Informa & AdvantageCS Partner for eCommerce Growth
Informa is a leading international events, digital services, and academic research group with over 11,000 employees in over 43 countries. Informa provides professionals with year-round content, connections, and opportunities, and helps sponsors and marketers with digital services that reach the right audiences.
In 2017, Informa sought a solution that would quickly allow its employees to create and manage landing pages and websites for the business. They turned to AdvantageCS to explore the potential of our ecommerce platform, Cider, in achieving this goal.
Quick & Seamless Launch with Cider
To help Informa achieve this goal, it was imperative that these needed to be quick and seamless launches since these were new businesses. Lead Cider Implementation and Senior User Experience Engineer, Alan Cherney, was tasked with providing a comprehensive review and training program for Informa’s team.
Caryn Bair, Operations Manager at Informa, applauded Alan’s work, saying: “…just about halfway through our day with Alan, we are invigorated by his training, and we will certainly benefit from the setup he had completed and has helped us complete today. I don’t think you could have provided a better resource for us!”
Building a Strong Partnership: Training, Support, & Success
In early 2019, Informa successfully launched its first Cider ecommerce website. Over the following years, the team leveraged Cider’s flexibility to launch dozens of unique websites and landing pages. While some theming and minor setup adjustments were required, the partnership between AdvantageCS and Informa was able to work together and produce a cost-effective ecommerce solution that helped the business.
Cider’s popularity with other Advantage clients led to the creation of a dedicated support team under the leadership of Ryan Powers, Senior Software Engineer & Web Development Team Leader. This team works closely with Informa and has maintained the same high degree of quick turnaround for new business needs. Over the years, with access to new tools and ongoing training, Informa’s team has grown increasingly self-sufficient, taking nearly complete ownership of new site launches.
Cider Plus: The Next Generation of eCommerce
In 2022, AdvantageCS announced the next generation of Cider, Cider Plus, a push to make the ecommerce platform faster than ever before. This new version allows flexibility with modular components, making it easier to adapt to changing needs. Additionally, Cider Plus incorporates Orchard Core, bringing the platform up to date with the latest industry standards for a CMS. Building on the successful ecommerce collaboration, Informa engaged with AdvantageCS to migrate to Cider Plus.
Carver Bonine, Sr. Business Systems Engineer at Informa, says that “Cider gives Informa the ability to stand up fully integrated ecommerce pages in timeframes few dev teams can compete with. New ideas, acquisitions, market tests, and even long shots can be considered and explored now that our business partners are not facing the time and expense surrounding the development of traditional ecommerce pages. If those ideas take off, the business is primed and ready to scale up and make use of the full suite of features and integrations the Advantage platform brings with it.”
Celebrating Success & Looking Forward
Being a trusted partner is something AdvantageCS strives to achieve. Congratulations to Informa on their many years of successful ecommerce business support via Cider, and here’s to many more years of successful growth through Cider Plus!