“Grafikr has transformed our website from a webshop to a universe”

It started with a simple clean-up. It ended with a whole new design that merges offline and online.

Let me set the scene for you:

It is the end of 2022. Things are heating up at Bahne.

They are in the process of finding the agency that will take their online presence from a lukewarm affair to a steaming cup of [insert your own favorite coffee drink].

“We needed to bring someone onto the team who knew what they were talking about – and who understood our business. With so many physical stores, each with a clearly defined universe, and a huge assortment that needed to be transferred online, we knew it was going to be a complex task.”

– Michelle Morais, E-commerce Manager at Bahne

Both you and I now know that Bahne ended up choosing us as their partner – and they did so for 3 main reasons:

1. They wanted Shopify experts.
2. They wanted to be challenged.
3. Most importantly: They wanted an agency that could handle a complex business with a broad target audience – and help bridge the gap between online and physical stores.

But as you will discover, it was also a learning process for us.

Enough about that – let us get back to the fun part:

When we started our collaboration with Bahne, we quickly agreed on what needed to be done. We set up a structure for the project and were ready to get down to business.

But, as Michelle Morais, the E-commerce Manager at Bahne, says, they were also looking for a partner who could challenge them.

And, honestly, we were so caught up in the untapped potential that we could not focus on the big picture.

So what was supposed to be a “simple” defined task instead became a redesign of the entire site.

"It wasn't the original plan, but it also says a lot about the collaboration itself. At GRAFIKR, a task isn't just a task – they approach it critically, ask questions, and come up with ideas. And then, the task just grew."

– Michelle Morais, E-commerce Manager at Bahne

Fortunately, we did not face any slammed doors or sour faces when we pitched a somewhat different concept than the one we had already established. Bahne could fortunately see exactly what we saw.

"We realized that if GRAFIKR was going to clean up a messy code anyway, we might as well fix some of the nice things we’d been eyeing for a long time."

– Michelle Morais, E-commerce Manager at Bahne

But, of course… Bahne is a complex case. So, it was not without its challenges.

Here are the 5 biggest challenges:

• A scalable foundation that truly matches Bahne's needs.
• Coherence between the store and online – both functionally and aesthetically.
• Cleaning up outdated code and quick fixes.
• A design that appeals to both Jytte, 67, and Olivia, 17.
• Efficient and automated product and search suggestions.

Okay. That is what we were working with at the beginning of 2023. Let us take a look at how we went about it.

Out with the sledgehammer – it was time to break down the barrier between the store and the webshop.

Okay, so we started with a big cleanup – one that Marie Kondo would be proud of.

We changed both technologies and the overall structure. And it was a good bit of trial and error until we hit on the best solution.

Once the foundation was in place, it was time for the fun part:

Creating a natural connection between their physical stores and online universe.

Because it just was not there. Neither in design nor function.

“It was important for us to create synergy between e-commerce and our stores.”

– Michelle Morais, E-commerce Manager at Bahne

So, once the e-commerce foundation was set, we focused our efforts on the massive potential Bahne had in omnichannel.

For Bahne, this meant initiatives that might seem “small” (or at least extremely natural) to the user – but actually require a lot of hard work behind the scenes.

Some of the things we did to ensure consistency across channels were:

• Gift cards that can be redeemed both online and in-store.
• Click and collect.
• New colors, new components, and layouts – both digitally and physically – to create one unified universe.
• Implementing Algolia to manage merchandising, filtering, and recommendations.

“Grafikr has transformed our site from being a webshop to being a universe. Now our webshop is a natural extension of the unique experience you get in our stores.”

- Michelle Morais, E-commerce manager at Bahne

And I just want to give Bahne (and ourselves) a huge pat on the back: Bahne is fantastic to work with because they are ready to push boundaries – and it truly is exciting to go to work when you get to develop one of the only real Click and Collect solutions in the world within Shopify.

“It’s been a collaborative project from start to finish, so we don’t feel like we’re doing it alone. We work together, and it was important for us to bring on a partner who was 110 percent committed, and Grafikr has really been that.”

– Michelle Morais, E-commerce Manager at Bahne

A unified universe ensures a foundation for long-term success... Bahne

“When we launched our new site, the foundation was even stronger - and most importantly, we unified our digital and physical universe.”

- Michelle Morais, E-commerce manager at Bahne

Today, Bahne has their own dedicated team here at Grafikr - this not only makes communication easier but also gives the team a deep understanding of the products, goals, strategy, and challenges. And as Lasse, our Head of Sales, says, this is how you build the foundation for long-term success at Bahne.

To summarize:

Bahne now has a complete experience - from store to online, catering to everything from clumsy thumbs to digital natives. And a product range of over 20,000 items.

And no, it was not easy. And no, we are by no means done yet.

But the foundation, for everything we are going to refine and improve in the future, is there - and I would really just recommend you take a look at their new site.

We are extremely proud of the result. But we will leave the praise to Michelle (after all, we still are, at least a little, humble).