Red Sheds' online makeover

The Warehouse has given its website a customer-friendly overhaul.

Marketing manager Stuart Yorston said under former chief executive Greg Muir, the website was designed so investors could find information easily.

"About three or four months ago we were looking at the traffic on the site and it was basically all customer traffic. So we decided to make it more customer friendly," he said.

The company relaunched the site three weeks ago and already the number of hits have risen by 30 per cent.

The site now features product and price information, deals and the top five games and movies. The online catalogue has also been made more interactive.

Yorston said selling through the website was not on the agenda at this stage. He said it was difficult to ensure stock was available for online sales. The Warehouse was also keen to keep people going into stores. Meanwhile, customers who fail to correctly type in the website name, www.thewarehouse.co.nz, could find themselves getting a bit more than they bargained for.

Traffic to www.warehouse.co.nz is redirected to other sites, including one for an adult magazine, DVD and sex toy seller.

A spokeswoman for The Warehouse, Cynthia Church, said the company had never registered the alternative site but as it did not play on the company's correct name, it did not intend to do anything about it.