Ever since October 2016, we are pleased to count Weba’s online furniture store as one of our closest collaborations. A partnership that characterizes itself in challenging each other and gaining amazing results, together. Over the years, we have delivered a wide range of services, including the development and maintenance of their Magento webshop as well as managing their online marketing campaigns.
Continuously improving performance, user experience and introducing new features, Weba has now taken the next step: migrating to the Hÿva theme. And now it’s time to share results and inspire other shop owners to take the leap.
Why should you care about performance as a shop owner?
The Importance of Speed
To put it simple: Website performance directly impacts sales. An end user will buy from an ecommerce platform when the experience is fast & frictionless. The better the performance, the higher the conversion.
Studies conducted by Google show the relationship between loading times & the chance of bounces.
Bounces tend to increase, compared to a shop with a 1 second loading time, to +32% and even a staggering +90% bounce rates for respectively 3 and 5 second loading times. When it comes to potentially missed revenue, every second counts.
Another study conducted by Portent concludes that conversion rates are three times higher when pages load in 1 second, compared to a 5 second loading time.
Faster webshops not only keep a customer engaged, they also enhance the experience, encouraging customers to finalize their purchase
Performance and customer expectations
Today’s consumers demand fast, reliable websites. Every (millisecond) counts: a 100-millisecond delay can drop conversion rates by 7% (Akamai). Slow sites lead to frustration and lost sales, while fast experiences build trust, encourage purchases, and foster loyalty.
Replacing the Luma theme with the Hyvä frontend: speed and efficiency
With performance and speed as key goals of this project, let’s have a look at what we achieved.
The transition from a Luma-based theme to a Hyvä-based theme for the modern furniture shop delivered notable improvements across key performance metrics:
- Web transaction times: average decrease from 850 milliseconds to just 600 milliseconds (-30%). Reduced database activity: from 2 million queries to just 100.000 an hour (-95%)
. Page loading times are 30 to 50 percent faster.
The time it takes for the main content to appear (LCP) is down to 1.97 seconds from 2.81 seconds, and the time for smooth interactivity (INP) has improved from 180ms to 140ms. In short, users enjoy quicker visuals and smoother interactions, even during busy times.
- Other notable improvements: time to first interaction is now 5.8 seconds, down from 7.3 seconds.
Full page load time has dropped to 1.5 seconds from 2.5 seconds.While some backend performance improvements can be attributed to the upgrade from PHP 8.1 to PHP 8.3, Hyvä also plays a critical role in these achievements. Its lightweight framework and reduced reliance on JavaScript contribute to both server and frontend efficiencies, ensuring a harmonious blend of technology upgrades.
In summary, the shift to a Hyvä-based theme has not only revitalized the technical backbone of the shop but has also delivered tangible benefits to the end-user experience. Faster load times, reduced server strain, and a more responsive interface are all testaments to the success of this transition, setting a strong foundation for future growth and scalability.
Some nerdy numbers
Since its launch in February 2017, Weba’s webshop has undergone seven upgrades to newer Magento versions.
Our work on Weba’s webshop has yielded impressive numbers:
- Development Start: 4 October 2016
- Launch: 6 February 2017 (after just 6 months of development)
- Git Commits: 7,726 commits from start to present
- Production Deploys: 1,402, of which 1,221 were successful and 181 faced challenges 🙂
- Number of Developers: 15 developers actively contributed
These figures not only showcase the scale of the project but also our dedication to quality and continuous improvement.
Some insights on their online growth path
Since the start of our collaboration we have seen this evolution for Weba’s online sales :
The key to this successful collaboration
Next to the excellence of the work delivered, there’s more to the success of Weba.be:
- Working towards mutual and crystal clear goals helps us measure success easily.
- The two teams constantly challenging each other makes sure that we do the right thing at the right time, at all times.
- Transparent, structured & continuous communication between Weba & Baldwin with clear roles & expectations of everyone involved.
- Constant measuring of performance & proactivity from both sides ensures we stay on top of things and have the right priorities.
With a solid foundation and a proven track record, we look forward to continuing our collaboration with Weba and uplifting each other even more. Whether it involves further optimizing their webshop or supporting their marketing efforts, we remain committed to helping Weba grow and excel.
Are you also interested in innovative solutions for your e-commerce platform? Feel free to contact us; we’re happy to think along with you!
