Now that the website is up and running smoothly, we can go into more detail about exactly what has changed and what you're now able to do on the new site that you couldn't before.
Payment Options
With the new website now comes the opportunity to expand our offered payment options further! Offered options now include: PayPal Express, Google Pay, Apple Pay and Shop Pay. Faster express checkout = more time on your hands! The more streamlined we can make this process for our customers, the better!
Find the full selection of our offered payment methods at the footer of our website.
Rewards
We now have a full rewards system integrated into our website! You can find the full rundown of this here. Some of the ways you can earn points are by:- Signing Up (250pt)
- Making a purchase (10pt per £1 spent)
- Referrals (1250pt)
- Reviewing Products (50pt per review)
Speed
Many of you will have noticed already that the speed of the website has changed dramatically since we upgraded! Pages now load much quicker and you will have a significantly lower chance of running into any errors. If that isn't something to celebrate, then we don't know what is!
Smart Phone Compatibility
One difference for smartphone shoppers may have been noticed already! The new website is much more optimised for smartphone browsers, making your shopping experience much smoother and hassle-free! You should now be able to search and filter with much more ease than before as the site is built with smartphones in mind.
Gift Cards
You now also have the option to purchase gift cards through the website! You can find the listing here. And what's more, you can even store these gift cards in your Apple Wallet!
Extended Warranty
Our warranty policy is fairly generous, offering up to 2 years warranty for a huge range of our stock so that you know you're covered if your equipment stops working all of a sudden. But we're taking the next step up to make sure YOU can be confident that we'll be here for you if it breaks outside of these two years. You can now purchase an extended 3-year warranty for a huge range of equipment (primarily lighting units) separately to ensure you have the best cover for your kit.
This is offered depending on the unit, and each different piece of equipment will cost a different amount to cover for an extra year. Find out more information in this blog here.
Improved Currency Display
Purchasing outside of the UK? No worries! We've now improved the way that other currencies display on our website, meaning you don't have to convert the prices yourself. Just click on the flag above your basket and change to your preferred currency. Simple as that!
EU Import Tax
Not only do we now calculate the cost of your import tax for you so that you don't have to worry, we also pay the import tax on your behalf. Making the whole system quicker and easier!
VAT Invoices
Those needing VAT invoices for a purchase paper trail also don't need to worry! Gone are the days of having to contact our Customer Support team every time you need a VAT invoice! Instead, you can now download these from your account whenever necessary.
Refined Search Filter
Not only do you now get previews of recommended products when you search for an item, you can also now filter a search page to your liking! This means you can filter for brand, price, category, camera compatibility and stock levels. It's a much smoother system than before and it's now much easier to find what you need.
Blog Search
You can now also search for blogs by title and content! By using the same search bar, searching for "CITI600" will give you previews of recommended products, but it will also now give you a list of blogs to the right of these products that feature or focus on the CITI600! Handy, right?
Automatic Address Finder
Another small quality-of-life function. We want to save you a little more time and make your checkout process smoother. So, we've now added an automatic address finder function so you don't have to type your full details in each time.
Photo Reviews
With an improved review function also comes the option to add photos to your reviews! Add your photos taken with the equipment or share photos of your set ups so you can share what you use your equipment for with other customers!
Shipping Cost Estimation
At the checkout, there is also now a function that will estimate the overseas shipping cost for you, so you now no longer have to check this cost with our team before purchasing.
And that isn't all...
As we settle into the new site, we also have even more new features coming in the future! We're announcing...
Equipment Hire!
This is something that a lot of people have been interested in for a long time. We are currently in the research stages of developing the EssentialPhoto Equipment Hire program to allow YOU to rent the equipment you need on a short-term basis without the commitment of purchasing it outright! As soon as we have some more information on this, we will be announcing it officially and keeping you all updated!
Purchase Through App
Another exciting addition is that we will be able to expand our website to be accessible through an app rather than just through your mobile browser! This won't be through our own developed app, however, but instead you will be able to access this through Shopify's app system, which will allow you to use our website much the same way you would use a store with their own independent app. More to come on this in the future!
Wishlists
This has been requested for a while! No longer will you have to bookmark your favourite products to save them, our new website will soon support wishlists! Save all the fancy equipment your heart desires so it's right there when you want to buy it. This will be announced when available.
And More...
This is all we can reveal for now, but we're certainly not going to stop here! We're looking into more functions and features to make your shopping experience as quick, smooth and easy as possible! If you have any suggestions, feel free to pop them our way on social media and we will do our best to see if we can implement them. We always want to make sure we're listening to our customers. In the meantime, we hope these awesome new features will keep you busy, and that you enjoy browsing our newly optimised site!
