In recent years, websites have become a very important part of any companies marketing strategy. A website not only helps new customers find you and advertises what you can offer, you can also use it to keep existing customers informed, improve your customer care and offer online sales through an e-commerce website (Marketing Donut, 2016). It reaches both consumers and businesses nationally and internationally – and it can do all of this very cost-effectively.

Many confectionery companies use their websites for many of these things, also including information such as informing consumers of their products, running competitions, establishing their history and demonstrating the company’s corporate social responsibility.

Here are the main features of each different company’s website:

Cadbury

History – Cadbury pride themselves on the their history and British heritage. This features quite prominently on their website and includes everything from the first shop opened by John Cadbury to the 2007 premiere of the gorilla advert that they so famously known for.

Competitions – These are another feature Cadbury focus on, with regular competitions and interactions for consumers to get involved with. These are advertised all over their website and consumers can sign up to newsletters and information updates for these interactions.

Other substantial website features include:

• Products and purchasing
• Contact information and Cadbury World visits
• Recipes involving their products

Kinder

Ingredients and suppliers – Kinder focus their website to parents and reassuring them the ingredients and nutritional value of their confectionery products. They emphasise that their website if for parents and demonstrating that their products are not too unhealthy.

Vision and values – Kinder focus on how they want the children who eat their products and their families to be happy. They claim their products enhance moments of joy and this is their mission.

Other substantial website features include:

• History
• Products and purchasing
• Face of Kinder 2016

Lindt

Products and purchasing – Lindt have a big focus on their products. This could be due to the huge product range they provide, as many consumers may not be aware of some of the products they produce and sell.

History – Similar to Cadbury, Lindt also take pride in the history and heritage, and this is a prominent feature on their website including the date they were founded and what they have done since then, still creating the same great products they were all of those years ago.

Other substantial website features include:

• Sustainability
• Recipes using their products

Hotel Chocolat

Products and purchasing – For Hotel Chocolat, products are important as they do not just specialise in confectionery. Their other offerings include wine and experience days. This is something unique to their company to provide chocolate tasting and factory tours.

– Gift giving and experiences are something unique to Hotel Chocolat and make                     the brand stand out amongst their competitors. It could be seen that they                             target audience is quite different from other confectionery companies, mainly                     focusing on the older generation.

Other substantial website features include:

• Store locations
• History and news

Thorntons

– Gift giving and personalisation – This is another company that focuses on a slightly different angle of the organisation, involving gift giving. Most of their website looks at gift bundles, boxes of chocolates and the option to personalise any of their products. This again suggests it is aimed at a slightly older audience as the personalising idea has more sentimental value. Also their gift range includes products outside of the confectionery market.

Other substantial website features include:

• About
• Product and purchasing

All of the above companies focus on various different aspects and feature different things on their website. There are no rules on what you can and can’t include within the website content, and this just shows that various organisations within the same industry value such different aspects of the business.

References

Cadbury.co.uk, (2016). Cadbury UK. [online] Available at: https://www.cadbury.co.uk/ [Accessed 10 May 2016].

Hotelchocolat.com. (2016). Hotel Chocolat – Luxury Chocolates and Gifts. [online] Available at: http://www.hotelchocolat.com/uk/ [Accessed 10 May 2016].

Kinder.co.uk. (2016). Home – KINDER. [online] Available at: http://www.kinder.co.uk/en/ [Accessed 10 May 2016].

Marketing Donut. (2016). Your website. [online] Available at: http://www.marketingdonut.co.uk/marketing/online-marketing/your-website [Accessed 2 May 2016].

The World of Lindt | Lindt Shop UK. (2016). The World of Lindt | Lindt Shop UK. [online] Available at: http://www.lindt.co.uk/ [Accessed 10 May 2016].

Thorntons.co.uk. (2016). Thorntons | Delicious Chocolates, Sweets & Gifts Delivered by Post. [online] Available at: http://www.thorntons.co.uk/ [Accessed 10 May 2016].