Trendz Outdoors | Digital marketing case study

Trendz Outdoors offers a range of luxury outdoor fireplaces, pizza ovens, and a firepit to homeowners across New Zealand and Australia. The quality of these fireplaces, the craftsmanship, and the service offered by the team weren't effectively communicated on the previous website. The imagery was unflattering and the layout made it challenging to discover the perfect outdoor fireplace solution. The fireplaces will elevate any home's outdoor lifestyle, and it became obvious that the website needed to display these luxury products in a premium way.

Messaging about the fireplaces was confusing. Answers to common buying questions weren't easy to find and the process of buying an outdoor fireplace seemed harder than it was. The seamless customer service experience the team at Trendz delivers wasn't translated across to a platform where a face-to-face explanation isn't possible.

Contributing to this lack of cohesion was the piecemeal nature of website upgrades. Pages had been added with little or no thought to the overall structure and navigation, with designs changing over time as different people made their mark on the site. The old website's CMS required a web agency to update at a significant cost, meaning many changes were avoided to reduce financial expenses. And while the site became more and more bloated it became harder and harder to actually find the information needed. This meant the digital platform promoting these assets needed to be upgraded to meet the expectations of discerning clients, and the design brought back into a cohesive approach.

While photos sell the dream it was 3D renders that clarified the reality. Showing prospective customers the product they were actually buying, and explaining the range of upgrades available, clarified the Trendz Outdoors offering while also showcasing the almost limitless level of customisation available. The website was structured to provide increasing levels of detailed information as a visitor ventured deeper into the product range so they saw the most relevant content at the right time.

The dark style complimented the feel of an approaching evening and the use of warm orange was reminiscent of the glow of a fireplace. This also worked well with the range of imagery on offer, which was often darker in tone and would have fought with a bright website palette.

60% of the previous website's visitors used a mobile device so we built this site from a mobile-first perspective. Conversion points, imagery, and interactive modules all function as beautifully on smaller devices as they do on a desktop. This also influenced the website's navigation. We streamlined 25 header links down to only 6 in the new design, deciding to lead the visitor on a journey through the range, rather than force almost limitless options on them from the get-go!

Beyond the cosmetic enhancements, there have been several significant empirical improvements and a significant shift in sales results due to this new website and the conversion rate optimisation (CRO) implemented. In the 6 months following the website's launch, we saw huge growth in the quality of business leads, and the level of self-qualification and education present in each enquiry. There was a 6.82% increase in the average sale value, versus the previous year and a 69.02% increase in the closed-won revenue. This was due, in part, to the 58.24% increase in the number of closed-won deals as a result of the website.

Leading indicators also saw significant improvements due to the new website. Website traffic increased by 94.18%, while new contacts increased 84.17%, with organic search traffic doubling in the 6 months after the website was launched, versus the same time the previous year. So while the new website not only looked good, and presented the Trendz Outdoors brand in a more fitting light, it has also delivered several real-world benefits within a very short timeframe since launch.

The new website was built on the HubSpot CMS, which means ongoing changes can be made with no additional cost to the business. The easy-to-use website management platform enables Trendz to control key parts of their website, like the gallery, without being charged for every little change. Thank You pages use personalisation tokens to show the personal approach the brand delivers and automated emails synchronise with form submissions to progress buyers to the next step in the sales journey.

Launching just ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic, and subsequent lockdowns in New Zealand, the new website was perfectly poised to capitalise on the increased interest in home improvements.

Since the website's launch, Trendz has seen increased inquiries, which has led them to hire a new salesperson and dispatch personnel. To accommodate the increased growth they have been researching new business premises, which will enable them to expand to an even bigger team and accelerate their expansion. Trendz also saw increased enquiries from Australia and the USA thanks to the improved SEO ranking of their website, and they have since partnered with local resellers to enable them to deliver outdoor fireplaces beyond the shores of New Zealand.

As they grew Trendz needed to create efficiencies in their handling of orders and dispatching. This drove them to expand their HubSpot usage to include Operations Hub Professional to automate service tickets to create a live dashboard of departing fireplaces. This reduced the need to hire additional dispatch personnel, creating cost savings throughout the business.