The Challenge
The iconic Smarties® candy roll has been filling trick-or treat-bags and satisfying sweet tooths year-round for over 50 years. Smarties’ management realized that their e-commerce efforts had become compromised by their aging Magento website, which was expensive to maintain, Flash-dependent, not mobile friendly, and required code to be written for even minor customization. The family-owned firm turned to Rivers Agency for a streamlined solution at a streamlined budget.
The Solution
The Rivers team devised a hybrid solution featuring a user-friendly core WordPress CMS website working with a Shopify online store. The combination delivered the tools and flexibility to create a playful, on-brand visual experience with an efficient, cost-effective e-commerce fulfillment capability for their popular products.
Devising this hybrid solution was a classic example of meeting the client where they were. The old platform was designed to allow e-Commerce sites to inventory, price, display and sell thousands of SKUs, the equivalent of killing a fly with a hammer for Smarties, which has fewer than 50 separate product categories. We were able to provide an affordable solution which increased functionality and performance on time, on budget.
The Results
The streamlined site paid off for Smarties nearly immediately with rave comments from customers and “wow-our-lives-are-easier” from the staff and online sales vastly increased.