Online Nursery WooCommerce Build
Our Client
Horseshoe Bend Nursery is a family-run plant nursery based in Geelong, Victoria. They offer hundreds of plant varieties, trees, and garden supplies both in-store and online. The business has grown steadily since launch and needed an eCommerce site that could keep pace with increasing product turnover and customer demand.
The Challenge
By 2024, the original website we built in 2022 was starting to show its limits.
While the initial WooCommerce site had served the nursery well for its early growth, a few key issues began to impact sales and customer experience:
- Outdated layout and inconsistent branding
- Slow load times, particularly on mobile
- Limited product management flexibility for frequent plant updates
- A dated checkout lacking modern payment options
- SEO strain caused by hundreds of redirected and deleted products
With over 270 products, 100+ redirects from deleted listings, the site urgently needed a redesign that simplified management, improved performance, and stabilised search visibility, without requiring a full hosting upgrade.
It also highlighted a growing need for client education around search visibility and product management. Regular deletions and unoptimized image uploads were eroding SEO performance and creating a compounding maintenance issue. Part of this rebuild therefore focused on systems and training designed to make day-to-day updates safer, faster, and more search-friendly.
The Solution
Phase 1: A Fast, Credible Launch (2022)
Our first build gave Horseshoe Bend a strong foundation, a mobile-friendly WooCommerce site designed for credibility, trust, and ease of management. We introduced:
- Simple product categorisation and clear navigation
- Basic filtering for easy plant discovery
- Lightweight theme structure for speed
- Early SEO setup to support local visibility
Simplified Product Management
Because staff update stock frequently, we built a front-end product editor using WP User Frontend, allowing them to add and edit plants directly from mobile, complete with custom attributes such as height, colour, soil type, and water needs. This eliminated their dependency on the admin dashboard and improved day-to-day control.
The system worked well for the initial 30-product inventory and delivered a solid ROI for the client’s first digital transition.
Phase 2: A Complete eCommerce Redesign (2025)
As the nursery expanded, it was time for a rebuild. We created a conversion-focused eCommerce platform designed to handle scale and deliver measurable performance improvements.
Built with Breakdance for Modern Flexibility
We rebuilt the entire front end using Breakdance Builder, giving the site a clean, mobile-first design that reflects the nursery’s natural aesthetic. Every element was engineered for conversion, clear CTAs, consistent branding, and simplified user flows from browsing to checkout.
Performance Optimisation
To maximise speed and reliability, we implemented advanced optimisations including:
- Database tuning and CDN integration
- Automated image compression and resizing
- Safe deletion of obsolete media files to reduce load
- Prevention of heavy HEIC image uploads (a common performance drag)
Streamlined Checkout with Stripe Integration
We overhauled the checkout with the latest Stripe integration and custom invoicing for flexibility. This upgrade introduced faster, more secure payment options while maintaining the nursery’s preferred Squarespace provider and custom invoicing workflow for offline orders.
The Results
Within the first 30 days of relaunch:
- +8% increase in online checkout sales
- 18% reduction in cart abandonment
- 12% faster load speeds on key pages
- 25% growth in mobile sessions
Customers now enjoy a smoother shopping experience, and the team can manage products quickly, without technical intervention.
Ongoing Advisory
While the site performs well under its current shared hosting plan, it’s approaching capacity. We’ve advised the client to move to a dedicated or managed hosting environment to maintain speed, stability, and SEO health long term.
For now, Brighter Websites continues to host and monitor site performance, ensuring updates, caching, and redirects remain stable. As the catalogue grows, the next phase will focus on strategic SEO clean-up and improved content automation, keeping the site profitable, discoverable, and future-ready.
Results at a Glance
| Metric | Improvement | Period |
|---|---|---|
| Checkout sales | +8% | First 30 days post-launch |
| Cart abandonment | -18% | Immediate post-launch |
| Page load speed | +12% | Average improvement |
| Mobile engagement | +25% | First quarter post-launch |
Future Focus
The new Horseshoe Bend platform has set a solid foundation for long-term growth. It’s now:
- Conversion-Optimised: Simplified checkout and faster design flow.
- SEO-Protected: Redirect strategy safeguards organic rankings.
- Scalable: Built to grow with minimal maintenance load.
As the nursery expands its product range, the next evolution will involve upgraded hosting and SEO automation to protect visibility and speed, ensuring the system continues to perform without compromise.
