Designing the foundations of a Shopify store for an established salon in Melbourne, Australia. Focused on building trust through a professional visual identity that reflected the in-salon experience, and backed by competitive pricing and hair specialist to reinforce credibility and buyer confidence. The goal was to create a polished, conversion-focused storefront that could hold its own against larger competitors.
Conversion Driven Structure
The homepage prioritises immediate product discovery via hero and key categories. Clear sectioning of curated product collections combined with uniform presentation helps reduce cognitive load and encourages scrolling.
commitment icons are placed mid-scroll, acting as trust signals during the discovery phase. These directly address common hesitation points (e.g shipping delays, product quality enforcement), offering clarity and trust early in the experience.
Crafting the product page
Key purchasing information such as price, stock status and CTAs are structured to eliminate friction. Supporting details are placed in collapsible sections to offer depth for high-intent users while delivery info is included to signal value to customers who land directly on the product page from a search engine.
Custom code was also implemented at clients discretion to achieve certain results (e.g. low stock indicator)
Systems & Metaobjects
Shopify’s Metaobjects feature was utilised to create reusable content structures to populate pages with relevant imagery based on brand or product type. All imagery and product information is sourced from the products B2B platforms, and each image container is given appropriate constraints.
Additionally - typography and colour guides were built into the custom theme, along with detailed guides on how to remove any custom code, all done to ensure a simple handover that allows the business owner to manage and customise the store as they see fit.
Client Collaboration & Compromise
Working with a client whose design preferences didn’t always align with best practices taught me how to advocate for critical UX principles—like value propositions—while letting go of less essential elements, such as specific colour choices, to maintain a productive working relationship.
Future-Proofing Through Structure
To support long-term scalability, I implemented Shopify’s metaobject system and created a structured asset library. I also produced custom documentation to streamline product uploads, shipping, and logistics—giving the client tools to onboard new staff and manage the store independently.
Tailor Made Custom Features
Business needs drove custom solutions, like a third stock state for supplier-based fulfillment and a tag-driven navigation system that grouped products by hair type. These additions were designed to keep the custom Shopify setup lightweight and maintainable.