A new e-commerce that generated almost 120% sales growth
Project type
new e-commerce, Magento migration
Industry
Home & decor
Technologies
Magento
OpenSearch
RabbitMQ
Redis
VarnishScope of work
Pre-implementation analysis, graphic design, e-commerce development, Magento migration from version 1 to 2, post-implementation support
Key Project Elements
- Migrating unsupported Magento 1 to Magento 2
- Simplifying the shopping path from product categories to checkout
- New graphic design emphasizing user experience and the brand’s changing needs
- Enhanced faceted navigation that significantly improved and shortened the product search process
- Performance improvements with a custom skin and PageSpeed Insights optimization for a better user experience
- SEO migration without the website’s visibility loss
About the Client
Home & Passion has been operating in the interior design industry since 2012. The store offers home and garden products, including china, textiles, decorations, furniture, and more. The Home & Passion e-commerce has one main goal: to provide what is needed to create a unique atmosphere in the house. We kept that in mind when designing the new website – it had to be intuitive, aesthetic, and inspiring.
The Challenge
The client was using Magento 1.9 technology, which has not been supported since 2020. We have been maintaining the website for a few years, but without any updates or security patches. It significantly hindered any development planning.
Outdated graphic design was another problem. It no longer met current standards and required a fundamental overhaul, not just a subtle refresh. The store’s clients had higher expectations for UX and UI – an intuitive, quick shopping experience. It effectively discouraged them from finalizing their orders.
All of this meant that the competition had much better design and usability. Home & Passion was still struggling to grow – the sales were increasing, but not at the expected pace. It was clear this project would be demanding. However, the client was keen to launch the new website as quickly as possible, due to the sales peak in the last quarter, and we wanted to make it happen.
The Goal
From the outset of our collaboration, we knew that creating a new website version would be necessary. The client’s primary goal was to increase sales and scale them. To achieve this, we had to:
- create and implement a completely new graphic design,
- introduce features that would make shopping easier, including intuitive filtering and product search,
- optimize website performance.
We wanted the new store to support the changes in brand communication to new target groups. The website had to be modern, clear, and user-friendly.
The Solution
The client wanted to stay on Magento, which led to the decision to migrate. We divided the whole process into several stages. What did it look like step by step?
- We started with the pre-implementation analysis – together with the client, we determined which features from the previous store version were worth migrating, and which were no longer used. We also found better solutions for some of them. Then we compiled a list of missing features and prioritized them, which created a clear work scope for implementation across the appropriate project stages.
- Next, we began the graphic design process – first, we analyzed other online stores’ best practices. We also considered the key challenges Home & Passion customers had previously faced. Our team quickly realized that the new website had to be the complete opposite. We redesigned the homepage, categories, product pages, and even the blog – all to make shopping easier for users.
- Then we moved on to development work – it was time to migrate Magento, implement new features, and optimize website performance. We needed to create a store that would streamline the purchasing process and provide easy access to a wider user group. We incorporated all key feedback during the internal testing, ensuring a smooth approval at each work stage.
- Simultaneously, we conducted an SEO migration – it included a technical audit, key SEO, marketing, and analytics modules configuration, and redirects implementation. We were committed to ensuring no loss of visibility during the system migration.
- The final step was website implementation – after the production launch, we started monitoring key elements on the servers. Together with the client's team, we verified the functioning of critical paths, store editing, and inventory levels. We implemented ongoing improvements, while the on-duty support teams received real-time event notifications. It ensured the store operated smoothly during peak sales.
Solution Details
Magento 1 to 2 Migration
We started data migration at the very beginning of the project. It allowed us to identify errors early and implement appropriate corrective mechanisms, rather than discovering them only after the store went live. During development, we performed successive migration iterations, which allowed gradual data migration into the store. This ensured data integrity and minimized the error risk. It also significantly reduced the transition time to the new website version, thereby improving the project’s smooth running.
Performance
The key to providing better performance was our custom graphic theme. We wanted to optimize the store’s front-end for the best possible PageSpeed and Core Web Vitals scores.
Additionally, the store uses Cloudflare services – they not only provide a CDN (Content Delivery Network) for static content, but also protect the website from various cyberattacks, e.g., DDoS.
WCAG
We implemented a special widget to comply with WCAG 2.1 AA accessibility standards. It allows users to customize the store's appearance to suit their diverse needs. Our goal was to ensure usability for people with disabilities. To achieve this, we implemented features such as:
- font adjustment (size, bold, font for people with dyslexia),
- highlighting links and titles,
- line height and letter spacing change,
- image hiding,
- color adjustment (contrast, saturation, monochrome),
- bionic reading.
We also implemented other useful tools: a reading aid, an enlarged cursor, sound mute, and animation pause.
Faceted navigation
We built the website's categorization around facets, providing the client with a scalable subcategory creation mechanism. We optimized it to enable, among other things, setting unique meta tags and category descriptions. Users also benefit from extensive, intuitive filtering and product search capabilities that were missing in the previous store version. Now they can find products, e.g., by brand, collection, price, or delivery time.
Lookbooks
We provided an option for tagging products featured in photos. They can be placed in various locations throughout the store, making it easy for users to navigate to the product page. This solution supports conversions on the website and enhances its aesthetics.
Inspiration Listing
We changed the traditional blog listing into one that encourages shopping and meets current website standards. Apart from blog posts, it contains a recommended products section and automatically loaded photos from the Instagram profile.
It keeps the blog more up to date with prevailing home and decor trends. Idea sources are presented attractively, inspiring users to stay on the website and, ultimately, make a purchase.
Extensive product promotion and presentation options
The client’s goal was to increase sales and facilitate the user’s decision-making process. This was the reason for implementing product modules such as:
- recommended (based on previously browsed ones),
- recently viewed,
- complementary.
Additionally, we made it possible to attach labels – New, Bestseller, or Promotion.
There are also a few options for communicating discounts: a countdown timer, a notification bar, and a discount code widget.
SEO
We conducted an SEO audit on the pre-production environment before the implementation. It allowed us to maintain the site’s visibility after it went live.
We also implemented all crucial SEO optimizations, such as:
- 301 redirects,
- structured data,
- canonical link settings,
- meta tags transfer,
- robots.txt and sitemap.
The Effects
Our client received a modern online store free from all the previous problems and obstacles
Intensive work on graphic design, functionality, and performance resulted in a website that encourages making a purchase. Magento migration also provided a higher security level and minimized future project maintenance costs.
See the key results of our work:
A new graphic theme that significantly increased the website’s usability and gave the brand a modern image.
Optimized store performance thanks to Cloudflare configuration and using a simplified skin.
Service and support cost reduction due to implementing a supported version of Magento.
Improved website accessibility for a wider audience thanks to WCAG compliance.
Enhanced product search and navigation for a more comfortable user experience.
Meeting all Core Web Vitals requirements and achieving a PageSpeed of +98 on desktop and +70 on mobile.
Most importantly, the new website grew in the first two months after the implementation. In comparison to the same period last year, key indicators improved:
- number of events per session – by almost 40%,
- revenues – by nearly 120%,
- “add to cart” number – by over 100%,
- average engagement time – by almost 20%.
Statistics
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12
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