Technical cooperation

At Carnavalskleding.nl, they are technically savvy themselves. They had already created the entire back-end. It was very pleasant for us to build on this together and realize the front-end.

An initial check as a basis

To start the project, we first did an audit and checked the basics by doing a static analysis of the code. This quality check immediately made a big improvement.

Implementation Hyvä Theme

The choice of frontend is always a no-brainer with us; we only do Hyvä! We are big fans of this lightning-fast frontend. Why we choose Hyvä and what advantages it gives you can read on our special Hyvä page.

Streamlined delivery

The web shop is now very fast and gives very reliable information about delivery. About 80% of all items ordered are tomorrow and with the remaining 20% they can also accurately indicate when it will be delivered.

From Magento 1 to Magento 2

The webshop of Carnivalwear.com was running on Magento 1. We gave everything a major update with Magento 2. Thanks to the switch, Carnavalskleding.nl now has a more extensive and user-friendly platform. This will help them for years to come.

A reliable Delivery Date module

We have created a module that very accurately indicates, based on a variety of variables, when a customer will have an order in their home. Our module takes into account things like brand, weight, price, storage location and much more. This saves a lot of customer service questions and is much more user-friendly for the customer.

Headless CMS integration with Prismic and Magento

For this project, we also chose to implement the headless CMS Prismic for the landing pages, content pages, USPs, callouts and blogs. You can read more about our Prismic and Magento integration here.

Raging React Components

For the front-end, we used multiple React Components. We applied this to the menu, search bar and shopping cart. This was customization because Magento does not normally work with React Components. Now the webshop is much more unified and easier to maintain.

Challenge

One of the main challenges was to optimize the checkout experience. The standard Magento checkout did not meet the client's high requirements, both in terms of speed and design flexibility. Therefore, it was decided to develop a custom checkout solution.

Solution

The custom checkout solution was developed using React, GraphQL and Tailwind CSS. These technologies allowed us to build a very flexible and fast checkout, fully customized to the needs of Carnavalskleding.nl.

Key features of the checkout solution:

1. Stepped design: The checkout is designed with a unique stepped design, guiding customers through the ordering process in clear steps. This increases conversion and reduces the likelihood of abandonment.

2. Performance: By using React and GraphQL, the checkout is updated in real time without the need to reload the entire page. This results in a smooth and faster experience for the customer.
3. Flexibility: The checkout solution is compatible with Magento 2.3.4 and above, allowing the webshop to be easily updated to new versions of Magento without losing functionality.

4. Tailwind CSS: With Tailwind CSS, we were able to quickly and efficiently implement a consistent and modern design that fits seamlessly with the rest of the webshop.

Advantages and possible disadvantages

While the custom React checkout offers many benefits, such as increased flexibility and improved performance, there are also some concerns:
- Maintenance: The checkout sometimes requires maintenance, especially when outside parties, such as payment providers, make updates. This can sometimes mean modifying React code to ensure compatibility.

- React knowledge: Implementing and maintaining this checkout requires knowledge of React. This makes it less accessible to teams without this expertise.

Alternative: Hyvä Checkout

While we were developing this custom solution, Hyvä introduced a new checkout solution: Hyvä Checkout. This is based on Laravel Livewire and is aimed more at Magento developers with a back-end focus. This offers a robust and less maintenance-intensive alternative to the React-based solution, especially for teams with less experience with front-end frameworks such as React.

Conclusion

The new Carnavalskleding.nl webshop, built on Magento 2 with the Hyvä theme and a custom React checkout, is a success story in e-commerce innovation. By applying modern technologies and a streamlined design, customer satisfaction has improved significantly. For companies looking for a similar solution, this case study provides valuable insights as well as important considerations when choosing between a custom solution and a more standardized, but robust option such as Hyvä Checkout.

Elgentos remains committed to providing customized solutions that meet the specific needs of our customers, always keeping an eye on the latest developments and alternatives in the market.