Creating a Website for The Scotch Whisky Experience Online Shop

Discover how our Customised Shopify Website Blended Smooth e-commerce with Sharp Design

Located in the heart of Edinburgh, the Scotch Whisky The Experience Online Shop offers almost 500 varieties of Scotch Whisky and related products and gifts. As well as a premium gifting shop, the business is a celebration of a uniquely Scottish and globally revered artisan product. When it required an equally elegant e-commerce website Hookson couldn’t wait to get started.

Thanks to our extensive experience of building functionality-packed e-commerce websites we turned instantly to the Shopify platform: a flexible base we would customise with e-commerce features and let shine with striking design assets.

Setting up Shopify for Effective E-commerce

Getting Shopify off the ground can be a daunting prospect for even the most able businesses. For the Scotch Whisky The Experience Online Shop, as we do across all of our Shopify site builds, we firstly set up the basic store. From there we began customising a carefully selected theme.

Applying Delicious Design to the Shopify Website Base

When customising the Shopify base, we quickly identified opportunities to sell products and tell stories. Helping achieve both would be a bold and prominent visual route led by engaging images and rich colour palettes.

Sale-Oriented Visuals

Next, for a modern presentation of a classic product, we showcased visuals – of products, experiences and inspiration – in clean, clutter-free grids. A scrolling Featured Collection gallery highlighted gifts and made it easy to add to cart. Added to this, a top menu, frozen on scroll, meant clear navigation remained a constant.

Integrating Apps for the Ultimate Shopify Website Experience

From experience, we knew that Shopify’s match-up with apps would help deliver exactly what the Shop required from its new website. From there, we were able to integrate and set up the apps that would add game-changing functionality.

Enabling Collections and Deliveries: Powered by Zapiet

Two equally important key features sit at the heart of collection and delivery services: functionality and reliability. By seamlessly integrating the market-leading Zapiet app into the Shop’s new website, Hookson guaranteed both. Next, we customised Zapiet’s range of features so the app added to customer experience and aligned precisely with the business’ needs. These included:

• Smart, granular scheduling of store pick-ups
• Simple control of local delivery slots
• Advanced tools to make global shipping a breeze

Easy collections and deliveries are certainly a business boon at any time. But in an era of Covid-19 they’re essential. Thanks to the app, the Shop was already in terrific shape to keep handling fuss-free collections and deliveries without delay.

Mixing Visuals with e-commerce: the Covet Pics App

A beautifully photogenic website was a must. The Covet Pics app was the perfect complement to a range of eye-catching shots. As well as the Shop’s extensive product range, these included the physical shop’s handsome interiors, the next-door Scotch Whisky Experience attraction itself and, of course, stunning images of Edinburgh.

Presenting Gorgeous Shoppable Galleries

Hookson was able to harness the Covet Pics solution to create inviting – and easy-to-update – shoppable gallery images. These exhibited products at their very best, then made it a cinch to add to basket and boost conversions. On selected images a tasteful hotspot device both highlighted products and offered a one-click purchasing route.

Instagram Integration

Covet Pics made Instagram integration a snap too. Now the Shop could quickly pull images from its Instagram pages to its homepage. The result? Simple sharing of image-rich stories and information: an agile social media benefit that guaranteed a real buzz.

Setting up a Google Smart Shopping Campaign for Clever, Cost-Effective e-commerce

Extending reach to highly targeted shoppers, Hookson instigated a Google Smart Shopping Campaign. Working seamlessly with Shopify, from day one the Shop’s goods presented in related search results across the key Google platforms: Google Search, Gmail, YouTube and the Google Display Network. Added to this, the campaign’s PPC (Pay-Per-Click) model made for a benefit that was as cost-effective as it was powerful.

Ensuring Understanding with Hookson Shopify Training

Getting under the bonnet of a new Shopify website can initially be a challenge. Cue: Hookson’s Shopify training. Working closely with our client we addressed in-house areas like page-builds and inventory updates. And when it came to migration – moving the shop’s product data from the old site to the new one – our training made all the difference. Errors at the migration stage can cause a business-damaging headache. But by passing on our knowledge to the Shop’s team, its sizeable product data migrated automatically and was quickly sitting pretty on the new website.

Offering Shopify Support Long After the Build

Finally, Hookson ensured the Shop benefited from our ongoing Shopify support. This meant the business could trade safe in the knowledge that our expert e-commerce team would be there to answer any technical queries. With e-commerce rarely sitting still, we also kept an eye on opportunities to add additional functionality.

Visit the Scotch Whisky The Experience Online Shop