E-commerce Store — Catalog & Checkout

Project overview

A Medicine Hat retailer with a strong in-store following needed a real online store — not a Facebook page with DM-based ordering. They wanted product photos, descriptions, secure checkout, and a way to ship across Alberta without juggling spreadsheets.

The challenge

The owner was losing weekend sales because anyone outside the Hat had no easy way to buy. Manual order taking via Messenger and email was time-consuming and error-prone, payments had to be invoiced separately, and there was no inventory visibility. They also had real worries about payment security and the cost of running an online store.

The solution

We launched a focused e-commerce experience built around the products and the customer journey, not bells and whistles. Key features included:

• Clean product catalog with categories, search, and filterable attributes
• High-quality product photography and consistent description templates
• Stripe-powered secure checkout supporting credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay
• Real-time inventory and a simple admin dashboard the owner could actually use
• Local pickup option for Medicine Hat customers alongside flat-rate Canada shipping
• Automated order confirmation emails and shipping notifications

Results

Illustrative results within the first three months after launch:

• Online sales accounted for roughly 30% of total revenue by month three
• Average order value increased ~22% versus historical Messenger orders
• Saved an estimated 10+ hours per week on manual order processing
• New customers reached from across southern Alberta and beyond

Numbers shown are illustrative of the kind of outcomes a small-but-focused e-commerce launch can deliver.