A Wellness Brand’s Seamless Shopify Solution

Bio-K Plus was selling their products in stores across North America, but they needed the addition of an online store to become more accessible and expand their customer base. Their Canadian and US markets needed to be served slightly differently from a marketing and sales perspective. And the Canadian website needed to be bilingual to cater to their English and French audience.

Bio-K needed guidance going through all their existing web pages and help to incorporate fresh content to fit their new site. It was especially important to establish how the content would fit together considering brick-and-mortar and digital needs. 

The core component of this project was the integration of a Shopify E-Commerce platform. Bio-K needed a seamless solution that encompassed their entire user journey from product education to a product purchase.

Utilizing Shopify’s Liquid Templating Language

Shopify developed an open-source templating language called Liquid that specifically serves Shopify stores. We used Liquid to customize a unique theme for Bio-K Plus.

We designed eye-catching animations throughout and most notably a vertical module slider on their home page. Each slider module contains an image, text and call-to-action to inspire and inform users. The slider module gives Bio-K ultimate control and flexibility to change their content whenever they need, which is essential within their fast-paced industry.

Setting-up Shopify Integrations and Inventory Management

Bio-K Plus has two product lines, Original and Pro, and a variety of products within each line. We helped them set up their inventory tracking and management so they could easily visualize how each product line is performing and better serve their customers. Considering that they operate across North America, we adapted their logistics for Canadian and US inventory.

We also helped Bio-K Plus research and integrate a variety of applications, including payment providers, translation apps, shipping and fulfillment solutions, and marketing tools, that help their E-commerce site run smoothly.

In terms of marketing integrations and strategy, we collaborated with Power Digital, a digital marketing agency. Together we created a winning SEO strategy that builds visibility and trust while driving qualified sales leads.

An E-commerce Platform That Tells a Story

Although an E-commerce platform’s ultimate goal is to sell products, we also wanted to highlight Bio-K Plus’ brand story. The art of storytelling is especially important when building trust for health products like probiotics. Due to users reading less when purchasing products, we created short milestones to express how they evolved over the past 60 years.

Alongside Bio-K Plus, we got into the mind of the consumer to organize all their content in a way that best supports the user’s journey in purchasing a product. We incorporated several calls-to-action so users can explore the site without getting overwhelmed. They can easily buy products while learning about the wonders of probiotics.

This project was in partnership with Pointer, an agency based in Ottawa that specializes in functional E-commerce experiences. They provided us with guidance in navigating the E-commerce space and specifically the Shopify platform.

Adapting Branding to the Web

Partnering with Pigeon Brands, a branding agency from Toronto, they produced the branding for Bio-K Plus while we adapted it to be fit for the web.

We took into account how colours appear differently on digital devices, especially bright colours. Bio-K’s brand features a bright green which is great for in-person products but straining for users looking at a screen. Our solution was to use a slightly muted green as an accent element so the colour is still recognizable for existing customers but not too overwhelming on the eyes.

Another important consideration was their Original and Pro lines which were designed in two different branding styles. The Original line contains everyday probiotics represented by their classic green and a variety of colours to distinguish different flavours. The Pro line is a stronger probiotic that is recommended by doctors and highly trusted in hospitals, so a darker blue was used to represent authority and reliability.

We adapted the branding of their Pro line so that it would complement their existing brand without clashing. Because the site promotes both product lines, it was important that users could easily distinguish between the two while also remaining consistent overall.