How to build an online store for AI-designed Printing services from scratch

We develop a unique platform where a purchaser can set custom design or choose from an extensive library of ready-made prints and order printing on any product he/she likes: T-shirt, sweatshirt, hat, phone case and much more.

But we took it a step further and implemented the ability for users to generate AI-based images on the store's website by their text input. This became a game-changer in our client's e-commerce, a revolution in product recommendations. Each image generated by AI, based on a user's request is unique, so now, Merch Point customers will never encounter someone on the street with the same designs on their t-shirt or cap as they have. Merch Point customers highly appreciated this feature.

Moreover, if users upload their image from their computer, they can use the integrated AI tool to remove its background, enhancing how the image looks on clothing.

This allowed us to make the selection process for customers more personalized and straightforward: come, see, choose, buy. Such implementation contributed to an increase in sales and the customer base.

When someone places an order on the website in real time, other users who are on the website at that moment, see a pop-up message stating that such a product has just been ordered. This smart feature encourages other users to order and creates the impression of increased demand on the store. Thus, we managed to increase the website conversion from X% to Y%.

Our team helped automate the store's referral program and their interaction with partners. To do this, we integrated a tool for creating personalized product links. Each link is assigned a unique tag, determining who it will be attributed to. Subsequently, if customers come through these links from partners or influencers, the store administrators can see the commission calculation, which is paid as a reward within the referral/partner program. We also established an analytics system that allows tracking link traffic even if it doesn't result in conversions.

This allowed us to create a perfectly functioning system for the interaction between influencers, partners, and the Merch Point brand. The Merch Point marketing department also found an additional sales channel, increasing sales by 13%.

The client's business model involves purchasing raw materials onto which images are later printed. This, in turn, necessitates having a warehouse and logistics. The client utilizes external inventory management services, which need to be directly integrated with the CMS website to provide up-to-date information on product availability, quantity, and any changes in pricing.

We integrated all the necessary systems with the website, ensuring their seamless operation. Consequently, this also reduced the order processing time from 6 days to 4 days.

Timely page loading on the website is crucial for visitor usability and business client safety. According to statistics, a user makes a decision within the first 3 seconds of a page loading; if it doesn't load within this time, the user closes the page, leading to a high bounce rate, and the business loses a potential customer.

We optimized the website's images, making them lighter without sacrificing quality. We also removed and optimized web page and content caching, and we managed to increase the loading speed according to Google Speed data, achieving a 3-second page load time.

Additionally, we thoroughly examined the client's business and proposed an optimal website structure and page prototypes where conversions are most likely to occur. Our conversion-optimized prototypes helped the client create user-interface-savvy pages.

Merch Point is quite a large and complex website with rich functionality. Therefore, the decision was made to migrate the website from Digital Ocean to AWS for improving performance, reliability, and scalability. We also configured automated monitoring, notifications, and implemented CI/CD.

This, in turn, not only increased the website's reliability and availability but also significantly optimized infrastructure costs, which the client incurred while hosting on Digital Ocean - approximately by 10%.