— Discovery

Given the project’s modest investment, low-cost methods were essential for identifying opportunities for site improvement. The discovery phase focused on high-value, low-effort methods to identify pain points and opportunities. I conducted data analysis, landscape analysis, content audit, and heuristic evaluation to uncover these areas.

I uncovered several important issues during the data analysis phase by examining data from Google Analytics, SEMrush, and Shopify. The rate at which customers abandoned the sales funnel was higher than the industry average, especially during the checkout phase. Customer retention rates were below industry standards, and engagement on mobile devices was lacking. Moreover, the website had low domain authority and underperformed in terms of keywords.

The landscape analysis revealed the absence of several simple yet essential features, such as abandoned cart recovery, product filters, and promotional banners. It also highlighted noncompetitive business policies, like shipping costs and timings and the lack of click-and-collect options. Moreover, I identified a new competitive post-Covid trend among smaller competitors offering same-day delivery.

The heuristic evaluation provided insights into the user experience, revealing issues contributing to conversion funnel abandonment and poor mobile experience. It also identified opportunities for improving retention through better post-purchase customer service, such as follow-up emails, promotions, and enhanced branded shipping and packaging. Navigation and product findability issues were apparent, and the design elements needed to be more consistent, with poor spacing and busy pages that did not align with the premium boutique branding.

In the content audit, I utilised SEMrush and Google Search Console to identify issues with organic traffic. Despite the competitive industry, I found many low-competitive vital phrases that could be leveraged. Additionally, the site had exclusive products that were rare in Australia and were not being effectively utilised. The site structure needed optimisation, with poorly used heading tags, title tags, and word count.

— Ideation

The ideation phase focused on several key ideas developed in collaboration with stakeholders. One primary focus was improving the conversion experience by leveraging proven e-commerce tactics. This included implementing featured labels, cross-sell features, urgency labels, multiple payment options, and promoting free delivery options. We also considered how visual design could be enhanced to better drive primary and secondary actions on the page.

Another major area was improving SEO branding and conversion. Cellar & Co’s key selling point is its expertise as sommeliers. Providing detailed information and guidance on each product offered an opportunity to influence conversion and strengthen brand trust and page authority. This strategy included creating blog posts to delve into different regions, varieties, and other expert information, offering a channel for soft-selling products.

The ideation also focused on improving navigation to enhance the discoverability of products through menu navigation, product filters, featured carousels, and search functionalities.

Another crucial area of focus was branding. The goal was to build brand trust and improve conversion rates by redesigning components and the site, emphasising a clean, modern, and minimalist approach. This involved using better product photography and imagery to showcase premium quality.

As for customer retention, recommended strategies include:

• Encouraging newsletter signups.
• Branded packaging and next-buy promo cards.
• Sending follow-up emails to boost customer engagement.

While wine subscription models were considered, they were ultimately determined to be outside the scope of the initial project phase.

— Prioritisation

With many ideas to focus on, it was essential to prioritise building an MVP that could be tested, validated and improved. I aligned the team using the MoSCoW Method and Feasibility, Desirability, and Viability workshops. We prioritised foundational elements like branding, navigation, and components, followed by low-effort, high-value features. These included promo planners, highlight labels, cross-sell features, urgency labels, multiple payment options, and promoting free delivery options. Retention strategies like cart abandonment emails and newsletter subscriptions were also prioritised.

— Design

The design phase involved creating wireframes that simulated components and experiences consistent with common e-commerce sites. The MVP was designed to be simple, with a mindset of A/B testing and incremental improvements post-launch. Product pages provided an overview of the product, allowing customers to delve deeper into the details, including sommelier tasting notes.

The UI design emphasised white space and purposeful design elements, with clean lines, minimalist elements, consistent spacing and branding—the overall design aligned with the brand vision of premium modernity.

— Outcome

In the six months following the product launch, we observed a decrease in dropouts at various conversion funnel stages and an increase in customer retention by 7% to meet industry benchmarks. One of the most significant improvements was the substantial increase in organic traffic, which grew by over 400% due to enhanced keyword performance and improved domain authority.