Stanton Orchards Web Design Case Study

Overview

Conquering new online audience

Stanton Orchards is a family owned farm that has been growing Montmorency Tart Cherries for over 50 years in the heart of the Leelanau Peninsula in Northern Michigan. Family is proud to offer the freshest, tastiest tart cherry concentrate. Company is committed to the highest standards, from growing, to production, to education about the health benefits of the cherry. Main goal of our collaboration with Stanton Orchards was to broaden channels of distribution by increasing the online presence of products.

Challenges

Local brand grows into a national favorite

While Stanton Orchards had successful in-store sales their goal was to overcome constraints of physical distribution and sell tart cherry concentrate across the country. Existing website lacked e-commerce intent and performance. The third challenge was to launch products on other e-commerce platforms, especially on Amazon.

Approach

From the beaten path to exciting buyer journey

We developed a strategy that allowed us to work simultaneously on website redesign and launching products on Amazon. This parallel approach helped us to save time and keep momentum. For Amazon we utilized all visual materials created for the website, including product images and Enhanced Brand Content (EBC).

Web Design

New boosted online engine

As a first step we migrated the site to the new Shopify platform. It decreased the pages load time, improved checkout experience and reduced abandoned cart products. Further on we reconfigured the main page, made stronger product pages by adding enhanced brand content (EBC) to help communicate benefits.

The other objective we kept in mind was expanding the audience. We stratified it and determined major categories of customers. This data allowed us to create dedicated pages highlighting tart cherry concentrate features that important for a particular group of customers.

Considering that visitors seek an empathetic approach, we bid on providing comprehensive answers instead of serving them with ads.

Web Design

Brand awareness through family story told

Stanton Orchards has a strong brand position in the health-benefits marketplace. Company won the support of leading healthy grocers in the country who stock it, including Whole Foods, Natural Grocers, Spouts, and hundreds of other local healthy grocery chains and independents. Nevertheless on the way to marketing goals Stanton Orchards wanted to maintain the intimacy in communication with customers.

We’ve been asked how we can build trust and content foundation that will speak to even more consumers? The answer was to tell the story of the family brand. We’ve been provided with authentic photography to give a sense of how the farm was created and grown. To enhance this experience beyond the website Stanton Orchards planned to offer farm visits.

Product Imagery

Professional imagery gives an edge over the competition

We considered product images as the core aspects of Stanton Orchards e-commerce campaign. In addition to the mandatory main images we developed sets of lifestyle photography and informational graphics. They’ve been tested on a Shopify platform and further on implemented on Amazon marketplace. Our custom tailored approach to visual styles of imagery allowed us to authentically connect with targeted groups of audience on every step of the sales journey.

Enhanced Brand Content

Engaging visual content for stunning product

Having Shopify website live and products launched on Amazon we focused on strengthening positions of Stanton Orchards tart cherry concentrates on both e-commerce platforms. The best practice included Enhanced Brand Content implementation. We showcased the unique value proposition of products through advanced images and text placements. EBC allowed us to provide a branded shopping experience and as a result to boost conversion, increase traffic and sales.

Marketing

Optimized Amazon storefront that sells

The final step in establishing a cohesive e‑commerce campaign was the Stanton Orchards Amazon storefront. This branded site within Amazon marketplace allowed us to showcase all products in a single location. Larger blocks with lifestyle photography were intended to help customers envision themselves enjoying the company’s products. Smaller grids were ideal for messaging product features addressed to different groups of customers in a compact space. As a collateral marketing material we designed a printed insert that was placed in packages and promoted the subscription program.