What's happening in the industry?

The last thing you'd want is to be outpaced by your competitors. Websites are silently upgraded, and you are surprised the next time you click on your competition's websites. It will "only" take 3+ months to select a new partner, identify the budget, work through the design process, build the website, and then release it to the public.

More importantly than keeping an eye on others in the industry from a competitive perspective, we want to observe the amazing ideas that others bring. We don't recommend copying features or designs verbatim. Instead, use these as a source of inspiration and implement them as your audience would like.

We constantly watch over 4,000 websites in this industry to keep abreast of these changes and to ensure we are at the top of our game. In the first quarter of 2024, we have identified four websites that changed platforms. These will be reviewed below.

Before Platform: Shopify
After Platform: Wordpress

Stealth Vision designs and manufactures hunting scopes and binoculars. Their website has been public since 2013. Their optics are of premium quality and command a significant price.

They moved from Shopify to WordPress in early 2024. This was a “lift and shift” move, and the design remained essentially unchanged. Based on our research, the design was updated in Q2 2023, so there wasn't much reason to reinvent the wheel when migrating back to WordPress. Two likely motivations can easily explain the reason for the move:

1. Stealth Vision likely has a high average order value, translating to a high cost of ownership on Shopify (Shopify charges a percentage of transaction value).
2. Shopify tends to rely on apps. This increases the total cost of ownership requiring a flat monthly fee just for the website to exist.
3. Shopify is not friendly to firearms, although we still see movement to Shopify even in this category, as evidenced later in this article. Because of Shopify’s stance, many organizations choose to steer clear of this platform.

Our favorite features:

Detailed specifications on the Product Display Page (click on the Specifications link)

Clean FAQ page that answers most common questions.

Value proposition at the bottom of each page.

Before: Wordpress, with BigCommerce on a subdomain
After: BigCommerce

Kriss has a unique take on firearms that minimizes recoil for faster shots. The result is firearms that have a futuristic look and feel. Their website has been through multiple iterations since 2009. They are continually innovating, as seen with their Vector Gen 3, announced at SHOT Show 2024.

Until early 2024, Kriss' website was powered by WordPress. Commerce was on a separate subdomain powered by BigCommerce. After this transition, BigCommerce now powers Kriss' entire website. This is unsurprising, as splitting content and commerce negatively affects search engine optimization.

Outside of improving SEO, Kriss took this opportunity to update the overall look and feel of the website. The header menu was simplified and made more functional by including a search box, customer account, and shopping cart. The drop-down menu has been simplified and includes direct links to products and categories (by combining the shopping experience into one website).

BigCommerce is a perfect fit for this website. BigCommerce doesn’t restrict what a website can offer or list as long as it’s legal. Thus, if desired, Kriss could sell firearms directly on its website (although this is unlikely, considering it utilizes a dealer network).

Additionally, Kriss is leveraging Shogun on the website to provide a next-level content experience. Shogun provides tremendous capabilities that are out of the box, but it can be somewhat limiting for extensive modifications.

Home page

• See before
• See after

The new homepage provides more details and jumping-off points for visitors to get directly to products. This is now a beautiful catalog page pointing to new products.

Product List Page / Category

• See before
• See after

Kriss opted to split out products by color and legal compliance (NJ/MA/CA) instead of by legal compliance only on the previous website. These pages have been simplified by removing the often unnecessary hero image. Customers want to see a product instead of being “wowed” by something they already know.

Product Display Page

• See before
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Kriss sells through a robust deal network, so they do not allow firearm sales online. This has remained the same to the new website. However, Kriss is capitalizing on BigCommerce capabilities by presenting accessories, dealer locater and more. The specifications panel is built and presented from the Shogun integration.

Before: Magento 1
After: Shopify

Frontline Holsters has invested in a massive upgrade for its brand and functionality. While its previous website was simple, its new website is mature and has an excellent brand feel. They have been in business since 1961. Their Magento 1 website has been in production since 2017.

The new experience focuses on what customers want: quickly finding their holster. Proof? Their new Holster Finder Quiz, powered by Quiz Kit. Answer a few relevant questions, and you’ll land on a recommended holster, cutting out the tedious process of navigating through the menus and deciphering marketing speak to real-world applications (KNG Thumb-Break is suitable for professional use). In fact, this holster finder is listed on product pages, making it easier to find the perfect holster and simultaneously reducing their return rate.

While this company is adjacent to the firearms space, it doesn’t conflict with Shopify’s Terms of Use that restrict firearm sales. This is akin to purchasing on holster on Amazon—no problem.

Frontline Holsters uses the Stiletto theme. This relatively inexpensive theme provides a great set of features out of the box, like age verification and color swatches.

Home Page

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The home page continues the aesthetic enhancement we see across the entire website: immersive, massive graphics and videos, clean (seemingly new) product images, clear jumping-off points to popular product categories, and even a clear-cut value proposition. It seems Frontline has hit their stride in zeroing into what customers want on this next edition of the website.

PDP

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We love the new product page. They have clearly put thought and energy into solving the age-old problem, especially exasperated by companies like Frontline where products bear strong resemblances: helping customers find the right product. There are some key features:

• Icons with hover callouts to provide additional details.
• Simplified gun selection: starts with the brand, then the model appears. This reduces customer cognitive overhead.
• + More Info next to Wearing Options. Few people will know what “BFL” means… until clicking this link. The sidebar tray isn’t anything fancy, but it doesn’t need to be. Straightforward information and diagrams will make this easy for the customers.

Before: Magento 2
After: Shopify

Cutting Edge Bullets makes precision ammunition for long-range hunting and shooting. It has been in business since 2001, starting as a small machine shop and growing into a significant enterprise.

They migrated to Magento (with the Smartwave Porto theme) in early 2017—seven years is not a bad lifespan for a platform. However, like everything else, roadblocks are hit and better options are found. Shopify is Cutting Edge Bullets' choice for the next seven years.

You might ask, “Why Shopify?” considering they do not allow firearm sales on their platform. This is correct. However, Cutting Edge Bullets does not sell firearms. They are in the clear and can leverage Shopify’s robust suite of features.

Cutting Edge Bullets took this opportunity to leverage the Focal theme to elevate their website’s user experience. This provided an excellent foundation for the look and feel. They extended the theme to include a new font, color scheme, and an overall clean implementation.

The header has been massively cleaned up. The old header was clunky and difficult to quickly grok.

However, the new one only brings the viewer what is necessary, allowing them to find what they need quickly.

Home page

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The new home page features a complete redesign. The most attention-grabbing graphic (hero image) is focused on Cutting Edge’s value proposition. This is something we find often missing on websites and are thrilled when it is included.

Better yet, they highlight About Us. Instead of this brand being faceless and corporate, their founder, Daniel Smitchko (Smitty) is clearly displayed. You are buying Daniel’s blood, sweat and tears.

PDP

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• See after

The differences between the new and old are almost like comparing the aesthetic of an early-generation iPhone with a modern edition. The screen is filled side-to-side. The images are larger than life.

They have added a few new features like in-store pickup, instant purchase, financing and reviews. Individually, these will have a net positive effect on the customer experience. Collectively, they are likely to see a significant uptick in conversion rate.