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Tuesday, 16th August 2011, 11:18:06
Ecommerce gluten-free website created on Windows Azure
Ecommerce companies looking to create more business opportunities by using Microsoft products could be interested in recent news from the IT giant.
On Monday (August 15th), the organisation announced that food company General Mills had used its Windows Azure platform to create a website to promote a gluten-free lifestyle.
Specifically designed to provide assistance for people living with coeliac disease, the ecommerce site helps consumers locate shops that sell specialised products to suit their dietary requirements, as well as general health information.
Dom Alcocer, marketing manager at General Mills, said: "We needed to build an ecommerce solution without incurring the costs and maintenance of a traditional on-premises platform."
The company started the development of gluten-free products with the launch of its Rice Chex cereal in 2008, after recognising the increasing demand from consumers who wanted to remove the ingredient from their diet.
Following this, the firm looked to broaden its horizons with a focused method of advertising its products and health information to members of the public.
At the same time, General Mills looked to carry this out while avoiding investing in expensive software IT resources, thus adopting Windows Azure.
By utilising the platform, the organisation was able to create a direct channel using cloud services, which has resulted in more than 90,000 fans on social networking website Facebook and substantial traffic, sales and consumer enthusiasm.
Mark Hindsbo, vice president for US developer and platform evangelism at Microsoft, said: "General Mills is excelling at developing innovative business models and we enjoyed supporting the company's effort to build a brand-new business solution in the cloud."
People living with coeliac disease can experience a number of painful symptoms if they continue their consumption of gluten. Diarrhea, vomiting, recurring stomach pain, depression and infertility are listed among the condition's side effects.
For this reason, Coeliac.org advises sufferers to learn which foods are naturally gluten-free to prevent the onset of painful signs.
Posted by Judy Gifford
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Categories: | Ecommerce |
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