Heavins main objective was to increase their online visibility. They felt that their original platform, AB Commerce, was not evolving quickly enough, and saw the potential for Shopify to grow online sales. Heavins partnered with StudioForty9 in 2024 to help them undergo this re-platforming to Shopify.
About Heavins
Heavins story begins in 1984, as Heavins Hardware Centre, a family run business based in Athlone, Co.Westmeath. Over the years, the store has expanded from employing 10 people to now employing over 35 people, led by Paul and Derek.
Locally owned, independent, and customer-focused, Heavins champions the personal experience that big chains can't match. They provide a wide range of products and services including flat packed kitchens, paint and decor, gardening, DIY and tools, electrical appliances. In 2016, they joined Europe's Largest Electrical Retailer, Euronics to bring even better value and service in electrical appliances and in 2017 joined Ireland's Largest Hardware Group, Topline.
Project Objectives
The primary goal of this project was to successfully migrate the Heavins existing site from AB Commerce to Shopify. This migration included a data migration of all products along with some new features such as a warranty drawer and bestselling product.
In addition, StudioForty9 redesigned the website including a new homepage, mega menus, product listing page (PLP) and product detail page (PDP) to help deliver a clean, easy to navigate ecommerce experience.
Challenges
Keeping the UI Simple: Heavins offers a wide range of products and services, which can make it difficult to create a simplified user experience. Not everyone who visits the website is searching for the same product. The website needed to be easy to navigate and not overwhelm the customer with too many choices.
Diverse Catalogue with Varying Attributes: Not all products are treated the same: some are eligible for click-and-collect, and ‘bulky items’ incur extra shipping costs and rules. These varying attributes needed to be communicated through their website so that customers are informed at the point of purchase and also ensure accurate pricing and shipping operations.
Product Warranties: Heavins offer warranties on some products; however, the warranty price is dependent on the price of the product. If a product changes the price, the warranties will also have to change. This process had to be automated so that new warranties could be assigned each time pricing changed.
Solutions
Free Shipping Motivator: A free shipping motivator is a helpful tool that informs the customer of how much they are required to spend to receive free shipping. However, due to the variability of the products in the Heavins store, it required some additional development as it needed to be dynamic to avoid automatically including bulky items that incurred additional delivery fees.
Varied Templates for Product Listing Pages (PLPs): There were various templates for PLPs implemented. Some product collections are straightforward and just require a list of products to display once selected. However, others, such as lawnmowers can be subdivided into sub-collections such as electric, robotic or petrol. In this instance, way finders — pre-defined filtering indicators — were used at the top of the these PLPs to help the customer effectively to narrow their search intent quickly to their desired product.
Warranty Purchase Options: When a customer chooses an appliance, there is the option for them to purchase a warranty for this product in the cart. Warranties are dynamically displayed based on their price point. Behind the scenes, Heavins are then informed that a certain warranty has been assigned to a SKU automatically minimising administration workload.
Staff Recommendations: Heavins now have the capability on this website to tag products as staff recommendations. Once complete these products will be displayed with a purple border and ‘Staff Recommendation’ heading. This feature helps to streamline the search process and save time for the customer, increasing customer satisfaction. It also presents the expert advice of the teams’ in-store advisors in a digital format.
Filters and Search: Heavins carry a wide range of products, so having a robust and comprehensive search and filter solution on their site is a must. Customers can refine their search using standard filters like brand, price, and product type. Additionally, for specific electrical appliances, they can utilise advanced filters such as energy rating and spin speed to find the perfect match.
Interactive Product Images: Using a third-party solution, some branded products have interactive elements that allow customers to click on the image to find out more information abut the product easily.
Recycling Old Appliances: Customers can opt to have their old appliances taken away for them. When a customer selects this order, it will automatically add a note to the order and ensure that this is then handled by delivery.
Smart Product Bundles: Utilising metafields within Shopify Heavins can create product bundles to suggest complementary items and optimise shipping for customers.
Personalised Product Recommendations: Through the use of Shopbox, customers will be recommended personalised suggestions based on their browsing history and purchased items. This aligns with offering a tailored customer service that Heavins holds as a key value it can offer over bigger chain stores.
