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Client case study
STEL Tools
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Project overview
A fresh eCommerce experience for a specialist provider
STEL Tools is a specialist tools provider based in Sheffield. When their Magento website started to fail, with broken product pages, indexing issues, and a checkout experience that was stopping customers from buying, it became clear they needed more than a patch.
Marketing Labs partnered with STEL Tools to deliver a complete redesign and rebuild, giving the site a fresh, modern look and a far smoother user experience. We rebuilt the store on WordPress and WooCommerce, supported by a full Figma design process and a dedicated staging build, so every key page and journey could be tested and refined before launch.
Alongside the new design and build, we helped bring order to the product catalogue, improving structure, clarity, and naming conventions to better align with search behaviour. The result was a faster, mobile-optimised eCommerce site that is easier to navigate, simpler to check out from, and crucially, easier for the STEL team to manage and grow without relying on us as a day-to-day bottleneck.
The challenge
STEL Tools’ existing Magento website had reached a point where it was no longer supporting the business effectively. The issues were not cosmetic, they directly impacted sales, visibility, and day-to-day usability.
Key challenges included:
- Core site functionality was failing: Product pages were not working reliably, creating a poor customer experience and making it difficult for users to find or purchase what they needed.
- Product data was inconsistent and unclear: Product information had become messy over time, with variable products incorrectly displaying as simple products. This created confusion for customers and made the product range harder to navigate and maintain.
- Checkout issues were preventing sales: Customers were unable to complete purchases consistently, causing friction at the most important stage of the journey.
- Search visibility had dropped: The site was not being indexed properly, limiting organic performance and reducing discoverability for key products.
- An outdated platform and experience: The site felt old and no longer reflected the quality of the STEL Tools offering. Navigation and UX were dated, which reduced confidence and made the buying journey harder than it needed to be.
- Mobile experience was effectively unsupported: Mobile optimisation was minimal to non-existent, despite mobile traffic being a major part of modern ecommerce. This created usability issues and increased drop-off on smaller screens.
- Performance limitations: Speed and user flow issues made browsing and checkout more difficult, especially for users on mobile networks.
STEL Tools needed more than just a quick fix. They needed a complete rebuild that would restore stability, improve speed, modernise the brand experience, and support growth through better UX and SEO foundations.
The solution
Marketing Labs delivered a full redesign and rebuild, focusing on performance, usability, and long-term manageability. We rebuilt the site from the ground up using a streamlined WordPress and WooCommerce setup, supported by a structured design process and a carefully managed deployment approach.
Our solution included:
Complete redesign and rebuild
We redesigned everything from scratch, creating a modern, clean interface that better reflected STEL Tools as a specialist provider. The new design was built to support eCommerce best practices: clear navigation, improved product discovery, and a smoother path to purchase.
A website that the team can manage without a bottleneck
A key part of the rebuild was making the site easy for the STEL Tools team to run day-to-day. By moving to a cleaner WooCommerce setup and streamlining product structure, we ensured they can add, edit, and expand their product range internally without relying on Marketing Labs for every update. This reduced friction, removed the dependency on agency, and gave them more control over their eCommerce operations.
WordPress + WooCommerce implementation
To replace the failing Magento build, we migrated to a WordPress and WooCommerce solution designed to be easier to manage, more stable, and better aligned with STEL Tools’ needs. This provided a platform that is flexible, scalable, and supported by a large ecosystem of tools and integrations.
Full Figma design process with staging build
The project followed a structured workflow using Figma for UX and UI design, allowing the STEL Tools team to review layouts, interactions, and key pages before development. Alongside this, we built the site in a dedicated staging environment, enabling thorough testing and refinement before launch, reducing risk and ensuring a smoother go-live.
Product structure and naming conventions (SEO support)
We supported STEL Tools with product guidance and naming conventions, helping align product titles and structure with how users search. This creates a stronger foundation for organic visibility by improving clarity, consistency, and keyword relevance across the catalogue.
UX improvements and simplified checkout journey
A major focus was reducing friction for customers. We introduced UX enhancements and checkout optimisations to make purchasing faster and easier, including clearer calls-to-action, improved layout hierarchy, and a more straightforward route from product page to payment.
Mobile-first improvements
Where the previous site lacked mobile usability, the new build prioritised mobile optimisation throughout. Key journeys, navigation, and eCommerce functionality were designed to work smoothly on smaller screens, creating a more accessible experience for customers browsing and buying on mobile devices.
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