Outgrowing Magento, Homenature launches new Shopify site, packs in a ton of new features, and saves 81% on infrastructure costs.

Role

Brand Strategy, Content Strategy, Design

Technology

Shopify Plus

Industry

Furniture

The Brand

Two decades ago, with just $2000 dollars in startup capital, John Heilmann & Tim DiSalvo teamed up to finally create the furniture brand they had always dreamed of. Sustainable, ethical furniture that won’t bankrupt you, but that still looks and feels like a premium product.

From the beginning, they knew they had to absolutely nail the branding. They weren’t just selling furniture, they were selling an experience. A chance to be part of a real movement in home furnishings. An opportunity for customers to upgrade from the same IKEA furniture that they (and let’s be honest, most people) can’t help but default to everytime they go shopping for home furnishings.

Homenature was a breath of fresh air. Their new website needed to reflect that.

THE CHALLENGE

It was an uncertain time

In early 2020, as nations around the world began locking down, hoarding toilet paper, and learning the correct way to wear a facemask, Homenature came to us looking for a new eCommerce partner. This wasn’t the first time they’d gone agency shopping.

It was an uncertain time.

To their credit, the Homenature team was taking a big leap of faith with their site rebuild. They were working with a new team, leaving Magento behind, had ambitious goals for where they wanted to go with the project, and in the background all anybody around them could talk about was the coming economic disaster brought on by COVID-19. The stakes were high; this project had to go right.

"After heading down the wrong path in choosing a website company too many times, it was important to us to find a partner for our new website that could follow through on agreed-upon timelines and budgets… Parkfield did exactly that."

John Heilmann

CEO & Founder, Homenature

THE APPROACH

Designing for peace of mind

The client had been burned by agencies in the past. Agencies that overpromise. Agencies that underdeliver. For this Shopify pivot to succeed, we needed to do more than simply create a great website… we needed to deliver peace of mind.

After speaking with the Homenature team and reviewing their existing site, we put together a plan of action. To start, we would need to take their current catalog of premium home furnishings and migrate them to the new solution. However, instead of simply migrating the data, it was also critically important to ensure that their products would map to the new features. Specifically:

Able to easily populate new “Promotions Bar” at the top of page and automatically reflect accurate promo pricing across the site.
Addition of “Add to Wishlist” feature, allowing customers to create a list of products to buy in the future.
Map all products in the product catalog to new “Collections” based on tags and attributes of each product.
Adapt existing products to new social features — e.g. allowing users to “Pin” Homenature’s products to their Pinterest boards.

We put together a project proposal and gathered the troops. With just a few short months to complete the entire rebuild (and with a world seemingly on the verge of collapse) it was time for us to roll up our sleeves, get laser-focused, and put together an amazing Shopify store.

"Parkfield was extremely responsive, supportive, and overall a pleasure to work with. They joined a larger team to execute a final product that was exactly as promised; or better. We would highly recommend them."

John Heilmann

CEO & Founder, Homenature

THE SOLUTION

Honest. Open. Straightforward.

Working hand-in-hand with the rest of the Homenature marketing crew, we put together a new, mobile-first website designed to convert. Our final solution included all the requested features and was designed to reflect the brand’s core values. Visiting the site today, you’ll immediately get a sense of who the brand is and what they stand for. However, you’ll also find the site is as modern and fully-featured as the high-quality sofas and side tables that populate the product catalog.

Where before, a high percentage of Homenature’s products could only be purchased in-store, the new Shopify solution gives customers access to a larger catalog of products that’s easier to search, easier to picture in your home, and simply more fun to browse.

Additionally, by working hard to ensure all products can be shared to social media with a single click, customers can now easily become brand ambassadors and grow the company’s reach without increasing ad budget.

But perhaps most importantly— the Homenature team was able to breathe a collective sigh of relief. Finally… an eCommerce partner they could rely on.

Lower costs. More profit.

+15%

Online Traffic

+30%

Store Conversion Rate

+102%

Total Sales

+10%

Repeat Purchases

The igourmet online store of today looks nothing like it’s predecessor. Yes, it’s still stocked with all the best food-related gifts you could ever want or need. However, these days you’ll find the store is easier to use, easier to find products, and easier to purchase from.

These changes worked better than any of us could have hoped.

Since pivoting to a Shopify Plus D2C model, igourmet now receives 15% more online traffic than ever before. What’s more, those eyeballs are no longer just tyre-kicking casual visitors. Thanks to Parkfield’s work, the site now hits a 30% higher conversion rate than the old version. This played a huge role in their 2020 holiday season, exceeding their Q4 sales targets by 22%.

However, despite making so many changes, we also successfully managed to retain the old customer base that once drove the majority of igourmet’s revenue. The new site boasts a 10% increase in repeat purchases, thanks in part to igourmet’s new subscription-based sales model.

These improvements weren’t unexpected. By focusing on an overall improvement to the user experience, adding just the right amount of tech to increase customer satisfaction, and paying close attention to the right numbers (in this case, improved retention), we were able to make big things happen for igourmet.

We can’t wait to talk about your own project, and see where we might do something similar for you.

We’d love to write about you next. Start your own pivot to Shopify today.

Ready to transform your own eCommerce experience? You’re in the right place. Click below to start a conversation about your own project. We can't wait to hear what's on your mind.

Thank you! Your submission has been received!

Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

Recent Work

View case study ->