Over 50 Years Of Expertise - WooCommerce Store

Industry leader with over 50 years of expertise

A laptop showcases an e-commerce website with the headline "Faux Real Luxury Florals." The screen reveals a light and elegant interior adorned with floral arrangements, all powered by WooCommerce. The sleek device is set against a plain black background.

Client

NDI

Year

2024

Services we provided

Technical Audit

Web Development

Website

www.ndi.com

NDI, a leader in faux floral arrangements, has revolutionized the industry with over 50 years of expertise. Renowned for their lifelike designs, NDI’s creations are sought after by top-tier residential and commercial designers, as well as prominent furniture and department stores.

Featured in elite publications like Elle Decor and VERANDA, their commitment to quality and unparalleled service has set a new standard in decorative florals, blending artistry with meticulous attention to detail in every piece crafted and shipped.

Collage of six web pages showcasing floral arrangements, seamlessly blending e-commerce functionality. Each image presents diverse styles, from bouquets to potted plants, all within bright, minimalist designs featuring product thumbnails and descriptions perfect for a WooCommerce platform.

Unique Aspect of the Project  

Here’s where things got really interesting – parallel development. Now, imagine running a busy e-commerce store where every click matters, where downtime isn’t an option, and yet, you know the entire site needs a major overhaul. That’s where we came in with a solution that was as practical as it was innovative.

Instead of waiting until the whole site was redesigned, we developed a new template alongside the existing one. 

By developing page by page, we could test everything thoroughly, fix issues as they arose, and ensure a seamless transition when the time comes for the full launch. This method not only avoided downtime but allowed us to tackle technical debt head-on – eliminating old, clunky features while adding sleek, modern functionality.

The decision to build the new template in parallel while keeping the same WordPress instance and shared database minimized the risk of server complications. This method kept the infrastructure simple yet effective.

Project Timeline

Every great project begins with a simple conversation, and our journey with NDI was no different. It all started late last year with a comprehensive Code Audit of their online store. 


We were immediately struck by the potential the site had but also aware of the challenges it faced. By July, we were ready to tackle the heavy lifting – rewriting the entire template, one page at a time.

It’s been a thrilling ride ever since, with new improvements rolling out.

A smartphone display shows a flower shopping app powered by e-commerce. The screen features a top banner with a floral bouquet and options to buy orchids, peonies, and roses. Convenient filter and view buttons enhance the shopping experience.

Our Objective  

Our mission was simple but ambitious: build a faster, more flexible website that not only worked well for today but could grow and evolve with NDI’s future needs. We weren’t just tweaking an old system; we were giving it new life. A faster website would lead to better engagement, lower bounce rates, and, in the end, more sales.

Client’s Challenge 

The initial engagement was to conduct an audit. The main issues identified were:

– An outdated PHP version and non-updated WordPress environment.

– Poor PSI performance due to a pre-purchased theme, which limited optimization potential.

– As the client initiated marketing campaigns, they needed their website modified for better performance and speed.


When NDI kicked off new marketing campaigns, the need for a faster, better website became crystal clear. Our recommendation was to rebuild the site using a new template rather than attempting to patch the current one – a step that would not only boost speed but also simplify future modifications.

Two overlapping floral catalog pages in an e-commerce format. The left page showcases white flower drop-ins in vases with descriptions, while the right highlights red and white arrangements in various vase styles. A partial header image suggests a seamless woocommerce browsing experience.

Project Phases

  • We started by setting up a clean WordPress installation. To ensure compatibility, we created a small Proof of Concept (PoC), which we tested on two default themes (Twenty Twenty-Three and Twenty Twenty-Two) alongside WooCommerce. This was a crucial first step because WooCommerce often introduces conflicts with custom themes or plugins. By using the default WordPress themes, we could confirm that there were no initial issues or conflicts before moving forward.
  • Once we verified that the basic setup was functioning correctly, we configured the single product page to load using the Twenty Twenty-Three theme. This was important because we wanted to ensure that the product pages (a critical part of NDI’s e-commerce site) would display correctly without issues. During this phase, we encountered no problems, confirming that the setup was stable for product display.
  • In the next phase, we moved everything to NDI’s development environment, where we started facing a few challenges. Specifically, we found that some file paths were trying to load from the child theme instead of the new theme we were working with. This issue hadn’t appeared in our earlier tests because we initially tested on default templates that didn’t involve any custom child theme settings. The child theme had certain configurations specific to the previous setup, which we hadn’t considered in our earlier testing phase.
  • To resolve this, we wrote custom filters. These filters redirected paths to the correct theme (Juniper, instead of the child theme), ensuring that assets like CSS and JavaScript files were being loaded from the right sources. This was a key technical solution that allowed us to continue working without disrupting the functionality of the site. By implementing this fix, we ensured that the website would load correctly with the new theme and avoid any missing assets or broken layouts.
  • Another challenge was that the menu items weren’t displaying correctly in the new theme. In the previous child theme, the menus were registered in a way that wasn’t compatible with the new theme. We had to manually re-register the menus in the Juniper theme so that they would load from the correct location in the WordPress dashboard. Without this step, the menus wouldn’t appear on product pages, which are essential for navigation on an e-commerce site. This was a necessary fix to maintain a smooth user experience.
  • After completing the development work on the Juniper theme and thoroughly testing it in the development environment, we migrated the entire site to production. This is when the website goes live and is visible to customers. During this process, we made sure that everything was properly configured in the WordPress dashboard, so that NDI’s team could easily manage the site. This included verifying that menus, product pages, and other critical site elements were functioning as intended in the live environment.
Collage of six web pages showcasing floral arrangements, seamlessly blending e-commerce functionality. Each image presents diverse styles, from bouquets to potted plants, all within bright, minimalist designs featuring product thumbnails and descriptions perfect for a WooCommerce platform.

Solution we implemented  

It started with choosing the right tools for the job and it allowed us to build the new template without any server infrastructure changes

The new template was based on our tried-and-true Juniper theme, a reliable foundation that gave us the flexibility to customize without compromise. 

Normally, in projects like this, we might suggest using a reverse proxy to direct traffic between different WordPress instances. But that wasn’t an option here because of the server configuration, and introducing complex infrastructure would have added unnecessary layers of complication.

Instead, we worked with the same WordPress instance and the same database, keeping things clean and straightforward. The result? A faster, more efficient site, all without the risk of major migrations or complex server adjustments.

A smartphone displaying an e-commerce website with various plant options. The screen shows product categories like eucalyptus, succulents, and magnolias. With a light green background and a white case, it seamlessly integrates WooCommerce for effortless shopping.

Challenges

Every project comes with its unique challenges, and NDI’s was no exception. One of the biggest hurdles we faced was the theme structure we inherited, which was not implemented according to best practices. This required us to step in and carefully manage various elements, including script paths, to ensure that every page worked seamlessly. While it was a complex technical challenge, our team was more than equipped to handle it, ensuring the site was set up for smooth future development.

Scalability and Future-Proofing  

The previous template made even minor modifications costly and difficult. By rewriting the template, we ensured that future updates and changes could be handled more efficiently, making the site more scalable and easier to maintain.

Results

The full transformation isn’t live yet, and we’re confident that once it is, the results will speak for themselves. Faster load times, lower bounce rates, and reduced costs on ad campaigns – these are just a few of the benefits we expect to see once the new site is fully launched.We’ve already seen improvements in PageSpeed Insights based on the work we’ve done so far, and once the full site is live, we’re excited to see just how much further we can push it.

Key Learnings  

This project reinforced one of our core beliefs: parallel development can be a game-changer. By building the new site while the old one was still running, we were able to minimise risk, optimise performance, and deliver a smoother experience for NDI’s customers. It’s a strategy we’ll continue to use in future projects where timing and performance are key.

Is there a project on your horizon? Brief us in!

Let us know when you’re free, and we’ll schedule a short intro meeting online. You tell us about your project, we will ask questions, you will ask questions and max. 30 minutes later, we will know if we’re the right fit.

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