The brief
Yandles offers a comprehensive range of woodworking tools, machinery, and hardwood timber, alongside a historic sawmill, arts & crafts store, gift shop, and onsite café – all in one destination.
Yandles came to us with a need for a full rebuild of their ecommerce site www.yandles.co.uk. With their main goal being that the website needs to represent the whole company, whilst maintaining the ecommerce dominance. They wanted to be seen as a destination and the website needed to show that Yandles was also a physical destination.
Design
The redesigned website improves accessibility, making it easier for all users to navigate and interact. Clear layouts and structured content enhance readability, while high-contrast colour schemes and well-chosen fonts ensure text remains legible across all devices. These improvements create a more user-friendly experience.
Imagery now plays a more effective role in showcasing Yandles’ offerings. High-quality photos highlight the woodworking tools, timber, and machinery, as well as the historic sawmill and onsite stores. This better use of visuals provides a clearer representation of what Yandles offers, improving engagement and usability.
The website also places greater emphasis on Yandles’ social media presence and events. Dedicated sections now make it easier for visitors to stay updated on upcoming events, promotions, and community activities. Integrated social media feeds ensure that the latest news and updates are easily accessible, helping to connect online visitors with Yandles’ wider community.
Development
The project began with the setup of the website on WordPress and WooCommerce, establishing a strong foundation for the ecommerce experience. The homepage was designed based on the agreed-upon prototype with additional feedback, and we then moved on to the development of various key pages built using page builders patterns for easy page development for the client. These pages were built to ensure that the site was functional and informational, providing customers with all necessary information about Yandles’ products, services, and history.
A major component of the project was the development and integration of several custom features to meet the specific needs of Yandles. The Custom Svelte Timber Calculator was built to allow users to accurately calculate their timber needs, providing an easy experience for customers purchasing their bespoke timber online.
Additionally, advanced shipping options were implemented including Click & Collect to make sure each product was shipped with the correct courier and the options available are clear to the customers.
We also developed custom order statuses and automated email notifications to ensure both the Yandles team and customers were kept up to date on the progress of each order. This functionality reduces confusion and ensures that customers always know the status of their orders and order are internally managed correctly.
The implementation of Khaos Control via a custom API integration allowed the Yandles team to manage stock more efficiently. This integration ensured real-time updates on stock levels, making it easier to track inventory and fulfil orders accurately.
To enhance the payment process, we integrated several payment gateways, including PayPal, Klarna, and Dojo, offering customers a variety of secure and trusted payment methods. These integrations helped to ensure that the checkout process was straightforward and flexible for different customer preferences.
The Trade functionality was implemented to offer special pricing for registered trade customers, allowing them to access the products they need at discounted rates all controlled via Khaos Control.
As part of the website migration, we facilitated the smooth transfer of customer and order data from the old system to WooCommerce.
Additionally, the Google Product Feed was integrated into the site, ensuring that Yandles’ products were automatically updated across Google’s shopping platform, increasing visibility and driving traffic to the site.