Braxton Brewing Company is a craft brewery located in Covington, KY. Like so many other businesses during 2020, the majority of their sales moved from being in-house to being e-commerce. It was essential to prioritize Braxton’s online presence and ease-of-access for consumers. Also, as quarantine has lifted and in-house sales have started to become more viable, Braxton Brewing is putting a focus on brewery events to help draw patrons to visit their three unique locations.
Architecture.
Original site architecture lacked cohesive pathing for users to access specific products and information without encountering broken, incomplete, or out-of-date links.
Updates such as new booking services, updated product searches, and client-side content creation were all taken into account. The final site was developed for Shopify CLI in client-friendly modules to ensure updates could be made quickly by the Braxton marketing team without need for an in-house developer.
Updated information architecture simplified some of the pain points from the old website format by putting focus on the the needs of two focus group: online consumers looking to purchase from Braxton and those interested in information about a specific location. Links to location information were put front-and-center on the home page in addition to the home menu for ease of quick navigation. Similarly, links to the store and booking information have been emphasized to help steer users.
Style.
Typefaces, colors, visual assets, wordmarks and logos are all compliant with Braxton Brewing Company’s official brand language. A visual user interface standard was built using Braxton’s marketing design guidelines as a framework. New assets were presented to the client weekly to maintain consistency with the brand language that was already in place.
Navigation & Functionality.
In tandem with the website information architecture overhaul, navigation was simplified to offer an easier experience for consumers and visitors, alike. The main navigational menu now collapses to offer a wider view of the home page, expanding to full page bleed only when necessary. Large blocks of information previously found on pages have been sectioned out into bite-sized dropdown menus for easier page navigation and less scrolling. A consistent header and footer can be found on every page, both of which offer general site navigation and information.
Due to limited quantity of some of Braxton Brewing Company’s products, specific availability information will be shown on the store pages for certain products. These visual markers give the consumer an idea of how much of each limited-run beer is left and available for purchase.
In the near future, Braxton Brewing Company’s team has expressed interest in adding additional seasonal advertising and links to the home menu; another way to help direct users in the right direction and push online sales. These changes have not been implemented, as of yet.