How a custom-built “Wizard” helped Confetti Supermarket increase sales
Improve UX and increase conversion
A Specialist Challenge for a Specialist Business - Confetti Supermarket
www.ConfettiSupermarket.com is the UK’s go-to shop for confetti cannons and loose confetti. What really sets them apart is that they custom-load their confetti cannons to order. Customers don’t just have a selection of predetermined options. They can order the exact size cannon and then choose the specific type and colour of confetti that they need. Whether metallic, tissue, biodegradable, streamers, or custom shapes. For special events like weddings or corporate events with specific colour schemes, this customisation is so important.
The trouble is, when it comes to confetti there are just so many possibilities and so many combinations. If you don’t know exactly what you are looking for, it can be overwhelming to wade through and compare all of the options. Even if you do know what you need, scrolling through a long list of similar looking products is still confusing and cumbersome.
And that was the problem. Confetti Supermarket’s user experience was not living up to the magic. Choice paralysis and scrolling fatigue were leading to a low conversion rate as customers became overwhelmed by a long list of options and simply abandoned the store.
A certain degree of product customisation is possible in most out-of-the-box ecommerce stores - think of the choices you need to provide for a pair of shoes - size and colour. But that just isn’t enough to accommodate everything needed to order a custom-loaded confetti cannon. Size, colour, material, shape, etc…
To make matters more complicated, many of Confetti Supermarket’s customers are first-time buyers, looking to place an on-time order for a wedding or a corporate event. These are not special effects experts that know their way around the products in question. These first-timers need a little extra help in first understanding all of the product options. Then working out what is the right choice for them. What size? What colour? What material? Indoor or outdoor?
“It was confusing. There were too many individual products and it was just confusing people. So the conversion rate was low. So, the idea was to provide a one-stop shop for people to customize any combination of size and color and type all in one place. They could just click on one button. It says “Start Now” and then it would take them through every step, holding their hand along the way.”
- Ian Woodroof, Confetti Supermarket
The power of a flexible platform - BigCommerce
Confetti Supermarket needed more flexibility. They needed to move away from their restrictive old platform which no longer met their needs. They neede a platform that would let them create the experience they envisioned for their customers.
They chose to migrate to BigCommerce, specifically for its flexibility. Top priority was creating a one-stop cannon customisation tool instead of long product lists to scroll. A new store on BigCommerce would enable the kind of unique customisation that Confetti Supermarket needed.
BigCommerce is an ideal platform for ecommerce merchants with unique or complex business needs. The platform encourages and makes it easy to design and integrate custom-built tools. The open SaaS architecture, robust API, and extensive third-party app integration capabilities give merchants the freedom to create unique stores, perfectly tailored to their business.
“Open SaaS” architecture refers to a SaaS (software-as-a-service) platform that allows for greater customization and flexibility compared to other SaaS models. On top of this, BigCommerce also supports multiple different programming languages such as PHP, Ruby, and Python. So developers are free to create unique solutions in whatever language they are most comfortable using.
All of this means that developers can create and integrate any tool that the merchant might need. Ecommerce merchants and their customers alike can benefit from customised experiences.
In the case of Confetti Supermarket, BigCommerce’s flexible framework would make the creation of the custom-cannon building tool possible. Providing customers with a unique and easy-to-follow, guided experience. Helping Confetti Supermarket to guide and educate their customers in one place, increasing engagement and winning more sales.
However, while the flexibility of BigCommerce supports this kind of customisation, building a complex tool like this, still requires expert skill. It needs a level of specialist expertise and knowledge of their platform that most merchants simply do not have in-house.To assist in cases like this, BigCommerce works closely with their Elite Partners such as Calashock.
The dedicated support team at BigCommerce connects merchants with the right agency partner for their unique projects. In this instance, Calashock’s unrivalled platform knowledge was exactly what Confetti Supermarket needed.
“I knew it was something that was way out my capabilities. To get it to do everything that I wanted would need some real expertise and people that knew the platform.”
- Ian Woodroof, Confetti Supermarket
Working with an experienced ecommerce agency, such as Calshock, that has years of experience working with BigCommerce, is highly recommended for complex development projects. Doing so will provide the merchant with access to specialized expertise and knowledge. It is more cost-effective than hiring or training up an in-house development team and the project will be completed far more quickly.
An agency can also provide ongoing support and maintenance as business needs evolve. Most importantly, getting a specialist team to build a custom tool frees up the merchants time to focus on core business activities.
Bringing in the Experts - Calashock
Confetti Supermarket's website, www.ConfettiSupermarket.com, needed some extra sparkle. They needed to transform the user experience from complex and arduous to effortless and engaging. They needed ecommerce experts with the vision and innovation to build something new.
A solution was needed that would take Confetti Supermarket's customers through all the steps of ordering custom-loaded confetti cannons. It needed to be easy to use, helping first-time buyers understand the process. Guiding them through from one step to the next, all in one place. They needed a Wizard.
The team at Calashock put our heads together with Confetti Supermarket to define and refine what the wizard needed to do:
1. Improve user experience
Give customers a more engaging and interactive experience, allowing them to create the order that truly meets their individual needs and preferences. Increasing customer satisfaction.
2. Reduce complexity
Instead of searching through a long list of products, customers need to be taken on a simple journey of discovery and customisation, all in one place. Reducing the chances of abandonment due to frustration or confusion.
3. Educate visitors
Help visitors and first-time buyers work out where to start. Guide them through, explaining the capacity of different sizes, the uses of different materials, etc. Making it effortless to make decisions even with no prior product knowledge.
4. Increase engagement
Providing a more engaging and interactive shopping experience will draw customers in and keep them on the site longer. Increasing the chances of completed orders.
5. Stand out from the crowd
Offer a unique and innovative shopping experience to differentiate from competitors. A confetti cannon-customisation wizard that helps a first-time buyer to build a bespoke order like a pro will stand apart from other online stores using standard product lists.
6. Increase Sales
Drastically improve the user experience by providing a simple, user-friendly interface. Make ordering a confetti cannon so easy that customers don’t even think twice.
Unveiling the Confetti Cannon Wizard
The Confetti Cannon-Customisatriton Wizard worked its magic. The difference was immediately evident in the conversion rate and sales figures.
“It is a major part of the core of our site. It boosts conversion by helping the people that haven’t done this before and those that don't really know what they're after yet.”
- Ian Woodroof, Confetti Supermarket
Customers appreciated the ability to customise their order easily in one simple journey, and they were more likely to make a purchase as a result.
As a result of the Confetti Cannon Wizard:
Conversion increased 17.8%
Average Order Value increased 13.3%
Revenue increased 31.4%
The success of the Wizard highlights the importance of implementing user-centric solutions to improve the ecommerce customer experience. The Confetti Cannon-Customisation Wizard has revolutionised the way customers place their orders. Enabling them to select the right size, colours, material, shapes, etc without having to scroll through long lists of similar-looking products.
The implementation of the custom-built solution was made possible by the flexibility of BigCommerce and the platform expertise of the Calashock team. By working with a specialist ecommerce agency like Calashock, Confetti Supermarket was able to create a user-friendly tool. It has greatly enhanced the customer experience, making it more magical and enjoyable.
This case study demonstrates the importance of investing in bespoke solutions to meet the unique needs of ecommerce customers. Confetti Supermarket has improved engagement, conversion rates, and overall customer satisfaction with the Wizard. In a highly competitive ecommerce landscape, businesses must be agile and proactive in meeting their customers' needs. Investing in the right ecommerce platform and specialist experts is vital to success.
If you have a custom ecommerce project you'd like to talk to us about, get in touch today to talk to our expert team
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