Background
Since its inception, Black+Blum has been synonymous with innovative and beautifully designed food and drink on-the-go products. Known for their sustainable approach and stylish functionality, they cater to eco-conscious customers looking for everyday products with a premium feel. Their commitment to reducing single-use plastic and crafting long-lasting products has won them a dedicated following worldwide.
Brief
Black+Blum needed to update their Shopify store to take advantage of Shopify 2.0’s latest features and enhancements. Their primary goal was to refresh the site’s design while ensuring it met modern performance standards and delivered an engaging, user-friendly experience. The team also sought better flexibility in managing their product offerings and improving the overall customer journey, particularly for mobile users. In addition, with separate stores for the US, EU, and UK regions (instead of using Shopify Markets), they needed to ensure a smooth experience across these storefronts.
Services
- Shopify 2.0 Replatforming
- Design and User Experience
- International E-commerce Setup
- Performance Optimization
Key Features
- Enhanced Product Discovery
- Flexible Content Management
- Optimized Product Pages
- Mobile-Optimized Experience
- Multi-Regional Functionality
- Performance Enhancements
- Brand Storytelling Integration
- Customizable Homepage
- Advanced Product Management
- User-Friendly Admin Interface
Design-Led Solutions
The design phase was crucial to the success of this project. Following a series of in-depth client workshops, we gained a clear understanding of the unique challenges Black + Blum faced. These workshops allowed us to identify key pain points for their customers, particularly around product discovery, navigation, and storytelling. From there, we developed targeted design solutions that would directly address these challenges while staying true to the brand’s ethos of sustainability and premium quality.
The result was a set of carefully crafted designs that not only refreshed the visual aesthetic but also focused on improving the usability and conversion flow of the site. These designs laid the foundation for the Shopify 2.0 re-theme, ensuring both form and function were perfectly balanced.
Retheming for Shopify 2.0 Compliance
Our main task was to re-theme the Black + Blum store to make it fully compliant with Shopify 2.0. This involved leveraging Shopify’s new sections-based architecture, enabling better customisation and content management across the site. By building the new theme with dynamic, reusable sections, we empowered the Black + Blum team to create custom pages with minimal developer input, making it easier for them to manage their content.
Enhanced User Experience and Performance
A key focus of the project was improving the site’s user experience, particularly on mobile. We streamlined navigation and simplified product filtering to make finding products quicker and more intuitive. Additionally, we optimised site speed and performance, ensuring faster load times and a smoother shopping experience for users across all devices.
Refined Product Display and Management
With Shopify 2.0’s flexible product features, we improved how Black + Blum showcased their diverse product range. We introduced tailored product pages with better imagery, clearer descriptions, and smart use of metafields to display important product details like materials, sustainability credentials, and usage instructions. This helped customers make informed buying decisions while highlighting the brand’s commitment to quality and sustainability.
Separate Stores for US, EU, and UK
To cater to their international audience, Black + Blum opted for separate storefronts for the US, EU, and UK markets, rather than using Shopify Markets. This approach allowed them to maintain greater control over regional variations, from pricing and inventory to localised marketing strategies. We ensured that each storefront delivered a consistent brand experience while addressing specific needs for each region.
Empowering the Black + Blum Team
With the Shopify 2.0 upgrade, Black + Blum’s team now enjoys greater control over their site content. They can easily update collections, adjust homepage content, and add new product launches with minimal development support. This newfound flexibility has allowed them to respond faster to market trends and customer demands, staying true to their brand ethos of innovation and adaptability.
Results and Impact
The re-theme not only modernised the Black + Blum site but also significantly improved the shopping experience, especially on mobile. With faster load times, streamlined navigation, and a cleaner design, customer engagement increased, leading to higher conversion rates. Additionally, the flexible new architecture has enabled the team to reduce their reliance on developers, allowing for more frequent updates and marketing-driven changes.
Since joining the project I’ve found the team (at Onstate) very easy to work with. Our regular update meetings kept the pace of the project moving forward well and we were able to make changes to the layouts and designs quickly. The end result has been a much more customisable site that is now updated to the latest version of Shopify, giving us more control over what we show to our customers and flexibility in the apps and content we can test to improve conversion and user experience.
