How Wüsthof launched a global direct-to-consumer site in 3 months

• Headquarters: Solingen, Germany / Norwalk, Connecticut
• Technology Stack: Next.JS, Vercel, and Shopify

Key facts (60 days post-launch)

As a historical tools manufacturer with over 200 years of experience worldwide, Wüsthof (opens in a new window) had little overall experience in direct-to-consumer and digital marketing. Working with the agency Vividfront ensured their experience with Storyblok and Shopify for their new US eCommerce storefront was a success. The entire proposal to launch took just 5 days. 60 days post-launch, Wüsthof’s site saw a 39.24% increase in website users, a 50% increase in organic traffic, and an outstanding 50% increase in revenue. On top of that, their Google Lighthouse scores soared into the 90s, on par with precisely what they needed for a fast-performing site made for customer experiences.

Challenges faced by Wüsthof’s global digital experience

In 2021, Wüsthof’s senior management aligned to reevaluate and ultimately relaunch the website that would best fit the ecosystem they wanted to be in. This meant finally taking back ownership of their brand and market space, elevating their brand experience globally and digitally, and streamlining internal processes. However, this came with its challenges rooted in their setup on Magento 1, including:

• An initial eCommerce setup that needed more scalability: Having moved from the initial Javascript-based platform to Magento 1 and to Shopify, the brand quickly realized some limitations. While the Shopify site was successful, the brand realized it was not the “end-all-be-all” experience they wanted. Wüsthof and Vividfront knew they needed a scalable, future-proof option. They decided on a headless CMS paired with a Shopify integration that would help gain access to global consumer markets quickly.
• Misaligned infrastructures restricting growth: Wüsthof was new to the direct-to-consumer space and sat on completely different tech stacks in other regions. This led to those components, at times, not growing simultaneously in a streamlined way. The brand needed a unified and global infrastructure that could be managed efficiently.
• The inability to streamline different product catalogs: Global product catalogs across various locations and languages were set up in separate silos. To take back ownership of the brand, Wüsthof needed a centralized system that could allow such catalogs for different markets to exist in one location.
• The lack of a best-of-breed approach: Other CMSs that offered eCommerce options and their past setup were constricted. The brand needed help to choose what kind of integrations they wanted to fit their needs, preventing their growth and scalability in the long run.

Storyblok’s solutions for localized eCommerce capabilities

When Vividfront started searching for a CMS, the agency had two main criteria:

1. Provide Wüsthof with a content management experience that could scale and work globally across various regions and languages.

2. Find a suitable CMS that was not a typical headless system set up on fields. Such a set up would make it hard for a content manager to experience and visualize content for campaigns.

Storyblok enabled Wüsthof’s brand ownership to their new direct-to-consumer eCommerce store through:

• A Shopify setup for Wüsthof to work reactively with real-time customer input, easily creating, adapting, and editing new experiences.
• A best-of-breed selection (opens in a new window) to connect any integrations to enhance Wüsthof’s eCommerce experience.
• Robust documentation for global scalability and localization. (opens in a new window)
• The Visual Editor with a real-time preview to help users visualize the content experience and campaigns they build.
• Storyblok’s workflows that support cross-collaboration between Wüsthof and Vividfront’s users' access to a specific project or space within the site setup. That granularity level ensures teams are where they need to be in an organized workflow.
• Managing multiple product catalogs from various markets and languages in a centralized place.

Vividfront supported Wüsthof’s onboarding process on how Storyblok worked. As a result, the Wüsthof team was onboarded in just one week while simultaneously completing QA with finalization in development and design. This proved a testament to Vividfront’s transfer of knowledge and the simple learning process users would have using Storyblok.

Such simple learning processes and rapid onboarding ultimately set Wüsthof’s site up for success in also bringing their German-based entity to Storyblok (opens in a new window). Wüsthof brought together two different product site catalogs on two other navigation systems between the North American and EMEA systems into one centralized hub on Storyblok.

Bringing razor-sharp eCommerce performance

A perfect sync between an eCommerce integration such as Shopify with Storyblok’s user-friendly setup allowed the brand to grow continuously. Vividfront’s expertise helped launch Wüsthof’s new eCommerce direct-to-consumer site that was scalable and performed beyond expectations in just 3 months. This created a perfect opportunity for Wüsthof to take advantage of such a direct-to-consumer approach and streamline their cross-team collaboration internally.