We’ve gotten a lot of compliments on the ease of use of our new website and just the overall presentation.
Austin Collins,
Co-Founder and CMO, 5Strands Affordable Testing
The Problem
Having originally built their website on WooCommerce, 5Strands Affordable Testing was limited by the template and apps available to customize their experience, which stopped them from further growing their market share and building loyalty in their customer base with a branded eCommerce experience. Small changes and custom updates to the website would also take WooCommerce weeks to manage, hindering 5Strands growth plans and timelines.
While their Amazon business was flourishing, the reliance 5Strands felt on the marketplace to provide the bulk of their business concerned them. Instead of working with “out of the box” web providers, Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer Austin Collins was looking for an option that would be mobile-responsive, easy-to-update, and be adaptable as his business grew.
Growing Pains
Unreliable web support: WooCommerce was not as helpful or responsive to changes in a timely manner.
Migration hesitancy: 5Strands was hesitant about moving all of their information, integrations, and customers to a new platform.
Customization roadblocks: Updates and customizations were difficult and time-consuming on WooCommerce.
The Relationship
One of 5Strands biggest fears in moving to a new provider was exactly that: the move. With an already established customer base, payment pathways, and product resources, the 5Strand team didn’t want long hours of downtime. But with X-Cart migration experts, the transition was smooth.
“X-Cart went above my expectation in terms of ease of transfer. I thought the transition from the old website to the new one was good—SEO, link transfers, everything. I wasn’t worried about the website going down during the transfer, and I think the entire process was managed really, really well.” — Austin
In addition, X-Cart made it easy to create a memorable mobile experience for their customers. While implementing the perfect cocktail of design updates, UX/UI design, and workflow was a time-consuming process, the customization options available to 5Strand will be a significant contributor to the holistic health company moving forward.
“We didn’t initially have a mobile precedent or a user-friendly mobile experience at all. So I didn’t recognize from a development stance how unique that was. With over 50% of our customers coming from mobile, having mobile-friendly experiences, especially when you’re doing advertising on Google, Facebook, and Instagram, was our biggest improvement.” — Austin
I didn’t want a basic website. There’s a lot of Shopify’s out there for people who are doing impulse buys that are $10 here, $20 a year, but I’m running a business. We’re not a pop-up shop on Instagram that you see for two weeks and then disappears. I wanted to build a foundation. So the fact that I knew X-Cart could do just about anything I needed it to was everything I needed. I needed to have the ease of expansion and growth available at my fingertips, and X-Cart was the choice that didn’t hinder my business for future development opportunities.
Austin Collins,
Co-Founder and CMO, 5Strands Affordable Testing
The Future With X-Cart
The next steps? Continuing to bring the vision of 5Strands.com to life.
With the tools to “basically do anything with the website,” 5Strands is now focusing on improving their organic impressions, driving customers to their own website, and figuring out what will be the next customization made to improve the buyer experience. From start to finish, the website was completed in less than four months, thanks to the X-Cart customer experience.
“The clear and open communication was a game-changer. X-Cart does an excellent job responding to emails, questions, and tickets. They’re very organized and structured. I loved the team environment as well. They utilize an open support system, so I didn’t feel handicapped like other web development companies. Instead of one rep, I’ve got access to a bigger team and no limitation on what I can get done.” — Austin
