News & events

23/09/08

Hubo.be launches a revolutionary website: Doe-Het-Zelver 2.0

Ghent/Wommelgem, 23 September 2008 – The chain of do-it-yourself stores Hubo has launched a new website. Both the content and the choice of the hosting provider were thought through. The new website is a new generation website, which features many Web 2.0 items to stimulate the interaction with and between customers.

Hubo, the Belgian chain of stores for DIYers with about 90 stores, launches a new website. When designing the website, Hubo has obviously kept Web 2.0 elements in mind. Web 2.0, that some refer to as the social Internet, makes the Internet a more interactive place. Before, there was only a website where users could read information. There was no interaction whatsoever between the website and the user, let alone between users. “Since do-it-yourselfers are people who love to interact with others (e.g. to exchange tips), we did not just restyle our old website”, says Stephanie Gross, webmaster of Hubo.be.

“Among other things, our new website includes a weblog, a newsletter, do-it-yourself file cards, calculators that help you determine how much a given job will cost you, separate websites on store level, etc. We also thought of the interaction between users: they can start their own blog where they can show their DIY creations or exchange tips and there is also a forum where several do-it-yourself subjects can be discussed. Via mijn.hubo.be, customers can manage their bonus points, their profile, their bookmarks, their personal messages, their blog, their forum posts, etc. In other words, ours is a “new generation” website”, concludes Stephanie Gross.

Besides the content of our website, availability may very well be one of the most important aspects. That is why we did not rush our decision concerning the choice of a reliable hosting provider, or with other words, the place where our website is hosted. Our requirements were to have servers in Belgium, permanent availability and the possibility to keep growing. We eventually went for Combell, which meets all our requirements. “Combell is Belgium's largest independent hosting company, not only in terms of its number of customers, but also as far as services concerned. Our portfolio includes many renowned names”, says Christophe Van den Bulcke, Marketing manager at Combell. “Hubo.be is not the kind of website that you can host on just any server. The many Web 2.0 elements also require a large quantity of disk space and data traffic, which make it impossible for smaller hosting providers to host such a website. Moreover, our customers can reach us 24/7 by calling the 0800 toll-free number. If Hubo.be has a problem on Friday night, their managers do not want to wait until Monday morning before being able to reach their hoster. That permanent availability is one of our greatest assets, besides the possibility to grow together. We offer solutions to all our customers, ranging from individuals to multinationals. With us, you can start with a small hosting package and grow until a personal server or an entire space in one of our data centres is necessary”, adds Van den Bulcke.

About Hubo

Hubo (www.hubo.be) is a 100% Belgian organisation with over 90 stores spread across the whole country. Hubo focuses mainly on the do-it-yourself market with a wide and high-quality range of branded products. Our target audience consists of a widely varied audience of individual DIYers, which includes both the occasional hobbyist with his modest requirements and the ambitious and passionate DIYer. Hubo is a chain of DIY stores (with an area of 1,000 to 3,000 m² each). In those stores, customers can find everything under the same roof. The range indeed includes over 10,000 DIY products and connected items for inside and around the house. The accessibility is ideal: Hubo stores are located outside town centres, alongside main approach roads and have ample parking areas. This, combined with a wide product range, excellent value for money and a clear store layout, make Hubo stores dream places for do-it-yourselfers.

Stephanie Gross
Webmaster Hubo.be
+ 32 3 350 35 71

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