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Originally Posted On: https://www.intuitsolutions.net/case-study-custom-bigcommerce-design-and-responsive-development-for-amsfireplace-com/

 

Established in 2001 as a supplier of wrought iron furniture, AMSFireplace.com has since expanded into all things fire-related, selling a quality selection of gas and electric fireplaces, fire pits, outdoor kitchens, and accessories. Whether you’re a contractor, home remodeler, or backyard enthusiast, AMSFireplace.com has the right products and knowledge to create a truly unique entertaining experience.

The AMSFireplace team knew it was time for a complete website redesign – an updated look, feel, and experience that matched the beauty and functionality of its high-quality products. Enter IntuitSolutions and our dedicated team of BigCommerce designers and developers that would help bring this project to life.

The Challenge: An Outdated Design

Falling short of visual and functional expectations, the previous website was cluttered, challenging to navigate, and lacked the features to create an intuitive shopping experience.

“To keep up with ever-changing e-commerce trends, best practice is to rebuild your website every 3-4 years.”

Given the increase of unique customer demands, AMS Fireplace also needed a website that would support selection and customization to help streamline the customers’ buying experience and purchase pipeline.

With this in mind, they partnered with IntuitSolutions for a custom, full-site design and development on a future-proof framework supporting the latest BigCommerce functionality.

The Solution: A Custom BigCommerce Design

IntuitSolutions worked with AMSFireplace.com for a full rebuild and redesign of their e-commerce site on the BigCommerce Stencil framework. This entire process was overseen by a dedicated project manager and supported by a full team of in-house experts in e-commerce design and development.

The Design

Inspired by the client’s vision for a clean design, our team created a straightforward yet sophisticated layout that doesn’t overwhelm the reader with information.  With a more intuitive and organized site structure, customers can easily shop the full breadth of AMSFireplace.com’s offerings at a glance.

Highlights of the new site design:

• Modern homepage design with a cleaner and more visually organized layout.
• Customized mega menu with prominent images displayed above a list-style of product categories. This takes advantage of the extra menu space, enhances UX, and helps customers find products faster.
• Category page design enhancements that utilize page space, text, and images to narrow ideal product results quickly.
• Product page enhancements, including more customization options, improved pick lists and dropdown functionality, and more organized product details.
• Enhanced scrolling product carousel that suggests related items based on user interaction.
• Less clutter and clearer CTAs throughout to encourage site engagement.

 

Custom, Feature-Rich Development

IntuitSolutions’ Base Theme

Like all of our custom BigCommerce projects, AMSFireplace.com was built using our proprietary “Base Theme.”

IntuitSolutions has dedicated hundreds of development hours to further optimize the already powerful “Cornerstone” Stencil theme, resulting in drastic improvements in accessibility, page load speed, and overall code base.  These updates include:

• Significant upgrades to ADA & WCAG accessibility standards
• Better 404 crawler instructions
• Improved ‘quick search’ results
• Resolved native bugs
• Improved blog layout
• Photoswipe product image viewer
• Popup login
• Product data page custom tabs
• Image swap on hover
• Mega menu
• Improved cart page layout
• Additional page builder region points
• Slide out preview cart
• Slide out search
• Brand carousel
• And much more!

BigCommerce Stencil Advantages

From the outset of this project, a build on the BigCommerce Stencil framework was the clear choice for AMSFireplace.com. Through its many native features, the BigCommerce Stencil framework incorporates the latest modern technology, design, conversion, and SEO practices – setting the foundation for a high-performing storefront.

• Improved Website Performance
  • Faster page speed
  • Akamai Image Manager to optimize images
  • Upgraded title and alt tags for images site-wide
  • Google Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)
  • Advanced rich snippets and added markup
• Developer-Friendly
  • Improved Theme Editor for safer, cleaner, and more easily managed updates
  • Upgraded coding languages and integration support
  • Minification of CSS and JS for cleaner code and industry coding best practices
• Enhanced Functionality
  • Flexible page builder capabilities
  • Additional payment options supported
  • Powerful marketing features, such as Google Analytics Enhanced E-commerce Tracking

ThemeBridge: The Staging-Like Environment Built for BigCommerce

To help expedite the testing and launch process for AMSFireplace.com, our team utilized ThemeBridge, an app developed by IntuitSolutions.

With ThemeBridge, clients can preview their new site with their actual product data and content, browse the new site prior to launch, and see development progress in real-time – a process that no other development agency can offer.

Every website development project and retainer gains access to ThemeBridge at IntuitSolutions. 

With ThemeBridge, you have the assurance and peace of mind that your updates will “play nice” with your live website – whether you’re previewing a design improvement, a custom feature, or a feature adjustment.

The Results: A Modern Design Supported by a Robust BigCommerce Framework

Our work with AMSFireplace.com resulted in an intricately designed storefront site that is visually appealing and easy to use, making it an ideal shopping destination for fire-enthusiasts nationwide.

AMSFireplace.com now has a beautiful website that pairs a clean, modern look with dynamic functionality to support more traffic, engagement, and boosted sales.

Could your BigCommerce store design use a refresh? Are you considering migrating to BigCommerce from another platform? We’re an Elite BigCommerce Partner Web Design Company and work exclusively on the BigCommerce platform. Send us a message or give us a call at 866-901-4650 to discuss how we can help your business succeed online.