SuncoastParts.com
Miva Custom Design & Development

Data Manipulation, Design, Web Development, Customization

A Porsche is more than a vehicle; it’s a way of life, and Suncoast Parts is passionate about making sure they offer nothing but the best to their clients. Suncoastparts.com offers only top-tier, cutting edge parts and accessories, helping each Porsche to be as individual as the owner.

The Client

The Blades Awards Nomination Finalist

Ric Knab of Suncoast Porsche Parts is enthusiastic about his cars, and he knows his customers are too. Suncoastparts.com has been a retailer of specialty, factory, and after-market parts and accessories since 2000. Constantly researching state-of-the-art upgrades and add-ons means that Ric and his team are always on the look-out for ways they can enhance the Porsche-owner’s experience. With a full catalog of genuine Porsche parts plus some additional top-shelf aftermarket products, Suncoast Parts retails mostly direct-to-consumer, with some B2B sales. Offering only the highest quality parts and accessories, Ric wanted to make sure the Suncoastparts.com site reflected those same standards. As a returning client, he knew that Glendale Designs would be able to help with this round of custom Miva development. 

The Challenge

Having been a client of Glendale Designs since 2013, Ric knew that the team would be up for any challenge he threw our way. With almost 7 years of growth in customer expectations and website capabilities, it was time to make some upgrades to his custom Miva development. The original Suncoastparts.com site was looking and functioning just fine. But Ric Knab isn’t the type to be satisfied with “just fine”. Just as he keeps a constant eye on the newest and best for the products he sells, he recognized that it was time for a site upgrade.

Customer Experience

The Suncoast Porsche Parts team is all about the customer experience. They wanted to improve that experience throughout the site, from the homepage to the checkout. Wanting to be more engaging and encourage interaction with their content, Ric was also looking for a way to promote the site blog directly on the homepage.

Suncoastparts.com helps Porsche owners that are passionate about customizing, maintaining, and repairing their cars. To do that, the site search needed to be tightened up so shoppers could narrow down exactly what they are looking for. But finding the right products didn’t mean much if the checkout process was uninviting. The cumbersome checkout needed to be refined in order to keep up with the speed and efficiency that is now seen as standard on retail sites.

Behind-the-Scenes Functionality

Besides polishing the storefront side of the website, Ric needed help with a couple of items behind the scenes. With the complexity of American state sales tax, he wanted some sort of solution that could be integrated into the site to take tax liability work out of processing orders. He also wanted to be able to provide a gift certificate option to his customers. Gift certificates are an ever-growing trend in gift-giving, and if you know a car-lover, you know how important it is to get them exactly the right part. He wanted a way to ensure his patrons could get exactly what they wanted.

Suncoastparts.com went in for a tune-up and a new paint job; the result is a faster, smoother, and more enjoyable customer experience.

The Solution

The Glendale Team set out with a game plan for the custom Miva development redesign. On top of a new look that perfectly complements Porsche – polished and powerful – we had a list of changes to be implemented to ratchet up the user experience.

Dynamic Blog Display

In addressing Ric’s desire to create a site blog, the Glendale Team introduced him to Scot’s Blogger. We installed the module, customized the theme, and added our own adjustments and optimizations. The new blog is streamlined and integrates directly with Miva. We added a dynamic display to the storefront home page to engage the site viewers and bring attention to the new content. Pulling the 6 most recent posts directly to the homepage will ensure visitors see the latest in Suncoast Porsche news. 

Search & Navigation

Making sure that the search feature could be more accessible, we set the site to reference an Alternate Keywords field. This allows for synonyms and typos to garner stronger search results. We also restructured the product data and set up a facet structure that helps shoppers navigate through their search results. Customers can now narrow down the products by make, model, and price.

Streamlined Checkout

Streamlining the checkout process meant a design overhaul to coordinate it with the sleek design of the new site, and to make checking out smoother. The checkout had some practical changes integrated as well. Adding additional payment options like Apple Pay and PayPal Smart means Suncoast customers have greater flexibility during checkout. As some added protection, Ric also had us build in a required checkbox during checkout that would necessitate customers to agree to the terms of service before completing a purchase. 

Third Party Integrations

As a solution to Ric’s concerns about state sales tax, we recommended TaxJar. Integrating Taxjar into the site takes care of automating rate calculations with the added bonus of easy filing and reports. To protect themselves against fraud, Suncoast also opted to implement Signifyd for an extra layer of assurity. With the new third-party applications, the Suncoast team can be confident that the site is well protected going forward..

Gift Certificates

Creating digital gift certificates for Suncoast allows their customers to make purchases for the hard-to-buy-for Porsche owners. Suncoastparts.com is now set up to offer customizable gift certificates in a wide range of denominations. They can be delivered either to the purchaser or directly to the recipient. 

Optimization & Testing

If we know one thing about Suncoast shoppers, it’s that they won’t sacrifice speed for style. That goes for their cars, and their shopping. Keeping on-brand for Porsche, we made sure the site and it’s sleek new design is built for speed. 

Beyond speed tests, we went through our standard inspection checklist before the site launch. We put the new Suncoastparts.com through the wringer. Upon completing the project, the Glendale team tested rigorously to ensure everything worked smoothly. We left no stone unturned.

The Result

The Suncoast Porsche Parts website went in for a tune-up and a new paint job; the result is a faster, smoother, and more enjoyable customer experience. By really considering the user, Ric was able to spot the issues with his site before they became critical. This gave Glendale Designs the opportunity to revisit a past build, revamp the design and functionality, and update it according to advancements in customer expectations.

Has it been years since your last touch-up? If you think your site is in need of a fresh new look, or an update to help exceed customer expectations, contact Glendale Designs. We can help make a plan for your custom Miva development.

30-Day Post Launch

63.26%

Mobile Revenue

70.40%

Active Users

10.26%

Overall Revenue

Glendale Designs is my “go-to” destination for our website. They helped to build our current website and it has been a huge success. It was a big investment and the GD team delivered. Even during the tricky times they were able to fix and modify things as needed. I currently rely on them for any updates, designs, revisions, and builds. I also appreciate that Glendale Designs is honest and says “that’s a bad idea.” I value their insight.