Giftcraft

+30%

Online Sales

I rebuilt the site from the platform up, pairing a vibrant new visual direction with custom front-end development and a customer-focused experience no competitor on a similar platform could match. A refined marketing strategy brought retailers in, and the experience gave them reasons to order resulting in a 30% increase in online sales.

2x

Faster Workflow

I standardized product shot dimensions and backgrounds so every image met the same high-end requirements and moved cleanly between our site, Amazon, and Faire. Paired with the new PIM, that turned a slow, manual process into a repeatable system, the catalogue creation time was cut in half, from two months to one, in a time before AI tools could be part of the workflow.

22%

New Accounts

I designed the new site to do more than take orders. It showcased Giftcraft’s expertise. Paired with a marketing funnel that recognized value beyond the catalogue, retailers who’d never worked with us where provided with reasons why they should start. New account creation rose 22%.

Rebuilding A Legacy B2B Brand Into An Industry Innovator.

Client

Giftcraft

Digital Direction, Art Direction, Branding, B2B Ecommerce, Front-End Development, Photography, Digital Editing

Roles

Timeline

5 Years

Giftcraft is a B2B business specializing in home décor and gifting products across North America. I joined as Lead Digital Developer in December 2020 and was promoted to Associate Director of Digital Marketing and Creative near the end of 2023. One of my first assignments in that role was the biggest: migrating our legacy platforms to a new CRM and PIM, then rebuilding and rebranding the entire online presence on top of them.

Overview

B2B ecommerce tends to settle for function. Competitors in the category ran on the same platforms, used the same templates, and leaned on the same safe visual style, so retailers had little reason to remember one supplier over another. Giftcraft’s site worked, but it didn’t sell the business, and the systems underneath it weren’t built for the growth the company wanted.

The Challenge

I began with how the brand should feel. Establishing a direction for more robust, vibrant visuals that broke from the industry’s familiar look, and shifted the site toward a more customer-focused experience, one that highlighted Giftcraft’s expertise and offered value beyond the product catalogue. The process involved education segments to demonstrate knowledge, industry trend tips to assist retailors understand customer trends, and custom email campaigns segmented from user data that provided products and information they actually wanted instead of broad offers that felt like spam.

The development of robust email segmentation was part of an updated marketing funnel focused on demonstrating knowledge of the customers needs and pairing it with dynamically paired products that met their interest and needs. With such a variety in brands and products, this approach became a considerable undertaking as I sought to eliminate the old method of mass sends to an entire list that could alienate customers who felt we were not for them. Replacing it with emails that became highly specific to the recipient. The data itself became the backbone of marketing efforts rather than a passive indicator of success, which lead to a significant increase in opens, 35% to 52%. Industry tips and trends also became a feature of email marketing providing recipients with a reason to click beyond just the sale. Resulting in increased repeat customers and a rise in activity across all platforms. The entire funnel became an entity which supported each stage and every platform’s efforts rather than stand alone segments.

Behind the scenes, I streamlined asset creation by standardizing product shot dimensions and backgrounds. Every image held the same high-end standard on our own site and transferred cleanly to marketplaces like Amazon and Faire, which saved production time without compromising quality. Paired with the platform migration and a refined marketing strategy, the rebuild gave Giftcraft a digital presence that looked as good as it performed.

The Approach

These efforts resulted in a refined strategy which gave retailers an experience they were not receiving elsewhere. Email opens rose 17%, with an average click rate of 3.7%. Social media growth outpaced competitors at a rate of 3:1. While online sales rose 30% in the first year of the switch to the new platforms and direction with a 22% increase in new customer accounts.

The Results

Brand & Creative Direction

Led the rebrand of Giftcraft’s online presence, setting a vibrant visual direction that set the business apart from the industry’s common styles.
Shifted the site toward a customer-focused experience that highlighted the company’s expertise and offered value beyond its products.
Directed photography and digital editing to maintain a consistent high-end standard across every product image.

Platform & Web Development

Managed the migration of legacy platforms to a new CRM and PIM, building a foundation designed for growth.
Developed the front-end code personally, creating a unique user experience beyond the typical constraints of competitor platforms.
Rebuilt the full B2B ecommerce site to support retailer discovery, ordering, and long-term account growth.

Content Operations & Marketplace Growth

Standardized product shot dimensions and backgrounds to maximize consistency and streamline asset creation.
Optimized assets for seamless transfer across marketplaces like Amazon and Faire without compromising quality.
Supported a refined marketing strategy that contributed to a 30% increase in site revenue within a year.

Giving Your Brand A Look That Will Be Remembered.

In an industry where most suppliers looked interchangeable, blending in was the biggest risk Giftcraft faced, so I set out to make the brand impossible to mistake for anyone else. I led the art direction for a bolder, more vibrant visual identity that broke from the category’s safe, familiar styles, and carried it through every touchpoint.

Working closely with photographers and videographers, I directed shoots that produced high-quality catalogue assets retailers could rely on and scroll-stopping social content that gave buyers a reason to pause. Just as importantly, the work reshaped how the company presented itself. Giftcraft stopped looking like a copy and paste product catalogue and started looking like a brand with a point of view, one that retailers wanted to be associated with and customers recognized on the shelf.