Skip to main content
Logo Brennholz Rühl

Seamless transition from brick-and-mortar to eCommerce

Seamless transition from brick-and-mortar to eCommerce
Sectors

Retail

Know–How

Branding
E-Commerce
UX/UI Design

Deliverables

Brand Strategy
Conceptual Design
Local SEO

Sectors

Retail

Know–How

Branding
E-Commerce
UX/UI Design

Deliverables

Brand Strategy
Conceptual Design
Local SEO

The Rühl family reached out to WhizzByte to turn their dull website into a modern and user-friendly online shop.
Brennholz Rühl is a local family business that delivers sustainably sourced firewood to customers. Established by a father-son farmer duo, the business has grown greatly over the course of 10 years, gaining many loyal customers. With the new webshop, the family aims to expand their business and become a popular brand associated with quality and sustainability.
The Rühl family reached out to WhizzByte to turn their dull website into a modern and user-friendly online shop.
Brennholz Rühl is a local family business that delivers sustainably sourced firewood to customers. Established by a father-son farmer duo, the business has grown greatly over the course of 10 years, gaining many loyal customers. With the new webshop, the family aims to expand their business and become a popular brand associated with quality and sustainability.

Context

Limited customer base and impractical sales process

Although Brennholz Rühl already had many loyal customers, the customer base did not grow organically, comprising mainly local elderly residents. The existing website was outdated and the orders were mainly processed via phone, paper notes, and cash payment. With a modern webshop, Brennholz Rühl intends to reach a younger audience and improve the sales process.

Objectives

Automation of the ordering and payment process

In order to optimize the ordering and payment processes, WhizzByte has fully automated the invoice processing and the calculation of the travel costs by delivery zones. Considering the increasing trend of mobile-first, we optimized the site for mobile devices.

Strategy

Acquiring customers through price transparency

Initial market research has shown that the firewood industry is prone to volatility in prices. To avoid unfavorable price movements for Brennholz Rühl visitors, WhizzByte has designed the website on the principle of transparency, featuring exactly what the customer gets for a given price.

.

.

Process & Insight

Maximum efficiency approach

WhizzByte works closely with its clients to assure delivering the best possible results regarding cost and time. To that end, we define project milestones jointly with the client and implement them upon approval. This approach has proven to be effective because our clients always know what they getwithout surprises. Consequently, revision loops are reduced to a minimum.

market research audience insights

1. Market Research
(Audience Insights)

Brand Positioning Statement

2. Positioning
(Brand Positioning Statement)

Wireframe Website

3. UX/UI Design
(Wireframe Desktop & Mobile Website)

WooCommerce Shipping Zones

4. WooCommerce Setup
(Shipping Zones by Postcodes)

Google My Business Brennholz Rühl

5.1 Local SEO
(Google My Business)

Google My Business Customer Searches

5.2 Local SEO
(Google My Business)

Google My Business Searches customer actions

5.3 Local SEO
(Google My Business)

Flyer Print Marketing

6.1 Print Marketing
(Flyer Din A5)

Social Media ad

6.2 Social Media Marketing
(Facebook Ad)

1. Brand Interview & Market Research

In the initial phase of the project we defined the potential challenges, the desired outcomes, and the ways to achieve them. Subsequently, we conducted an in-depth market analysis using market-leading SEO tools to determine potential solutions as well as steps to achieve them.

2. Positioning

For a webshop to attract the visitor’s attention, the main focus should be placed on the product features. To do this, we highlighted the qualities of the products and eliminated potential doubts by taking into account the relevant purchase criteria obtained from market research and customer interviews.

The purchase decision is closely linked to the customer’s feelings. As sustainability is an issue addressed in our client’s business model, we ensured it is highlighted on Brennholz Rühl website, thus attracting visitors concerned with buying sustainably sourced products. Additionally, we put forward the origin story of Brennholz Rühl and its deeply rooted family values to ensure connection with potential customers.

To make online shopping more attractive, we also added a 5% discount automatically to the shopping cart of newly registered customers when they place their first order. 

In addition, we have anticipated potential questions new and existing customers might have and designed an intuitive and informative FAQ section.

3. UX/UI Design

Considering the fact that the Rühl family puts a lot of emphasis on sustainability and feels very close to nature, we chose earthy colors to reflect the family’s values across all touchpoints (emails, invoices, etc.). We also gave the logo a fresh new look, designed custom icons, and selected a typeface that would match the characteristics of the products, i.e., wood, in a subtle way.

4. Web Design & Development

In order to meet the needs of our client to be able to manage the webshop cost-efficiently, we built the shop on the basis of WooCommerce and used an established theme builder. 

To keep plug-in costs to a minimum, we have also manually set delivery zones via postcodes and minimum order quantities. Furthermore, customers are able to buy vouchers and check their balance, subscribe to newsletters, and make inquiries via a built-in contact form.

5. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

To provide exposure to a wider audience, we built a well thought-out local SEO strategy with the aim to enhance organic search results. To that end, we created and optimized our client’s Google My Business account. Additionally, we installed a plug-in that leads buyers to provide a review for the service they have obtained. To get valuable reviews, we also added a custom template with ideas for writing a review to get the most relevant keywords.

WhizzByte also incorporated OnPage SEO by identifying the most frequently researched keywords and incorporating them in the website copy. Additional techniques include page speed optimization and emotional direct response copywriting regarding the title and site descriptions displayed in the search engine result pages.

6. Additional Brand-Value Features

We added further value through:

  • Creating a Facebook fan page, thus enabling an additional communication channel with followers
  • Ensuring website compliance with GDPR (opt-in cookie banner, legal notice, privacy policy, general terms and conditions, email notices, etc.)
  • Managing Facebook ads (goal setting in Google Analytics, calculation of the ROI, CPC, etc.)
  • Designing flyers for stores
  • And much more…

Deliverables & Highlights

A general overhaul of the brand identity with a new logo

The mobile user base is growing in the recent period and with the smaller displays it is essential to have a recognizable logo. Since Brennholz Rühl’s wood is used for sustainable heating, we gave the flame a green color, thus ensuring a higher level of brand awareness compared to the generic logos on the market.

Logo Design Showcase
Logo Design Showcase
e-commcerce iconography
webshop ui design elements

Subtle and aesthetic elements

As it was clear from the very start that the company strives to connect with customers via many touchpoints, we focused on designing subtle elements of style that would be associated with the Brennholz Rühl brand beyond the logo and the name.

Combining modern with traditional advertising

Online shopping is not everyone’s preference, especially not in the rural region where the Rühl family is based. To attract conservative people to the website, WhizzByte has worked on an alternative solution: we designed 1,000 flyers with discount QR Codes for the webshop and placed them in local shops. Additionally, we put an ad in a regional newspaper.

print marketing din a5 flyer print marketing flyer back 7465f669
print marketing din a5 flyer print marketing flyer back m b7e84d29

Authentic visual materials

To put forward traditional values, we had the Rühl family take photos of themselves and their products and then enhanced the material to fit the whole concept. In a market saturated with stock photos, WhizzByte chose to reflect Rühl’s innovativeness through authentic images. We edited and retouched the original images, giving them a more professional look.

firewood transparent background firewood
firewood transparent backgroundfirewood
trunk transparent background trunk
trunk transparent background trunk

Results.

Analytics Overview
E-Commerce analytics turnover
E-Commerce analytics turnover
e-commerce analytics
e-commerce analytics
e-commerce analytics
e-commerce analytics
e-commerce analytics
e-commerce analytics
SEO PageSpeed SCORES
GTmetrix website speed score
Google website speed score
Pingdom website speed score
SEO SITE AUDIT SCORES
Math Rank SEO site audit score
Ahrefs SEO site audit score
SEM Rush SEO site audit score
Neil Patel SEO site audit score
brennholz rühl logo

quotation mark WhizzByte is a young, dynamic, and very professional team that will meet all of your requirements. They helped us redesign our dull website, turning it to a modern, user-friendly, and highly-functional webshop. Timing was an essential aspect of our collaboration, and the WhizzByte team worked tirelessly to deliver before the firewood purchase season started. Most importantly, the team remained at our disposal for every additional question we had after the website launch.

Dominik Rühl,
Brennholz Rühl

astronaut illustration
You think we can help your business now?

Want to discover more awesome projects like this? Have a look through other projects developed by WhizzByte here.

Want to discover more awesome projects like this? Have a look through other projects developed by WhizzByte here.