extremely busy and all attendees and exhibitors seemed in great spirits".
The company have recently upgraded their eMailCampaigner application and used TFM&A to launch a new email template editing tool.
Mr Coyne continued, "The feedback from visitors to our stand was extremely positive and more than justified our decision to invest in developing eMailCampaigner. We felt it was important to make creating email campaigns as easy and efficient for our customers as possible. That seems to have worked and hopefully it should drive new business from those visitors we were able to demo to at TFM&A. As far as we are aware, no other email marketing providers in the UK are offering this sort of flexibility within their template editors".
February also saw Doctor Net win the email marketing and communications account with The British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC), a British organisation whose mission is to promote and protect sporting shooting and the well-being of the countryside throughout the United Kingdom and overseas.
"BASC are celebrating their centenary this year, so it is a really exciting time to be supporting them with their online communications", said Coyne.
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Docnet Predicts Environmental Pressures will Cause the Death of the Company Christmas Card - 10th December 2007
- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
A Manchester based full-service e-commerce company is predicting the death of the company Christmas card after client email cards exceeded 250,000 for the first time in the company’s history.
The milestone comes at the end of year on year increases since the company first started sending email Christmas cards 4 years ago.
With companies under increasing pressure to demonstrate that there business is environmentally conscious, Docnet believes the future looks bleak for the traditional printed seasonal wishes.
Docnet business development manager John Coyne said,
“We’ve spoken to a number of clients about their reasons for changing over from posted to email Christmas cards. The first reason is always the savings on administration time. Hours stuffing and labelling hundreds of Christmas cards is no match for simply pressing send on an email!
“But increasingly, we say at least half of, clients are citing environmental pressures for making the switch. The more companies sending e-cards would have a significant multiplier effect on the world’s forests. And there’s also the use of fossil fuels required to deliver them.”
The company’s own environmental push is part of an inspirational campaign called ‘Project 007’. In addition to the email Christmas cards, Docnet has changed their source of energy to a supplier who provides 100% renewable energy. They also work in partnership with Manchester-based Emerge Recycling who are paid by the company to collect waste paper and plastic on a daily basis.
John adds, “We are really proud of what we have achieved this year and all staff are to be congratulated on the effort they have put in. We’ll certainly continue in the same vain next year and hope we can share best environmental practice with clients old and new in 2008.”
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NOTES TO EDITORS
Facts about ‘Project 007’
Docnet begin using the ‘Daily Takeaway’ service from Emerge Recycling. Emerge are paid to pick up and recycle all waste paper and plastics
Energy supplier is changed to Good Energy, who provide 100% renewable energy
Staff bought Innocent Smoothies as part of Innocents ‘Buy One, Get One Tree’ campaign. For every smoothie bought a tree is planted in a 3rd world nation. All empty bottles are recycled
Docnet sends tens of thousands of Email Christmas cards in 2007 on behalf of clients. Many clients choose to donate saved money to charity. 1 million traditional cards use over 150 trees within the Brazilian rainforest
Goingreen (the electric car company) and Ethical Events (an event management company who donate profits to Ethical causes) continue to receive support from commercial relationship with Docnet
Staff urged to use public transport wherever possible for commercial purposes. Car usage decreased by 60%
eMailCampaigner Reaches Landmark Account - 1st August 2007
- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Manchester based full-service e-commerce company Doctor Net today reached a milestone to be proud of when they signed up the 500th client to their email marketing application, eMailCampaigner
The agency, based in Manchester City Centre, are working with Boobaloo - the company behind Kids Trolley Karts available in Asda superstores and shopping centres nationwide.
The project between eMailCampaigner and Boobaloo is aimed at installing more Boobaloo Kiddy Karts into supermarkets and shopping centres. To do this, Doctor Net have devised a strategy that allows Boobaloo to send out informative emails to shopping centre managers throughout the UK. These emails are branded and include links through to the Boobaloo and Child Safe websites.
Boobaloo Director, Robert Morris, commented, "We all hear about horror stories of children going missing whilst out shopping but if a shopping centre or supermarket installs Boobaloo karts then that risk is eliminated".
On the project with Doctor Net, Morris is equally confident, "It wasn't practical to go to every retail park, shopping arcade or supermarket in the UK so we wanted a way to target these prospects quicker. When we first spoke to the team at eMailCampaigner, they understood immediately what Boobaloo were about and they had strategies and techniques that could help us. We have a simple yet effective way of targeting our potential customers quickly and we can track who takes an interest in our message. If they do, we then get on the phone to them. We know the concept works as there are over 4,000 Boobaloo karts in circulation worldwide - we just need to let more people know".
Doctor Net's John Coyne commented, "We haven't really given too much thought to be honest. We are more excited about working with Boobaloo than we are about obtaining our 500th eMailCampaigner client".
The company have also developed their own e-commerce and customer relationship management (CRM) solutions. "I'll be even happier when we reach 500 clients with each of those products which hopefully won't be too far away", added Mr Coyne.
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Local Firms Team Up to Fly the Flag for Manchester - 16th July 2007
- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Some of the biggest names in the Airline Industry were present to meet the team at EDM Ltd recently. The Oldham based company were exhibiting at the World Aviation Training conference and tradeshow in Orlando, Florida, and they were able to invite industry executives thanks to full-service e-commerce company Doctor Net - also based in Manchester.
Last month, Doctor Net won a pitch to support EDM's online communications strategy. Using Doctor Net's eMailCampaigner tool, EDM are able to keep in touch with existing, past and prospective customers by way of news updates and information sent via email.
Mick Bonney, Head of Business Development for EDM said, "In the past year we have been providing valuable evacuation training and service simulators for the likes of Virgin, KLM, Easy Jet, Air India, Austrian Airlines and Alitalia and we felt it was the right time to start telling people about our success and also inform them when and how they can come and meet us. Even better was being able to see which important contacts had opened the email - thanks to Doctor Net's reporting tools."
One of the first email campaigns put together was an invitation to the World Aviation event that allowed recipients to RSVP. Mr Bonney commented, "We were recently exhibiting at an event in Florida and some of our airline contacts mentioned that they had received our email so we know the message is getting out there which is great".
Doctor Net themselves are no stranger to promoting the wealth of talent available from Manchester's digital agencies. The city centre based company have worked with some great brands such as Waterstone's, BAA, Chelsea FC Travel, Jaguar, Brewers Fayre and Holmes Place (now Virgin Active).
"Our email marketing, e-commerce and CRM solutions have allowed us to work with some great names over the past 10 years, though it is always nice to be working with a company much closer to home", commented Doctor Net's John Coyne. "When we first met EDM we knew there was so much potential to achieve great results with email marketing as they had some great news articles along with a targeted list of contacts they wanted to communicate with. It is excellent for both of us to be promoting Manchester on a national and international stage".
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I'm No 'Green' Criminal - 10th July 2007
"A BUSINESSMAN was branded an environmental criminal by Manchester council - although he pays to recycle his firm's rubbish."
Chris Maule, managing director of e-mail marketing and software company Doctor Net, has been paying private recycling company Emerge Recycling to collect his waste - usually bags of shredded paper - for six months.
Specially-marked bags are left on the pavement outside the Fennel Street firm...." - Snippet from the Manchester Evening News on 10th July 2007.
Doctors On The Run - 20th May 2007
- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
The team at Doctor Net are always up for a challenge whether it be creating successful solutions for their clients or running as fast as they can for as long as they can!
Always ones to protect the downside of any situation, Doctor Net invited Chris' General Practitioner brother along! "I think everyone's done some training this year, but it's nice to have a medical doctor running along with the rest of us from Doctor Net!"
"This will be the fifth year Doctor Net has taken part in the Great Manchester 10K", commented Managing Director Chris Maule. "It's always great day and good to get as many people involved as possible."
The team all finished with good times this year and expect to return to the race in 2008.
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Ethical Agency Throws Out The Rubbish - 30th March 2007
- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
UK e-commerce agency doing all they can to preserve the World-wide-planet
Full-service e-commerce company, Doctor Net have jumped well and truly onto the carbon balanced bandwagon and are currently working on 3 different projects that hold the environment's best interests at heart.
This year has seen the company team up with Recycling experts Emerge and event management agency Ethical Events. Ethical Events ongoing work with Save The Rhino has been well publicised and Doctor Net are continuing to support the marketing efforts for this campaign.
No stranger to helping out where they can Doctor Net became involved in the 'green initiative' a number of years ago when they developed GoinGreen's new car showroom - their e-commerce site. GoinGreen, now make the world's best selling electric car.
The partnership with Emerge has had an immediate effect on staff at Doctor Net who were shocked to find out that 1 billion Christmas cards ended up as waste in 2006. The team now recycle all paper and card which is collected as part of the Emerge's 'Daily Takeaway' service.
In addition to their ongoing campaign to get companies to send their marketing material by environmentally friendly emails they have come up with the following tips of how you can make a difference with just a small effort in the workplace;
- Purchase and use recycled paper
- Only print emails and documents if it is essential
- Encourage staff to re-use and recycle paper rather than wasting
- Re-use scrap paper
- Issue company literature and documents internally and externally via email
- Set targets and offer staff incentives to implement and promote waste minimisation
- Set targets that can be measured - has your expense of purchasing paper decreased?
- Set your printer to print on both sides of the paper by default as you will use less paper
- ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
Doctor Net is a full-service e-commerce company providing e-commerce, online marketing and CRM solutions. http://www.doc-net.com/
Ethical Events are an event and corporate hospitality agency who contributes a proportion of their profit from each and every event to the client's chosen charity or to one of the Ethical Events supported charities. http://www.ethical-events.co.uk/
Emerge Recycling offer multi material collections from businesses and homes as well as Waste Consultancy and a Schools Recycling Programme. http://www.emergemanchester.co.uk/
None Like It Hot - 2nd February 2007
- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Undeniably it's unseasonably warm, and according to a panel of UN scientists, it's not just somebody's fault; it's your fault. It's not very good for one's self esteem being responsible for the demise of your species so what can you do to help stop the Earth sliding into global melt down?
One area that you can make a big difference without causing yourself too much personal pain is in the office. You may be surprised to find out that an average office worker prints out 1,200 pages per month (21% of which ends up in the bin the day it was printed). If you're cringing reading this then the figure is probably a little too high.
UK based full-service e-commerce company Doctor Net believe the solution is simple. In addition to their ongoing campaign to get companies to send their marketing material by environmentally friendly emails they have come up with the following tips of how you can make a difference with just a small effort in the workplace:
- Purchase and use recycled paper
- Only print emails and documents if it is essential
- Encourage staff to re-use and recycle paper rather than wasting
- Re-use scrap paper
- Issue company literature and documents internally and externally via email
- Set targets and offer staff incentives to implement and promote waste minimisation
- Set targets that can be measured - has your expense of purchasing paper decreased?
- Set your printer to print on both sides of the paper by default as you will use less paper
- ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS
Doctor Net is a UK based full-service e-commerce company providing e-commerce, email marketing and CRM solutions. http://www.doc-net.com/
FloorHeatingOnline.com Makes Competition Break Into Sweat - 2nd August 2006
Grimsby based FloorHeatingOnline.com have today launched their 2nd generation e-commerce site using Doctor Net's SprintEcommerce platform. 
FloorHeatingOnline.com had been successfully trading online for some time but wanted to partner a company that could help drive their aggressive sales and marketing targets and could show a track record of developing robust, secure and scalable e-commerce solutions.
"We're all very excited about the launch of the new site." commented Doctor Net's Managing Director Chris Maule. "We are looking forward to driving sales up for the team at FloorHeatingOnline.com and helping them develop a strong multi-channel sales and marketing strategy."
Visit http://www.FloorHeatingOnline.com/ and www.doc-net.com today and find out more.
GoinGreen.co.uk Launches New Website - 18th July 2006
GoinGreen are not your average car company. Straight off the block you can see this when their G-Wiz electric car offers 600 'mpg' (equiv) and is exempt from road tax and congestion charge!
Their aim is to inspire as many people as possible to 'go green', so the company developed a business model which has eliminated many of the traditional costs associated with selling vehicles. GoinGreen sell direct to customers with no dealers, no showrooms, no advertising - it is all viral and web based - so their e-commerce platform is of paramount importance in this strategy.
Their new website, which launched today, is the second generation website that Doctor Net has developed for the company. The new site based on Doctor Net's SprintEcommerce platform adds full transactional capacity as well as many other features and gives the company the firm base it needs for the rapid growth in its market place.
Visit http://www.GoinGreen.co.uk/ and http://www.doc-net.com/ today and find out more.
ArkClothing.com Creates Valuable New Channel for RETT Retail - 9th September 2005
Today sees the launch of http://www.arkclothing.com/, a valuable new sales channel for RETT Retail who run the ARK brand street wear stores in eight prominent locations across the North of England.
RETT Retail, who employ over 100 people, sees the internet as a vital part in their growth strategy and have targeted the new website to contribute a million pounds to sales in it's first 12 months.
ARK chose Doctor Net as a partner in the project due to their proven ability to deliver solutions able to handle multi-million pounds worth of transactions on an annual basis and quickly and cost effectively understand and deploy complex business software.
Visit http://www.arkclothing.com/ and http://www.doc-net.com/ to today and find out more.
Doctor Net Launches 4th Generation Website - 9th November 2004
Doctor Net has today launched its 4th generation website and celebrates it's 8th year as one of the UKs leading technology houses. This latest generation website brings the company's service portfolio up to date. "The driving factor behind all our products and solutions is that we deliver ROI to our customers", comments Chris Maule, Managing Director.
Visit http://www.doc-net.com/ today and find out more.
Doctor Net Limited Powers Gear4Music.com into the National Finals of the 2004 DTI Ecommerce Awards - 10th September 2004
Local full-service e-commerce company Doctor Net Limited has helped it's client Gear4Music.com pick up two awards at Yorkshire and Humber Regional Final of the 2004 DTI E-commerce awards. The awards were held in Barnsley on the 10th September 2004.
Gear4music.com won the e-trading category and received a 'highly commended' award in the e-business category. The awards were won for the solution that Doctor Net has produced for them over the last 2 years. The awards judge the use of the internet and internet technologies from over 400 entrants, each of the companies being individually interviewed.
Doctor Net created a system for Gear4music.com that has helped reduce their running costs. This has been achieved by the integration of the website in to a bespoke Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system which allows easy access to important customer, ordering and manufacturing information. This new system has transformed the business over the past 24 months and allowed the Gear4music.com to achieve its tough growth targets.
Chris Maule, Managing director at Doctor Net said, "The DTI E-commerce awards are our industry's most acknowledged and prestigious awards. To have our work recognised is fantastic and the whole team are very excited. We're now looking forward to going to the National Finals in London at the beginning of next month and we're hopeful that we won't be coming back empty handed!"
The London Finals are held at the Grosvenor House hotel in London on the 6th October 2004.
Timelogging.com Goes Live - 11th February 2004
Doctor Net's latest ASP, timelogging.com, went live today. The application is designed to increase the efficiency in small to medium sized work groups (10 - 250) by tracking activities against clients and projects.
"We've been using the application in house for some time now." commented Chris Maule, Managing Director of Doctor Net. "The increase in productivity has been excellent. I fully believe in the principal that to make better use of time, you need to analyse what you are doing and timelogging.com makes this process as painless as possible.
"This information can then be reported down to department heads so they can help their team get more out of their days. We've also found that timelogging.com creates a positive 'hustle' in the office and there have been few problems with take-up and staff ownership of the application."
And the cost of this progress? "£10+VAT per seat per month, which we believe is negligible when compared against staffing costs. Could you get five to ten hours more a month out of each of your team members for a tenner?"
Sign up for a free trial at http://www.timelogging.com/
eMailCampaigner v2.0 Goes Live - 19th March 2003
The latest version eMailCampaigner, Doctor Net's email marketing ASP was launched today. Version 2 builds on the success of previous versions whilst adding increased functionality and a redesigned user interface. The application is a practical solution to companies permission based email requirements that helps them manage, create and monitor their e-marketing program effectively. eMailCampaigner is an affordable solution that helps companies gain control of their email campaigns. Its clear interface and dynamic feature set allow them to manage lists, create campaigns and most importantly, monitor results.
"The take up has been very good so far." commented Chris Maule, Managing Director of full-service e-commerce company, Doctor Net. "We have a wide range of clients across a variety of industries getting excellent results from the system. Our growing client list includes, Holmes Place, Jaguar and DTZ; proof that any industry can benefit from this essential e-marketing application. All our existing clients will immediately benefit from the extended feature set of this new version, a clear advantage of our ASP delivery model."
Find out more today by visiting http://www.emailcampaigner.com/
All other company updates can be found by visiting the Docnet Blog
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