Clogau has been producing high-quality Welsh gold jewellery for almost three decades. After developing their brand, they wanted to invest in a new website that showcased their products, and their story, in the best possible way.

The Brief

WHAT WE DID

Clogau requested a new Shopify website to showcase their extensive and eye-catching product range and put their brand story at the forefront. They wanted their new site to exude luxury, and were interested in a sleek and modern design.

From a technical perspective, the site had to integrate with their Microsoft Dynamics AX system which handled all of their product and customer information. We also had to figure out a way to build a tool for their ‘Compose’ offering, which allows users to build a bespoke engagement ring in a number of steps. Our goal was to ensure this new website was true to Clogau and their brand story, whilst keeping their customers and products at the forefront.

Initial Investigations

Clogau specifically requested their new site be built on Shopify. We are Shopify partners, and we had worked on many smaller size Shopify sites and integrations prior to this project. However, the level of complexity and customisation needed for the Clogau website meant that the first part of our initial investigations involved building a robust understanding of the intricacies of Shopify and its capabilities.

We found many hidden, legacy pages on the Clogau site that made it challenging to update and maintain and that were negatively impacting page speed. We opted to consolidate these pages, removing any that weren’t required, to create a faster-loading website and a much simpler sitemap that’s easier to navigate. From a design point of view, our investigations involved identifying the visual elements stopping Clogau from truly reflecting their brand’s story and showcasing their products. Their existing colour palette consisted of bold colours such as deep gold and stark grey – colours that didn’t allow their jewellery to shine. In comparison, our research into key competitors determined that similar brands had opted for lighter colour palettes and vibrant, high quality, people-focused imagery.

Starting With The Design

Each piece of Clogau jewellery is made from the gold found in the Clogau St David’s mine, Snowdonia, and is designed using elements of the Welsh countryside as inspiration. Therefore, it was imperative that their new site design reflected this story, allowing the jewellery to be the focal point, and paying homage to the Welsh landscape.

To reflect this, we opted for a fresh and organic design that utilised colours found in the Welsh countryside. We removed the previously used harsh gold and chose a fresh, crisp white as the main background colour, with pale pink and sage green feature blocks, and muted grey text. These softer tones aid in creating a more luxurious and modern feel, without taking away from the main attraction: the jewellery. Much like the countryside, Clogau’s products evolve with the seasons, and we wanted to emulate this sitewide. As a solution, we built a preset palette of seasonal coloured feature blocks. These blocks can be easily updated to complement new seasonal jewellery ranges, without compromising on branding cohesion. Naturally, we chose to have images of the jewellery take centre stage. 90% of shoppers believe image quality is the most important factor when making online purchases, so this was vital. We ensured the quality, style, and colours within the imagery were complementary to the overall design, and we opted for an 8-point grid structure to ensure customers could see a collection of products, without being overwhelmed with options. We also incorporated a featured products section consisting of images and prices, allowing Clogau to showcase their best-selling pieces in a way that grabs the attention of site visitors. To accompany the new colour scheme and use of images, we selected complementary, stylish, easy-to-read fonts for titles and body text that aid in creating a boutique vibe. This further enforces the luxury feel of Clogau’s brand and the exclusivity of Welsh gold. Once we’d created a stellar design, it was time to hand over to our web development specialists to bring the site to life.

Delving Into Development

In the initial stages, our developers had to create an environment that navigated the difficulties with Shopify, in order to build the website. Once established, they had the creative freedom to try out new methods and build the site natively. This also gave the team more control over the types of images, text blocks, and other fundamental features, to create a truly bespoke website rather than relying on a Shopify theme.

In the initial brief, Clogau expressed concerns about the management of their previous website. Despite Shopify’s frequent tool and interface updates, the potential for complexity in maintenance and updates lingered for the new site. Addressing this, we created a bespoke system and theme tailored for the client. This strategic intervention allowed Clogau to fully optimise Shopify while ensuring an editable and user-friendly front end for the new website. Once development was underway, we then considered integrations. Clogau outlined their desired plugins in the initial brief as Shopify’s Ultimate Search and Filter app, Feefo Reviews, Hitachi Finance, Google Pay, Apple Pay, and Klarna. We incorporated these into the website, offering a better customer experience by providing buyers with a choice of payment options and smoother website operations. Doing so often reduces the number of abandoned carts and increases conversion rates. Furthermore, the inclusion of Feefo Reviews further reinforces customers’ trust and confidence in Clogau’s products and their brand as a whole. This is especially important when you consider the average cart abandonment rate is 69.99%, according to Baymard Institute. By putting convenience at the forefront by implementing these features, the user is confronted with fewer obstacles, and is more likely to make a purchase. Throughout the entire development process, our developers implemented version control to track and manage code changes. This minimised disruptions and enabled successful deployments, keeping the project on track.

The Shining Jewel

As a large e-commerce business, Clogau has many administrative tasks that have to be completed at specific stages of a customer’s journey. For example, organising shipping, processing payment information, and managing returns and customer accounts.

However, we identified a problem. Automation wasn’t initially possible as there was no existing integration between Clogau’s management system which lives on Microsoft Dynamics AX and Shopify. This meant that the two systems couldn’t automatically pass information to and from each other, especially in the specific ways we required it to. Our development team decided to create a bespoke app that streamlines this communication, allowing for further automation across all business processes within Clogau. The development team used the most efficient and elegant code to guarantee longevity, and began building the app to handle webhooks in a queue system. So, when the data is sent between the two systems, it’s stored in a table and then processed to transform the data into the correct format. This process provided transparency within the functions of the app. This is especially helpful as maintenance can see precisely which webhooks have come into the app and the response from the API. So, if a mistake is made or an error occurs, it is a simple matter of spotting the mistake, tracing it back to the webhook and confirming if the data was processed correctly. By future-proofing this process, our development team created a bespoke solution that is also easily maintained, increasing the durability of the app and the overall project. Our development team took the app to new heights by incorporating the standout feature of Clogau’s services – a custom ring builder – Compose. Customers would be able to use this system to generate their own custom ring, choosing specific elements and creating a unique piece. The team worked hard to create a custom system that translates this process to the app and Shopify seamlessly. This was done by processing each request made by the customer, and returning the correct variant of the information to Shopify. There are thousands of combinations to account for, so our development team worked tirelessly to set up this process and ensure customer expectations were still met, despite many moving parts working hard in the background. The app’s overall abilities were extensive too, covering all aspects of business for Clogau, including:

Managing collections and categories
Product management
Customer handling
Approving credit limits
Processing orders
Generating order status updates,
Creating gift cards to be used in Shopify
Managing discount codes
Managing customer’s loyalty points

Without this bespoke app, Clogau would not have been able to use their current systems alongside Shopify. However, our experts’ ‘shining jewel’ created a gateway that allowed the project to not only be completed, but be above and beyond what Clogau had requested.

Continuing Our Journey

After launching the website, our collaboration with Clogau continued to evolve. We seized the opportunity to utilise Shopify's newly introduced B2B platform, a significant addition that coincided with the ongoing development of their B2C site.

This B2B platform served as an exact replica of the B2C site, but with specialised features tailored to accommodate orders from large outlets and stores. It provided these businesses with the convenience of logging in, placing bulk orders, and managing loyalty points and discount codes. A pivotal challenge involved customising the checkout process for B2B customers, allowing them to place orders with flexible invoice terms, departing from the standard pay-at-checkout approach. Moreover, we extended our efforts to enhance the B2B customer experience by creating a personalised “My Profile” section. This area enabled them to view their credit limits and access valuable links to training resources, along with a dedicated contact point to reach their Clogau representative. This undertaking was particularly demanding since Shopify had only recently rolled out its B2B platform, which meant limited assistance was available from both Shopify and the broader development community. We continue to work with Clogau on a daily basis, supporting them as the development arm of their business, either fixing bugs or answering queries, or developing new features to their new site.

Don’t Just Take Our Word For It…

Here’s what our clients have to say about us:

"We are incredibly happy with the completed site and Soap Media have brought our vision into reality with very little compromise. This has been reflected by the response of our clients and colleagues alike for whom the feedback has been equally positive. We had regular email updates throughout the development of the website with both our Development Account Manager and Senior Front End Developer also willing to discuss issues/ideas in further depth using Google Meet regularly. Any questions or queries were responded to promptly and informatively by email. Soap Media's ability to bring our vision into reality alongside their accommodating and willing attitude towards our ideas, regardless of the potential technical issues to overcome to achieve them, was very impressive and has led to the creation of a unique and exceptional web presence."

AnonymousSubmitted via Clutch

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