We ‘relished’ a challenge!
It all started with 2-3 products after the Foot and Mouth crisis that shut down the Cumbrian countryside in 2001, forcing the closure of their Hawkshead Cafe. Fast forward 20 years and Hawkshead Relish now sells over 100 varieties of chutneys, relishes and preserves both in-store and online, shipping products worldwide and earning dozens of accolades along the way.
A rebrand sparked new eCommerce website
Following a complete rebrand that included a new logo and product packaging, Hawkshead Relish needed to bring their website up to date with striking new imagery and illustrations. Not only did the website need to reflect the company's ethos and roots, but a platform that would support their next phase of growth was essential.
Bringing out the best in their products
Their old website was running on an outdated commerce platform and had become cumbersome to manage their catalogue of products to both retail and wholesale customers. In addition to showcasing their product range, more general content was also important to Hawkshead Relish so they could share their favourite family recipes bringing out the best of their product range.
Remove ongoing constraints and frustrations
Having previously found themselves constrained by a hosted shopping platform, Hawkshead Relish had since seen the benefit of a bespoke online store. Demonstrating and recommending Craft Commerce as the shopping platform for the new site was an instant hit, immediately showing how a new product structure and improved content management experience would remove some of the frustrations experienced with the existing site.
Services Provided
- UX design
- Craft Commerce development
- Custom plugin development for Craft CMS
- Hosting, support and maintenance
- Seasonal advertising campaigns using Google Shopping
- Integrations with online marketing platforms
Key Features
- High performance loading with efficient page caching
- Customer accounts with address book feature and repeat orders
- Guest checkout with optional post purchase account setup
- Stockist map with postcode search
- Email marketing integration
- Multiple shipping options, including Click and Collect
- Choice of payment options including account payments
- Email automation
- Customised reporting
Jam packed with features and functionality
One of the key priorities for Hawkshead Relish with their new website was to provide their customers with an incredible user experience giving them a sense of flavours and attention to detail in their products, increasing awareness of the brand and building customer loyalty. This was achieved by incorporating key ingredients into the imagery across the site along with vital product search and filtering based on ingredients and key allergens to give customers when selecting products.
An automatically generated list of best selling products feature on the site home page, with Hawkshead Relish having the ability to add their own selections, supporting the release of new products which are frequently added to the site!
Customer accounts and profiles on the site allow customer specific pricing, discounts and delivery costs based on product shipping weights. This section also integrates with their mailing list allowing customers to opt in or out of marketing communications.
Adapting to the changes enforced due to COVID 19, the site was easily extended to introduce a new Click and Collect option at the checkout. Craft provided the flexibility to add this with no additional plugins, no extra monthly subscription fees and immediately added a new dimension to the shopping experience on the site.
User Engagement
Comparing Jun - Dec 2019 against the previous year:
12% more page views
25% more time on site
38% faster page load
Sales Stats
Comparing Jun - Dec 2019 against the previous year:
33% increased conversation rate
53% more sales transactions
34% increased revenue
Client Quote
The team at A Digital listened to us, and took time to understand our business. They worked collectively to deliver a fantastic, vibrant website and followed up with support and fresh ideas to help our business moving forward. We look forward to continuing a longer term relationship as we develop our business into the future.
Award winning eCommerce for an award winning producer
Hawkshead Relish are no strangers to awards, so we were delighted to share the news that the site had won the Best Food and Drink eCommerce website in the 2019 Northern eCommerce Awards. Tasty!
