Why We Rebuilt a Client's WooCommerce Site to Craft Commerce

OutreachSupplies.org, a distributor of HIV tests and harm prevention supplies to clinics across the state, faced challenges with their existing WooCommerce-based system. They had multiple WooCommerce sites, each dedicated to their own funding source. Managing multiple sites led to inventory management issues, a fragmented reporting process, and a below average user experience. To address these issues, we rebuilt their system from the ground up with Craft Commerce, resulting in enhanced functionality, streamlined operations, and a modern look.

Challenges with the Previous WooCommerce System

Inventory Management Issues

Operating multiple WooCommerce sites made it nearly impossible to maintain accurate product inventory. The lack of a centralized database led to inefficiencies, confusing product management, and issues like inaccurately displaying items in or out of stock.

Fragmented Reporting Processes

Combining sales and order data from various sites into a single report was another challenge this client faced with their old system. The absence of a centralized database here again bites them and made it challenging to generate comprehensive sales reports.

Suboptimal User Experience

The WooCommerce system was a hodgepodge of plugin, patch code, and dated design. This lead to a very poor user experience overall. For instance the steps required to simply purchase an item was a limiting factor for users and caused confusion, frustration, and delays in getting essential healthcare items necessary for those clinics.

Dependency on Multiple Plugins

The WooCommerce setup relied heavily on numerous plugins to achieve desired functionalities. The system felt stitched together like it was held together with duct tape. This prevented anyone from attempting to update WooCommerce and increased the risk, security vulnerabilities, and compatibility issues when updating.

Transition to Craft Commerce:
A System Designed for Their Usage

Our Client came to us recognizing the need for a more robust and flexible platform to call home, after we gained insight on their issues we did our research and then felt confident that we could migrate OutreachSupplies.org to a Craft Commerce site. This transition offered several major benefits for them:

Centralized Inventory Management with Enhanced Funding Functionality

• Unified Inventory System: Craft Commerce's extendability allowed for the consolidation of products from their multiple WooCommerce sites into a single system, simplifying inventory tracking and stock management.

• Advanced Funding Allocation: Using our new system, users are granted funding vouchers to purchase products throughout the year. Different funding sources provide access to different product categories, and products can be associated with multiple funding sources at once.

This setup ensures that purchasing from any funding source deducts from the same stock quantity, streamlining inventory control and facilitating sales reports from that centralized database.

Revamped Frontend for Improved User Experience

• Modernized Design: The new platform features a cleaner, more utilitarian design, leading to less confusion and calls to the shipping department for assistance with an order.

• Streamlined Ordering Process: We reduced the number of steps required to place an order, making the process faster and efficient for users.

Custom Reporting Dashboard

• Tailored Insights: Managers now have access to a custom reporting dashboard that offers detailed views of sales, order, and funding data. This tool allows for filtering and sorting orders by date, facilitating informed decision-making.

• Effortless Data Export: We also added the ability to export selected data into CSV files helping them provide these records to the state.

Robust Logging and Monitoring with New Relic

• Proactive Error Monitoring: Integrating New Relic into the platform provides insights into application performance and helps find errors that users may receive. This integration enables the team to detect, triage, and resolve errors swiftly, ensuring a seamless user experience.

• Performance Optimization: New Relic's comprehensive analytics assist in identifying and addressing performance bottlenecks, leading to improved application responsiveness and reliability.

• Real-Time Status Page: We chose to implement a status page that offers users real-time updates on system availability and degraded performance issues. This feature reduces support inquiries, and builds trust with the user base ensuring users we are aware and fixing the issue.

User Guides and Manager Documentation

• Manager Guide: We developed detailed guides for administrators, covering product creation, user management, and report generation. These resources empower the team to manage the platform effectively.

• User Guide: Clear, step-by-step instructions were created for users as well, helping users learn about the systems works without calling for support.

Credits Feature

• Custom Currency Type: The client also needed a way to use an ambiguous currency that they called credits. So we introduced a custom currency type, CRD (Credits). Products are priced in credits, and vouchers can be issued using this currency as well. This was a specific requirement from the client that they needed.

Conclusion

The migration from WooCommerce to Craft Commerce has significantly transformed OutreachSupplies.org's daily operations. The new platform's centralized inventory management, enhanced user experience, robust reporting tools, and proactive monitoring, are all reasons to celebrate. This strategic overhaul not only addresses previous challenges but also positions OutreachSupplies.org for scalable growth and continued success in their mission to support statewide clinics nationwide. They have since expanded to New Mexico and operate NMdoh-Supplies.com