Case Study - Building a Smarter Shopify Store for a Complex Product Catalog

The Situation Before Our Intervention

Emporio Di Antonio is a growing eCommerce business offering specialized equipment and tools across a variety of industries—from construction to barbecue. Despite their solid catalog and brand recognition, their Shopify store wanted some improvements,First, their product pages lacked key functionality—there was no way to display fulfillment times per item, styling was inconsistent (e.g., prices not bolded), and trust-building elements like review badges were missing entirely. These small gaps collectively weakened the store’s visual clarity and conversion potential.Analytics was another blind spot. They wanted to transition from GA3 to GA4. While GA3 was natively integrated with Shopify, GA4—introduced later—required manual implementation through custom code. Google Tag Manager had to be reconfigured, and there were no reliable conversion or behavior events being tracked. We manually re-tracked all core events, such as page views, add to cart, checkout initiation, and final purchase. Some products required manual quoting rather than direct purchase, but there was no dedicated flow to support this distinction—leading to customer confusion and missed leads. Finally, the backend was messy. Their SEO was outdated, with canonical and pagination errors, duplicate tag pages, and leftover Google Tag Manager events cluttering their analytics. On top of that, the theme was outdated and littered with conflicting customizations, putting the site at risk of breaking during updates. Even something as simple as searching by SKU didn’t work, which was frustrating for returning or B2B customers who knew exactly what they were looking for.

Solving the Problems

To future-proof their platform and support scalable growth, we executed a full-spectrum analysis across design, performance, analytics, and usability—and implemented all necessary changes and updates accordingly.

1. Custom Code Enhancements

   We implemented a set of small but high-impact tweaks that significantly improved the shopping experience:

   • Fulfillment times now display dynamically per product using tagged data

   • eShoppingAdvisor review badges were integrated across the site (header, product, and collection pages)

   • Product prices were styled to improve visual hierarchy and readability

   • We also resolved a number of front-end bugs that were affecting site stability

2. Google Tag Manager Setup & Event Tracking

   We established a clean GTM installation from the ground up, with only the relevant events:

   • Tracked purchase events, product views, add-to-carts, and user behavior

   • Cleaned up legacy and deprecated tags to streamline performance and accuracy

3. Quote-Only Product Flow

   For items that couldn’t be bought directly:

   • We developed a dedicated product template that replaces the add-to-cart flow with a custom contact form

   • Product cards across the site were visually updated to indicate a “Request a Quote” status, preventing confusion and improving UX

4. Store Cleanup & SEO Optimization

   We carried out a deep cleanup and optimization of the store's SEO and structure:

   • Canonical tag and pagination fixes to prevent duplicate content

   • Noindex logic applied to low-value pages where appropriate

   • Full performance audit followed by removal of unused legacy code

5. Theme Upgrade & Custom Code Refactor

   We migrated the store to a newer, cleaner version of the theme and:

   • Consolidated custom code to eliminate conflicts

   • Ensured update safety and long-term maintainability

6. Predictive SKU-Based Search

   To enhance search for repeat and B2B customers, we extended the native search functionality to include SKU values, allowing users to find exact products with speed and precision

Outcome

Our intervention led to a measurably better site—both in performance and user experience:

• Higher Trust & Professionalism

  With dynamic fulfillment times, trust badges, and better styling, the store now communicates credibility and reliability at first glance

• Data-Driven Marketing Enabled

  With GTM and full event tracking in place, the client can now make informed decisions and measure campaign ROI with precision

• Smooth Experience for Quote-Based Products

  Custom templates and product card tweaks delivered a seamless flow for non-standard products, turning a limitation into a conversion opportunity

• SEO Clean-Up That Supports Growth

  Fixing technical SEO issues improved crawl efficiency, reduced duplicate content, and laid the groundwork for stronger organic performance

• Better Site Speed & Code Stability

  The theme upgrade and refactored code resulted in a faster, cleaner storefront that's easier to maintain over time

• Smarter Product Search

  B2B and repeat customers can now use SKUs directly in search, improving usability and reducing frustration

The Key Takeaway

Small technical details add up fast—especially in a store with a large catalog and diverse product types. For Emporio Di Antonio, we didn’t just “fix bugs”—we built a cleaner, smarter, and more scalable foundation for long-term growth. The real win? A Shopify store that works smarter, looks sharper, and sells better.

Results: Enhanced trust, accurate analytics, streamlined quoting, stronger SEO, and a cleaner, faster storefront.

Services provided