Groovy Stores improves the checkout process for its three specialty sites.

The operators of Groovy Stores went live earlier this month with a new e-commerce platform for three of its five specialty e-retail sites—TeaFlection.com, CoffeeGroupie.com and FutonCoversOutlet.com.

Groovy Stores says it made the switch from its two-year-old e-commerce platform to offer consumers a better customer experience by improving its shopping cart and speeding up the checkout process. For instance, the new platform eliminates the need for consumers to register on the site before making a purchase. The new technology also makes the site easier to update and to integrate with social media.

“We were on a previous platform that was fine and doing its job, but it wasn’t enabling us to go where we wanted to go,” says Patrick Kidda, the company’s so-called chief groovy officer. “The biggest improvement we see is in the order form experience. It’s easier to order and makes much more sense.”

The company says it timed the migration so the sites would be ready and easier to use in time for holiday season sales traffic. The switch took about three months to complete.

Apart from shopping cart and checkout improvements, the outward site designs largely remain the same. “This is an improvement for our customers, but not a shock,” Kidda says.

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Magento provides the new platform. Groovy Stores used its interactive marketing agency, NeboWeb, to implement the changes.

The new platform allows content managers to update site content more easily. They can also integrate the site with the retailer’s efforts on Facebook and Twitter, such as running weekly Haiku poetry contests about tea.

“It’s easier for non-tech people to manage,” Kidda says.

The company also is using the Magento platform to build an iPhone app for TeaFlection.com that will enable consumers to complete their purchase in just a few clicks. The company expects the app to be ready in three to five weeks.

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Groovy Stores’ other e-retail properties are Whookahs.com and GroovyHookahs.com. Kidda says NeboWeb will be tracking store performance for the sites running on Magento and on Groovy’s prior platform. Groovy Stores will set a timeframe to move the last two sites based on the results.

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