Waxman Ceramics

The Waxman Ceramics existing Wordpress website was slow, clunky, relied on back-office staff to process trade orders and lacked the aesthetic required for new audience positioning. It required modernisation, bespoke design to appeal in a competitive luxury market, and dual-functionality to cater to B2B and D2C.

Critically, the new site also needed to reliably and robustly sync into and out-of Microsoft Business Central for stock, shipping and relationship management.

Our Strategy

• We built the new site on Shopify Plus, selected as a great foundation for the powerful functionality, in-built D2C UX, scalability for future product ranges, extensibility through apps and APIs, and brilliant native support for elements such as trade-accounts.
  

• Beginning with a deep discovery and ideation phase to uncover the brand identity as Waxman shifted to a domestic market focus, we explored multiple design iterations to give the right impression of luxury, premium, globally-sourced products - resulting in a prototype focused around high-quality lifestyle imagery, pastel hues and clean design methodologies

• Clean mega-menu navigation to help customers navigate by product colours and types, rooms/use-cases, styles and shapes - also providing a superb foundation for SEO
  

• Adaptive search returning results as customers type to facilitate faster more efficient browsing of products
  

• Wide range of product filters developed in tandem with Waxman’s back-office team to understand precisely what consumers needed to filter down products.
  

• Tile swatch, style and size selectors on product pages enabling exploration of an entire tile range within a single product page.
  

• Clear display of area-coverage within product pages for customers to understand how many packs require purchase for a specific project; supported by a more detailed “Tile Calculator” taking measurement inputs and accounting for wastage.
  

• Custom sample ordering system providing free or low-cost samples depending on range and size, integrated with MS Business Central for sample stock control.

• Integration of “buy-now-pay-later” systems, an expectation of modern consumers, with payments pushing back into internal systems.
  

• Creation of content areas showcasing “Collections” to support marketing around current consumer trends, lifestyle focused blogs, and Instagram/Pinterest showcases to display collated inspo and UGC from Waxman customers.
  

• Wider functionality supported Waxman’s physical retail and B2B customers:
  

  • “Find A Retailer” system and pages to showcase the Waxman Showroom near Huddersfield
    

  • Trade Customer Accounts, application and login systems, pricing-per-account functionality using Shopify Plus lists and discounts, and PO requests via API - all connected with MS Business Central
    

• Finally, all development and launch was supported by our marketing experts, developing granular GA4 tracking systems beyond the basic ecommerce functionality provided by Shopify’s GA4 connection; working with Waxman’s team to set the foundations for SEO performance; and managing the migration from old site to new.

Following a soft launch to existing customers, the site quickly began generating new D2C orders and strong interest in product samples, giving the team valuable insight into how customers interact with the new experience.

For trade customers, the new system has made it easier to discover products and share inspiration with their own clients, while automated ordering and fulfilment have significantly reduced the need for manual intervention behind the scenes.

Most importantly, the response from customers has been overwhelmingly positive, with showroom visitors praising the look and feel of the new website and how easy it is to navigate, find products and order samples.