Car Parts Retail Sales Site
This site was built on a specialty WordPress retailing theme with built-in eCommerce capability. It was a theme specifically tailored to jewelry sales, so all the flowery built in graphics, fonts and backgrounds had to be ripped out and replaced with something more “automotive.” The very basic eCommerce module in this theme was sufficient for a relatively small product selection around 100 products, so we kept the core functionality while changing the look from lavender pastels to a stark black, white and red.
These weren’t going to be just any car parts, but specialty parts and accessories for a brand new version of the legendary Fiat 500, to be introduced to the American market shortly after this website went live. Given that Fiat 500 enthusiasts (like my client, who bought one of the first Fiat 500s to be sold in the USA) would recognize the iconic “500” logo, I incorporated that logo into various visual design elements of the site:
The “500” logo motif was even carried into the checkered flag background image used to frame the pages of the site:
Configuration of the shopping cart and invoicing system with tax rates, shipping zones, etc. did not require any modification of the theme code (just adjusting some settings) and is the critical step for e-commerce sites, not to mention the rigorous testing at this phase.
The last phase involved adding the inventory to the site. Many items, such as seat covers, for instance, needed variations for colors and fabrics to be keyed into the product details. Some product options affected pricing, others didn’t.
Product photos needed sizing and other preparation (such as insets and text overlays) before uploading to the catalog. All in all, I processed about a hundred photos for about 40 products before turning over the inventory “stocking” process to the business owner.
December 2012 update: the business and the website have been purchased by a new owner who continues to manage and maintain the site without my assistance.