Powering Uncart’s Vision with a Scalable, High-Performance E-Commerce Platform

Uncart launched in 2022 with a mission to replace single-use plastics with beautifully designed, reusable home and personal care products. Targeting eco-conscious millennials and Gen Z consumers, the brand quickly gained traction on social media but struggled to convert traffic into sales due to a clunky, non-responsive website built on a basic WooCommerce setup. As Uncart prepared for a Series A funding round and national retail expansion, leadership recognized that their digital storefront was undermining their premium brand positioning and operational efficiency.

Challenges & Objectives

Key Challenges:

• Poor mobile experience (70% of traffic, <1% conversion)
• Manual order/inventory sync causing fulfillment delays
• No personalized product recommendations or dynamic content
• Weak SEO foundation and slow page speeds hurting organic visibility
• Inability to run A/B tests or track granular user behavior

Project Goals:

1. Build a scalable, brand-aligned storefront on a future-proof platform
2. Reduce cart abandonment by ≥40%
3. Achieve sub-2-second load times across all devices
4. Automate order, inventory, and customer data workflows
5. Increase overall conversion rate to ≥4.5% within 6 months

Our Solution: A Strategic, User-Centric Build

Phase 1: Discovery & Architecture (2 Weeks)

• Conducted user journey mapping and competitive analysis of top DTC brands (e.g., Grove Collaborative, Blueland)
• Recommended Shopify Plus for scalability, reliability, and native DTC features
• Designed a headless frontend using Hydrogen + Oxygen for blazing-fast performance and flexible content delivery
• Integrated Sanity.io as a headless CMS for marketing teams to update product stories, sustainability impact data, and blog content without developer dependency

Phase 2: UX/UI Design (3 Weeks)

• Created a minimalist, earth-toned design system reflecting Uncart’s “calm sustainability” ethos
• Streamlined checkout to 2 steps with Shop Pay, Apple Pay, and PayPal Express
• Implemented sticky add-to-cart bars, dynamic bundle builders (“Complete Your Routine”), and post-purchase upsells
• Designed mobile-first PWA (Progressive Web App) for app-like experience on smartphones

Phase 3: Development & Integration (7 Weeks)

• Built custom Shopify theme with performance optimization (lazy loading, image compression, critical CSS inlining)
• Integrated key systems:
  • Klaviyo for behavioral email flows
  • Gorgias for unified customer support
  • Cin7 Core for real-time inventory sync across DTC + wholesale channels
  • Loox for photo reviews and UGC
• Developed a custom “Impact Tracker” showing CO2/water saved per purchase
• Implemented full Google Analytics 4 + Segment data pipeline for cohort analysis

Phase 4: QA, Launch & Optimization (2 Weeks)

• Conducted cross-browser/device testing, Lighthouse audits, and load testing (simulating 10K concurrent users)
• Trained Uncart’s internal team on CMS, Shopify admin, and analytics dashboards
• Launched with zero downtime using phased DNS cutover

Results & Business Impact

Beyond metrics, Uncart reported:

• Faster time-to-market for new product launches (from 2 weeks to 2 days)
• Reduced customer service tickets by 40% due to clearer product info and automated tracking
• Successful Series A close ($4.2M) with investors citing the new platform as a key growth enabler