Meadow In My Garden
Shopify website design and build for Meadow in My Garden
"We needed a Shopify upgrade that would better reflect the achievements and ambitions of our Community Interest Company. Webselect provided straight forward advice and instructions throughout the project, The whole process with Webselect has been really easy, they advised and helped us to understand what needed to happen, giving us a fresh look which captures our ethos."
Background
Established in 2011 due to deep concerns about the environment, Meadow in my Garden is a non-profit community interest company (CIC) committed to providing tangible benefits for both people and pollinators. The organisation focuses on selling award-winning flower meadow seeds, conducting educational initiatives, revenue-generating gardening events and supporting community projects that enhance landscapes with diverse plant life.
As an ecommerce provider and an expert in online selling, Webselect collaborated with Meadow in my Garden to support their ecommerce strategy and revamp the website, transitioning from an outdated V1 Shopify template to a modern V2 Shopify theme. This involved addressing limitations, removing obsolete apps and plugins, and enhancing user experience (UX) and navigation for improved customer journeys and improving the retail ecommerce experience.
Objectives
As a CIC, Meadow in my Garden places significant importance on conveying its mission and message. The current Shopify website, built in 2021 using the Venture V1 template, was considered outdated, with declining conversion rates and unsatisfactory UX, design and navigation. The goal was to rebuild the Shopify website on the Shopify platform, incorporating the Dawn theme (V2.x), updating the colour scheme and fonts, redesigning the header and footer, and improving various elements, including SEO. The Shopify website conversion rates had seen a decline over the last 3 years, taking into account the seasonality of sales (seeds) the average conversion rate was around 2.5%, however, the sessions had also been declining and reduced by 39% over the same period. It was clear that although organic SEO and ranking was good for the site, the appeal of the site and the user journeys were not talking to the audience to convert the sales as they once had.
What we did
With 25 years of experience as an ecommerce provider in ecommerce website design, development and as a Shopify Partner, we delved into the story and passion behind Meadow in my Garden. Our team conducted a comprehensive assessment of the existing website's functionality, analytics and performance. Following a structured process, we collaborated closely with the client to develop a refreshed design using a modern V2 Shopify theme template, ensuring optimal UX and UI practices to achieve the desired outcomes.
Our focus was on simplicity, emphasising the mission, products and support without unnecessary distractions on the page and at checkout. Performance optimisation techniques, such as image compression and code optimization were applied to enhance the website speed and browsing experience. The revamped site was successfully launched on the planned go-live date with minimal disruption.
Results
Before
Before the redesign, the 2021-designed Shopify website faced issues such as outdated templates, clunky plugins, and suboptimal navigation. The chatbot was underperforming and the donate function was not a prominent call to action (CTA). Mobile optimisation was lacking, and the navigation structure was cumbersome.
After
After the redesign, the site underwent a complete overhaul with a free Shopify V2 template, addressing navigation issues by simplifying it and adopting a horizontal layout. The UX was improved and unused code was removed, resulting in a faster, more visually appealing website. The introduction of an 'inspiration' section in the navigation aimed to assist users at all levels with valuable content, seamlessly leading them to category and product pages. The overall impact was a transformed site that effectively represented Meadow in my Garden's mission and products.
In the first period since the release of the new site, page sessions are over 50% higher compared to the same period last year and has maintained its Google ranking as a min. demonstrating that the redesigned and rebuilt site will return on its investment.