Conversions up 98% – Micheldever Group futureproofs its ecommerce

Micheldever Group is benefitting in a number of ways from an overhauled online presence. The company speaks of a “digital transformation” utilising CMS Storyblok and supported by digital agency Profound, a transformation that has resulted in “major commercial impact.”

But all this is just fancy talk for a new website, innit? Well, yes – but also no. Motorists have long been able to book MOTs and other services, compare tyres and access information and advice through the Protyre B2C site, but following a period of exponential growth, it became clear to Micheldever Group that its website was no longer up to the job. Its outdated monolithic legacy platform was cumbersome and difficult to maintain, while restricting the ability to add new features, make important updates and improve SEO strategy.

Enter Profound, who recommended an innovative MACH (Microservices, API-first, Cloud-based, and Headless) architecture solution for the Protyre website that combines microservices on the cloud using Storyblok’s headless CMS. The tech stack currently consists of commercetools for eCommerce, Pimberly in terms of product information management, Bynder for digital asset management and Algolia as the site search and discovery engine. Micheldever Group says the transition to MACH has enabled it to increase conversions by 98 per cent.

As well as improving website performance, the project has also enhanced the customer experience and data optimisation. The aforementioned 98 per cent increase in overall conversions for the Protyre B2C site in just three months includes a 115 per cent increase in mobile and a 65 per cent increase in desktop conversion rates. Moreover, it achieved a 28.4 per cent decrease in website load time and a Lighthouse SEO score of 100.

Benefits too good to ignore

“Rather than defaulting to technologies that are built once, maintained, and then torn down and rebuilt, Micheldever Group opted out for a composable future-proof architecture. A SaaS-based approach that satisfies the forward-thinking view of the brand,” comments Tim McMillen, CEO and founder of Profound.

Testament to the website’s success, the Protyre project was recently announced as a finalist in the 2024 UK Digital Excellence Awards in the ‘B2C Website of the Year’ category.

“As we look to 2024, there’s no doubt that MACH architecture will emerge as a dominant tech narrative,” says Alexander Feiglstorfer, CTO and co-founder of Storyblok. “Put simply, the benefits are too good to ignore. It vastly reduces costs, speeds up development and is incredibly flexible, enabling enterprises to effortlessly add new features and functionality as their needs evolve while remaining primed for the future – such as true omnichannel.

“Our recent work with Micheldever Group offers a compelling demonstration of how impactful this type of tech infrastructure can be in terms of both marketing outputs and conversions. As brands come under pressure to keep pace with ever-changing customer expectations, marketing trends and developing data science, it’s not hyperbole to say that nearly every brand will end up converting to MACH architecture.”