Introduction
Simms Fishing Products, renowned for its high-quality waders and fly fishing gear, looked to enhance its online experience for both everyday customers and professional anglers. To achieve this, Simms teamed up with our agency for strategic Shopify development, backend application creation, and ongoing digital optimization. Here’s how we helped them streamline operations, reduce costs, and improve the customer experience.
Challenges & Goals
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Distributor Availability Checker:
Simms needed a custom way to show customers where products were available locally, reducing guesswork and boosting retail partner sales.
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Fractional Web Team Needs:
Rather than hiring multiple senior positions in-house, Simms sought an agile team to handle strategy, design, development, and maintenance.
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Trade Program Expansion:
Professionals in the fishing industry needed easy access to Simms products through a streamlined, custom trade application.
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Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO):
Simms recognized the need to test and optimize key site elements—product detail pages, navigation, and the cart—for higher conversion rates.
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Version Control & Theme Management:
Prior to our engagement, version control practices and structured theme changes were minimal, leading to slower iteration and potential quality issues.
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Cost & Feature Efficiency:
Heavy reliance on third-party tools, like Searchspring, increased costs and limited theme control. Simms wanted more flexibility and reduced overhead.
Our Role: Fractional Web Team
Instead of a traditional single-department approach, we served as Simms’s fractional web team—filling strategic and operational roles at a fraction of the cost of multiple full-time hires. This setup let Simms scale up or down quickly based on project demands, while retaining deep expertise in:
- E‑commerce Strategy
- UX/UI Design
- Shopify Theme Development
- Backend/Custom App Development
- Conversion Rate Optimization
- Ongoing Maintenance & Support
Key Initiatives & Solutions
Custom Distributor Availability Application
Simms needed a straightforward way to help customers locate local stores carrying in-stock products. To meet this need, we built a dynamic Shopify‑integrated application that taps into real-time or regularly updated inventory data. This solution made it easy for customers to find nearby retail partners, enhancing the user experience while simultaneously increasing foot traffic and boosting partner sales.
Ongoing Fractional Web Team Services
As Simms’s fractional web team, we provide senior-level e‑commerce, UX, and digital marketing expertise without the substantial overhead of hiring multiple full-time employees. Our approach involves delivering responsive design and development to ensure an intuitive and mobile-friendly user experience. We also provide backend support, integrating Shopify with Simms’s internal systems to streamline daily operations. By offering this broad range of services, we effectively cover all critical digital needs under one flexible and cost-efficient arrangement.
Trade Program Application
For professional anglers and related industry experts, we enhanced and supported a custom trade program application that streamlines access to Simms products under special rates and terms. By improving user flows, adding new features, and ensuring robust backend functionality, we helped Simms expand its brand visibility among influencers and pros. This approach not only supports sales but also fosters valuable word-of-mouth promotion among key voices in the fishing community.
Conversion Rate Optimization & A/B Testing
With a focus on product detail pages, site navigation, and the cart experience, we established a structured A/B testing framework that allows for continuous refinement of essential conversion elements. By analyzing user behavior and performance metrics, we make data-driven adjustments that lead to more intuitive layouts and higher conversion rates. Our efforts began in earnest in late 2024 and are set to continue through 2025, ensuring ongoing improvements that adapt to evolving customer needs.
Feature-Rich Blog: Support Multimedia Content
Recognizing the importance of brand storytelling, we developed a flexible blog framework on Shopify that supports diverse content, including animated videos and dynamic category overviews. This feature-rich blog helps Simms showcase its expertise and outdoor culture, encouraging deeper engagement among customers. By highlighting content in an organized and visually appealing manner, we also strengthen SEO efforts and drive more traffic to the site.
Git Version Control & Theme Management
Before our engagement, Simms had limited version control, which made it difficult to track theme updates and ensure stable deployments. To address this, we introduced a strict Git-based workflow for all changes related to Shopify themes and functionality. This shift offers greater reliability and transparency, enabling the team to quickly roll back to previous versions, track incremental improvements, and maintain a higher standard of code quality.
Migrating Away From Searchspring
Simms previously relied heavily on third-party search and filtering tools that drove up costs and restricted front-end customization. We took a targeted approach to replicate the most valuable features directly within Shopify, giving Simms’s theme more direct control over the user experience. This migration significantly lowered software expenses, increased site performance, and enabled rapid, localized customizations without waiting for third-party updates.
Results & Impact
Through our fractional web team model, Simms achieved significant cost efficiency by accessing multiple senior-level skill sets without the overhead of full-time staffing. By reducing dependencies on external tools and introducing robust version control, development and deployment became more agile, allowing for continuous updates and improvements. Users benefit from custom apps—including the distributor availability tool and trade program—that enrich both consumer and partner experiences. Meanwhile, regular conversion optimization and A/B testing continue to yield higher conversion rates, supported by a well-structured blog that enhances storytelling and SEO. Overall, these collective efforts have strengthened Simms’s online presence and brand positioning in a competitive market.
Moving forward, we plan to expand our A/B testing initiatives to refine product pages, checkout flows, and site-wide navigation based on real-world data.
Conclusion
Our ongoing partnership with Simms Fishing Products demonstrates how a fractional web team can deliver a combination of strategic insight, technical expertise, and operational support at a manageable cost. With streamlined workflows, robust custom applications, and a commitment to data‑driven improvements, Simms is well positioned to scale its e‑commerce efforts in 2025 and beyond.
