Their Story
Hummingbird Networks has been working to give their customers the best network solutions possible since 2004. They collaborate with private and public organizations of all sizes to deliver the best-in-class new and certified refurbished networking equipment. They always keep one goal in mind – to help customers create a network they will love by providing consistent, next-day networking solutions.
To ensure their customers can get their own network efficiently, it is important that Hummingbird Networks provides the best experience from initial interest to a finished product. Being in the tech industry, they know that things change rapidly and often need updating sooner than expected. So, they knew when it was time to upgrade their website to a better platform not only for themselves but their customer’s as well.
The Problem: Outdated Platform
Hummingbird Network has been on BigCommerce for the duration of their ecommerce existence. When they signed up originally, the best platform option was Blueprint. Several years later, BigCommerce launched Stencil, their new and improved ecommerce platform. They knew that this platform could offer them a better all around website foundation and improve their usability for customers. This sparked their general interest in getting a new website design.
Additionally, they wanted to have more access to edit pieces of their website. Since they are constantly growing and changing, this was a necessity. Having previously chatted with IntuitSolutions about a new website, they reached back out to reopen the conversation.
The Solution: Custom Upgrade to Stencil
After some discussion, Hummingbird Networks agreed to a Custom Stencil Site Upgrade package. This included a platform upgrade from Blueprint to Stencil, a website design similar to their previous website, but with some enhancements, and additional functionality.
Blueprint to stencil
It’s only expected that with new releases there are upgraded features. Bigcommerce’s Stencil platform now features:
- Fully responsive free and premium themes
- Google AMP compatible
- Cross-device preview (mobile, desktop, tablet)
- Ability to add non-Google Analytics tracking codes to checkout page
- And more!
Hummingbird Network was excited for the faster page speed and improved technical SEO foundations. These alone would help increase their search visibility and give users a better experience while on the site. In turn, helping grow their business in various directions.
“Stencil is BigCommerce’s [latest] theme engine. It incorporates industry best practices in technology, design standards, SEO, and allows developers to build a stunning storefront that engages shoppers and encourages checkouts on any device.”- BigCommerce
Website Customizations
Since Hummingbird Networks was fond of their previous design, IntuitSolutions kept the designs as close to the original design as possible while adding a few new customizations and enhancements that would improve usability.
About page
Hummingbird Networks really wanted to show off their team and what sets them apart from competitors. IntuitSolutions designed a completely custom page featuring a fixed floating left menu solely for the about page. There are three main sections to this page – about us, meet the team, and what sets us apart. These sections house a partnership logo showcase, custom team cards with hover biographies, and custom Call To Actions cards with icons. Since they are a continuously growing company, they wanted to be able to edit each section freely without the assistance of a developer. We did this by giving Hummingbird Networks access to the BigCommerce lang file along with documentation on how to update each section.
This page offers custom usability and interactions for customers to click around and find even more information about the company and the team members they may interact with. About pages tend to be some of the more basic pages on a website, but Hummingbird Networks wanted to take it to a new level. With this design and functionality, customers can see just how unique of a company they actually are.
Mega Menu
A standard list menu could have worked for Hummingbird Networks, but they wanted something more enhanced. With the help of IntuitSolutions’ Mega Menu add-on, they were able to have the extra design and functionality they were looking for. This menu displays top level categories under the “All Products” tab in a list-style fashion alongside top product brands. These brand CTAs take advantage of the extra menu space by showcasing brand centered images. As for the rest of the menu dropdowns, they are left simplistic because they are the less important pages that tend to have limited traffic.
Some brands play a huge role in their network solutions, so showcasing those gives customers an understanding of what to expect. Since these brands also tend to be widely known, it provides customers with a level of trust showing that they will be in good hands. This mega menu not only presents a more eye-catching design but also adds a sense of reliability.
Continued Work
Since the beginning of development, Hummingbird Networks has had additional ideas for features on the website and evolving needs. These new issues fell outside of the original scope, so they were put in the work order queue until post-launch. Currently, we are working on a custom cookies statement popup. Like many of the websites out there, Hummingbird Networks collects user data so they can better understand their customers. So, having a warning popup and asking consent to use their customer’s cookies is highly important. BigCommerce has recently implemented a cookies notification banner, however, it does not compliment their website nor have the functionality they would like. IntuitSolutions is developing a new alert that will completely disappear from view once the cookie use statement has been accepted or declined along with a design that better mimics the site.
As previously mentioned, Hummingbird Networks heavily relies on their name brands. BigCommerce’s naitve functionality allows for brand pages but they typically are not very eye-catching. Since Hummingbird Networks offers a handful of well known brands, and each with their own specialised products, they wanted a completely custom page template to allow them to showcase each brand’s uniqueness. In addition to being completely custom, they also wanted the ability to change every aspect of the template. So, they are able to change everything from the text to the videos all from the lang file. This customization is also currently in the works but is expected to be released soon.
The Results
After launch, Hummingbird Networks was very pleased with the overall website. They have taken some time to learn how to make updates on their own via the lang file. Their short-term goals of improving their customer experience has been met with the help of IntuitSolutions. As previously mentioned, they continue to work with IntuitSolutions on their custom cookies popup and brands page template because of their appreciation for our work. This collaboration will continue until their website is exactly where they want it.
Interested in switching from Blueprint to BigCommerce’s Stencil or a custom BigCommerce design? As Elite BigCommerce Partners, we are ready for anything and everything. Contact us or call us at 1-866-901-4650 to talk to a team member about how we can help grow your business.
