Sustrans
Project:
Website
Work:
Strategy, UX, design, build and integration with sales fulfilment system
Results:
44% increase in orders year-on-year
Average donations up 158%
Average order value up 13% to £17.72
Five new wholesale customers
Visit:
shop.sustrans.org.uk
Getting e-commerce sales on track for the national walking and cycling charity.
Transforming the e-commerce proposition.
Across the UK there is a web of pathways – the National Cycle Network – that enables people to travel safely and sustainably across our towns and countryside by bike. As the charity responsible for managing this valuable network, Sustrans relies on donations and income via its online shop to support its work, but it had been hampered in this objective by a legacy e-commerce platform that was inflexible, restrictive and costly. When making the transition to a new sales-fulfilment house, the charity took the opportunity to work with Yoyo to transform its e-commerce proposition. Its aim was to enhance the experience for online shoppers while easing the frustrations of the in-house team.
Working with Yoyo couldn’t have been a more pleasurable experience. No ask was too much, communication was brilliant, and the result was fantastic. We love our new Shopify site and we’re already seeing positive results since launch. We have a brilliant platform that we can grow and develop.
Having established the core requirements for the re-platforming project, as well as the charity’s plans for the future, Yoyo proposed moving from Magento to Shopify. This would satisfy the charity’s core need for a flexible e-commerce platform with CMS functionality that would enable layout and content changes to be managed in-house.
Shopify’s out-of-the-box e-commerce functionality provided the means to handle products such as maps, books, clothing and gifts, and the platform could also be customised to facilitate requirements such as donations and bespoke product-filtering. Working in consultation with Sustrans, Yoyo was also able to further leverage the availability of relevant Shopify apps, helping cost-effectively enhance the site’s functionality and optimise the user experience.
Balancing site performance and the experience.
Sustrans emphasised the importance of keeping the site’s carbon footprint to a minimum, seeking to avoid the use of ‘heavy’ media in the form of video and imagery.
Yoyo advised on all areas where efficiencies could be gained across the Shopify platform, balancing site performance and experience with sustainability goals. Owned imagery was used wherever possible, with Yoyo also drawing on library assets, which were augmented to reflect a consistently premium look and feel.
With the strategy agreed and the structure mapped out, Yoyo sourced a selection of relevant Shopify themes that could deliver on these requirements while also being aesthetically aligned to the Sustrans visual brand. Decision made, the Yoyo development team then built out the site according to the agreed map, with customisation work layered onto standard elements within the Shopify platform. This included manipulating the product page template to incorporate cross-selling functionality as well as integration with the Sustrans social media channels, including Facebook and Instagram.
Building out the e-commerce opportunity.
A dynamic front-end experience, greater control over content and seamless integration with fulfilment operations. Yoyo managed the project schedule closely, sustaining regular client communication and conducting testing in parallel with development.
Further to the front-end work, an extensive piece of integration work had to be carried out to export product data from the existing site and also ensure the Shopify site was fully integrated with the Mintsoft order-management system at the new fulfilment operation. With the migration complete, the API in place and the rebuilt site signed off, the DNS switchover was then meticulously planned with stakeholder IT teams for a swift and smooth transition to live.
