Case Studiovarustamo:
Photography specialist Studiovarustamo relies on Digiteam to renew its online store

E-commerce strategy set the path for e-commerce reform

The online store is an important sales channel for Studiovarustamo, alongside the bricks-and-mortar store. In the past, however, online sales were not at the desired level. Studiovarustamo wanted to invest in developing its online sales, so in 2019 the company commissioned Digiteam's experts to develop an e-commerce strategy as a roadmap for its project.

In connection with the strategy work, Digiteam found that the expert, feel-good customer experience familiar from the Studiovarustamo store was not really conveyed in the old online store. This was seen as very important from the point of view of increasing sales, so the harmonisation of the customer experience was proposed as one of the objectives for the development of the online store.

However, two years of development showed that the old and cumbersome e-commerce framework was not fit for the full exploitation of the strategy. Some functionality had been built in, but the layout was effectively locked and no changes could be made on the fly. E-commerce was therefore identified as a bottleneck that was holding back growth in a rapidly digitalising environment.

It was decided to implement the e-commerce renewal in spring 2021, and WooCommerce was chosen as the e-commerce platform, which was considered to be an excellent fit not only for the company's current needs, but also for the necessary integrations.

Flexibility at the heart of the reform project - close cooperation produced new insights

Thanks to previous cooperation, Digiteam had a clear picture of the customer's needs and wishes from the very beginning. In addition to the dynamic and flexible structure, the easy updatability of the online shop by the in-house team at Studio Equipment was a key factor.
The e-commerce renewal proceeded systematically with weekly development meetings. In joint remote meetings, various ideas were sparred over and the site was jointly evaluated at different stages of its development.

The customer's wishes and suggestions for change were also listened to carefully and good ideas were helped to be refined further. Appropriate solutions were worked on with determination to find the ideal way to implement different functionalities, such as equipment rental.

No shortcuts - search engine optimisation and analytics are an integral part of the whole

From the very beginning, the development of the online store was carried out with search engine optimisation in mind, so that the new online store would support organic search engine visibility in the best possible way.

For Digiteam, this includes keyword analysis in the early stages of the project and SEO guidance to support the client's content production. The guidelines provide clear stepping stones for writing optimised sales copy and content, as well as naming products and images.

The studio produced the text content for the online shop itself, so the guidelines supported the search engine friendliness of the content. This stage can be considered critical - failure to do SEO can lead to a loss of both visibility and sales.

Installing and carefully configuring analytics was also an essential part of a successful e-commerce transformation. Digiteam was responsible for both installing the measurement points and ensuring their operation. This has provided Studiovarustamo with continuous information on the performance of the online shop to support further development and digital marketing.

Digiteam - an accessible, responsive and knowledgeable partner

Studiovarustamo felt it was important that the e-commerce reform partner not only had a proven track record of successful projects, but also had a customer-focused attitude. Although the company itself had an idea of what they wanted to achieve with the site, they wanted the partner to bring a specific strategic vision to the project. Digiteam was chosen for its expertise, accessibility, responsiveness and strong commercial vision.

The project involved Ari Salonen, who is responsible for Digiteam's e-commerce customers and also has over 20 years of personal experience as an online retailer. Salonen's long practical experience helps him to provide customers with sales insights on both the bigger picture and the smaller details.

"It was good to be able to bounce ideas around and get feedback from Digiteam. It was also good to get tips on the content of the product cards, for example, including observations on factors that typically increase sales," says Ilanen.

Overall, Ilanen describes the project as going well. However, if there is one development he would like to mention, he says that status updates were sometimes delayed in the project monitoring tool: things had progressed as agreed on schedule, but the completion of a work phase had not been updated. Digiteam immediately took on board the client's feedback and has since improved the team's communication to be more up-to-date.

Agile e-commerce opens up new opportunities - now and in the future

Since the completion of the website project, Studiovarustamo has already experienced a wide range of benefits from the new online store. The development of the online shop has also continued at an active pace.

The new modular structure of the online shop has enabled active updating of the pages, as well as flexible implementation of campaigns. It is now easy to change the structure of the front page and quickly put your promotional products in the best possible position.

Customer testimonials are also now featured on the front page through automatic integration, as testimonials are seen as valuable in building trust. Another important step forward has been the display of real-time stock balances on product cards, which was achieved by integrating the online shop with suppliers' inventory management.

What about the results?

Since the renewal of the online shop, Studiovarustamo has seen a clear increase in the number of visitors. The customer experience has also been improved through high-quality content and consistent purchase paths.

The new online store will make it easier for customers to find products and provide them with more information to support their purchasing decisions. More visible product purchases and cross-linking have also contributed to the upward trend in sales.

Studiovarustamo's advice for choosing an e-commerce reform partner

Plans to revamp your online shop? Consider these five factors when choosing a partner for your e-commerce transformation:

1. Active and expert input to planning and development
2. Good personal chemistry
3. Rapid response to customer requests
4. Experience of the chosen platform
5. Work references carried out

5 tips from Studio Equipment for the e-commerce innovator

1. Each online shop is an individual entity, so the objectives and functionalities must be driven by the company's own situation. Preferably choose a scalable solution that will serve your business well into the future!
2. Allow enough time for the project. When an e-commerce overhaul is done from scratch, it takes a lot of time. A complete overhaul of an existing online store can take even longer. This includes ensuring that products are redirected from the old site so that the Google visibility achieved is not compromised. A good partner will take care of such details and look at the big picture with the customer's best interests in mind.
3. Be realistic about your schedule and the resources required. You should allow enough time for the design, about 1-2 months depending on the size of the site. In turn, the pace of content production will have a significant impact on progress. It is worth considering whether to outsource the content production as well, or whether you need to strengthen your own team, e.g. with a part-time or temporary employee.
4. Completion of the site is not a finish line. A published online shop is a functional environment that meets the needs of the moment. Constant monitoring is essential to react to changes and make corrective action where necessary. Actively improving the customer experience and removing barriers to purchase also creates the conditions for growth.
5. Remember search engine accessibility, marketing and measurement. The revamped online store needs to be supported by search engine optimisation and active digital marketing. By driving traffic from the right target audience, the potential of the new online store can be maximised. Measurement, in turn, will allow for efficient and effective further development of the measures.