BIRLINN YARN

Full eCommerce Redesign and Migration

193% increase in engaged sessions

★

193% increase in engaged sessions

★

158% increase in website clicks

★

36.63% increase in add to cart actions

★

193% increase in engaged sessions

★

158% increase in website clicks

★

36.63% increase in add to cart actions

The brief

The Birlinn Yarn Company produces and sells yarn made from sheep bred on crofts in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, alongside knitting kits and digital patterns for a global community of enthusiasts. They rear pedigree Hebridean sheep as part of a carefully managed crofting system, with a whole-farm approach that prioritises animal husbandry and the protection of island biodiversity and ecology. They approached us to modernise their ecommerce experience and support future growth. Their existing WooCommerce site limited flexibility, scalability, and day-to-day management, making it difficult to efficiently run and evolve the business.

The objective was to deliver a full website redesign alongside a migration to Shopify, while carefully preserving key assets such as product listings, collections, blog content, and SEO metadata.

The new platform also needed to support a diverse catalogue, including yarn, kits, and downloadable knitting patterns, and streamline operational processes like international shipping and tax compliance.

The approach

We executed a full redesign and rebuild of the website on Shopify, focused on creating a story-led, immersive experience that brings the brand’s heritage, farming practices, and product journey to life. The design highlights the authenticity of the crofting system and provenance of the yarn, weaving the brand story throughout the user journey.

A complete migration was carried out, transferring products, collections, blogs, and meta information to ensure continuity and minimise disruption. The build combined a Shopify 2.0 theme with a flexible page builder, enabling the Birlinn Yarn team to easily manage and update content.

Key integrations included EAS Compliance Plugin for tax and duty handling and Royal Mail Click & Drop for streamlined shipping and fulfilment. Additional functionality such as downloadable products, upsell and cross-sell features, and customer reviews were also introduced to enhance the user experience and drive revenue opportunities.

The results

The new Shopify site delivers a significantly enhanced ecommerce experience, combining a streamlined, engaging design that strengthens product storytelling and showcases the brand’s craft. Operational efficiency has also improved through automated tax and shipping integrations, reducing manual workload and increasing accuracy. A flexible content management setup allows the internal team to update products, pages, and content quickly, without relying on technical support.

Within the first month of launch, early performance indicators show strong positive momentum. Website engagement rate increased by 15%, with engaged sessions rising by 193% and bounce rate decreasing by 25.3%. User interaction has also grown significantly, with add to cart actions up 36.63%, purchase events increasing by 12.5%, and overall site activity, such as clicks and scrolls, seeing substantial gains.

These results demonstrate meaningful improvements in user engagement and conversion behaviour, positioning the brand for scalable, long term growth.

If you are looking to elevate your ecommerce experience and scale on Shopify, get in touch with us.