Transatlantic logistics made easy – Shipzee.com
Shipzee is an unusual logistics project. It allows its customers to easily ship items from the US retailers to Europe without having to deal with complicated procedures: customs, additional taxes, couriers, etc. Users simply choose the product and Shipzee takes care of everything else.
Even though the service itself works great, the technical aspect of Shipzee's system was not up to par. This client came to us with a request to make their system work more efficiently, to implement good development practices like Scrum and CI/CD and to completely overhaul the UI/UX with a new design solution. Additionally, implemented changes should allow them to optimize the development costs of the project and increase the sales.
#CodeBase
rewritten
#UX/UI
redesigned
#Costs
reduced
#BackEnd
issues fixed
Task
Since the client was not satisfied by the development quality of the previous provider, we started this project with the Technical Audit and CRO Audit. It’s our standard procedures during which we inspect the client's system as it would be our own - we point to main technical pain points that need to be addressed. Also, we provide guidance on how the overall processes should be improved to make development more efficient.
The main problems that we identified were security vulnerabilities, inefficient UX/UI design and lack of good development practices in general. After discovering these weaknesses we decided to focus on three main areas that needed serious improvement:
To solve these problems we raised three main challenges:
1. Set a new stadard for code quality
Code quality needed to be improved to avoid security vulnerabilities and to increase performance
2. Completely redesign front-end
New UI solution was needed to provide better user experience and increase conversions
3. Implement good development practices
Good development practices like Scrum, CI/CD and testing were needed to improve system's performance and optimize costs
Solution
Delivered technical solutions
Developing a new front-end using Nuxt.js/Vue.js
Building a unified framework solution
Integrated LupaSearch solution to increase the speed and precision of product search
Migration to Google Cloud Platform and Kubernetes
Fixing critical back-end issues to improve system's security and performance
Core technologies:
Laravel, Nuxt.js, Vue.js, Kubernetes, Google Cloud
Core technologies:
Laravel, Nuxt.js, Vue.js, Kubernetes, Google Cloud
Design and user experience (UX/UI)
Shipzee needed a visual update since the old interface was starting to look dated and wasn’t conveying their message effectively. However, updating design elements according to modern visual practices is only one piece of the puzzle. To identify the main areas where potential sales were lost, we performed a CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization) audit.
We discovered that since Shipzee provides an unusual logistics service, it was hard for their visitors to grasp this concept quickly. The main challenge for the UX/UI team here was to explain the difference between Shipzee logistics service and a usual ecommerce store.
Justina
UX/UI Lead
Our key task was to make using Shipzee’s services easier. The main problem here was that an average customer didn’t really understand how the system works. The user journey was complicated and the existing site lacked proper design solutions to help users navigate it. For example, since the items were shipped from another continent the delivery times usually were longer than usual. It had to be explained before users made the final decision in order to avoid misunderstandings and potential disappointment
Implemented UX/UI design solutions:
Designed a completely new user interface
Created the main service landing page
Improved and shortened user’s journey
After analyzing the website visitors’ browsing data we identified the main pain points where Shipzee was losing its customers due to confusing experience. The key task here became improving the user UX/UI that were obstructing higher sales.
Main challenges
While it may not be noticeable at the beginning of the project, the absence of good development practices causes many challenges in the long term. This is what previously happened at Shipzee. Future-proofing this project became one of our main goals.
Vaidas
CTO
After auditing the Shipzee system we discovered that it had some serious vulnerabilities and overall code quality was not up to par with provided service. To solve it we have rewritten the code base and implemented good development practices such as CI/CD, Scrum and testing to avoid pitfalls like this in the future.
Results
What we've achieved
Improved platform's overall code quality
It helped to achieve higher system's security and performance
Completely redesigned UX/UI solution
Users we able to navigate the website easier and reach their goals faster
Established good practices of DevOps
The development and maintenance costs were lowered and system became more future-proof
Implementing these changes increased the Shipzee's system security and performance. At the same time solutions like moving the system to GCP and Kubernetes allowed Shipzee to lower their development and maintenance costs.
We have also designed a completely new UX/UI solution and front-end. It allowed users to understand an unusual logistics service better and place their orders more efficiently generating more revenue for the business.
Synergy of these solutions allowed Shipzee to improve their internal performance, lowered their development costs and provided system's users with fluid experience.
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