A custom designed ecommerce website for a Japanese glass maker business tapping into the Australian market.
The Clients Brief
HARIO is one of the world’s oldest glass manufacturers, founded in Japan 100 years ago. HARIO reached out to Masters of Digital as they entered the Australian market and wanted to partner with a local Australian web designer, to create a brand new online store that truly reflected their Japanese origins and global branding. An important part of the scope was ecommerce integration with their Global ERP system.
As part of their brief, they wanted to showcase their new collections and put an emphasis on customer engagement. HARIO also required a separate login and pricing system for wholesale customers.
How We Helped
We began with a website planning session with Hario’s key personnel. Our team took many notes as we learned the fascinating history of the Hario brand, such as their origins, products manufacturer and target audience. We reviewed Hario’s international websites to plan all the elements and functionality required in Australia.
HARIO wanted a custom API integration from their Ecount ERP system to WooCommerce so orders and stock levels were synced. Prior to beginning the project, we contacted Ecount, and discovered no previous integration had been done with WooCommerce before. Our developer was up for the challenge.
We then began with a website concept, ensuring that all the information from the planning meeting was incorporated into the design and structure of their Australian website, whilst paying homage the their existing websites and brand guidelines. Along with exclusive product category pages and individual collection pages. Whilst our UI/UX designer was creating the concept, our developer began work in a staging environment getting the API integration ready.
HARIO feedback on our first website concept was very positive and only required a few minor tweaks, and that’s when their WordPress website’s development began. We created sections of the website dedicated to recommended products, product categories, as well as a news section right on the homepage as well as having a dedicated page. We cleansed the data on their spreadsheets, getting them ready for a mass import into WooCommerce. Each product albeit simple or variable was manually proofed by our designer, making sure each product image was perfectly presented and all product attributes were correct.
We made sure each collection HARIO sells was displayed on every page through images, as well as having featured HARIO products displayed on the homepage through a carousel system.
To outline the heritage and importance of HARIO, we have also made sure to include links to their other websites to make customers aware that Hario is a trusted international brand, their about page also contains detailed information about their rich history.
To minimise the number of general enquiries HARIO might receive, we have also created an FAQ section where all the most commonly asked questions can be found & answered.
Overall, HARIO was really pleased with their Australian website and also mentioned how
