How we developed a new Morris 4×4 Center store – case study

By: Maja Kardum, Last updated: Apr 12, 2024 | Published: Jan 29, 2018

In 2017, we had a challenging task in front of us. It all started with an inquiry from a potential new client, Morris 4×4 Center, that was looking for a partner to help them address and solve website stability issues.

From that, it developed into a whole new project with the deadline of delivering a new site in under 2 months! Backend and frontend developers, design team, eCommerce consultants – we were all in it!

Let me tell you more about this project.

About Morris 4×4 Center

Morris 4×4 Center is a leading eCommerce destination for Jeep and 4×4 enthusiasts looking to outfit and enhance their vehicles. It provides more than 40,000 products across top brands, with passionate experts and a commitment to great customer experience.

Having fulfilled over a million orders in just over 25 years, Morris 4×4 Center’s passionate experts, superior customer service team, and new customer-centric initiatives are poised to better serve and help Jeep and off-road outdoor enthusiast fulfil their dream of a great driving experience.

What was the challenge in all of this?

Morris 4×4 Center is well known among their targeted audience, and the business itself has outgrown the platform capabilities and could not rapidly implement changes to scale the business further.

Much of the problems stemmed from an outdated eCommerce platform. We proved our expertise by solving technical issues, which then expanded our cooperation through conducting a complete technical audit for their digital store. Detailed report on the findings and actionable set of recommendations we provided set a clear path towards speeding up and improving the store’s stability.

The technical audit was the pebble that started the avalanche. After our initial engagement, Inchoo was invited to bid on an eCommerce replatform project and we were chosen as the development partner for this larger project.

While it was well below zero in Inchoo’s hometown of Osijek, our team flew to Morris 4×4 Center’s headquarters, just outside Miami, Florida, and sealed the deal that we’ll develop a new store in less than 2 months. And we did just that!

How did the development process look like?

Planning, as the initial phase, was crucial in meeting the project deadline. The digital store was originally a hybrid between a static site and Magento, that made things even more challenging. We migrated it to Magento Enterprise 1.14.2. that brought stability, architectural control, and almost painless connection to external systems (such as ERP, Middleware systems and PIM).Wireframing got us to the point where we identified the key elements to enhance visually and keep an eye on when developing them from the technical side. Clean design was crucial to achieve in displaying complex information architecture in the menu, and we developed it in collaboration with Prototyp. Special attention was devoted to imagery and media center for how-to videos, which helps in keeping Morris 4×4 Center as a recognizable brand in their industry.

Part Finder module brought an even better user flow for visitors to reach specific car model and its parts. Based on brand/model/year type of selection, it leads to results page that then offers numerous specific attributes by which to filter further.

Diagrams are an icing on the cake for finding the exact name and product for replacement car parts the user is looking for. Functioning as a click on picture where customer clicks on number and gets the exact name of associated products on shop that match the results. Useful feature for this kind of business, where even the mechanics sometimes don’t know the exact name of the particular Jeep part.

What are the results?

Morris 4×4 center is now not only a product destination, but also a content destination for off-road enthusiasts. Media focused responsive design with great information architecture is now more intuitive to use.

Loyalty program and promotion options give a great value not only to customers but also to store owners. With implemented tracking options, it is now easier to analyze site’s usage, test numerous promotional options and to make the most of gained information for remarketing purposes.

If you’re curious to learn what we did for some of our other clients, visit our portfolio page!