The Gist
Hansen Equestrian is a premium brand in the equestrian world known for thoughtful design and high-quality Canadian craftsmanship. Sarah Hansen founded it as a project for her tenth-grade entrepreneurship class. Armed with $5,000 in seed money, she began building patterns for accessories like horse blankets and saddle covers that she would be excited to own as a competitive equestrian.
The Challenge
Over the years, Hansen Equestrian has grown to be a fixture in Ontario barns and tack rooms with bold patterns and sophisticated styling. Sales came in via phone, email, trade show, and Etsy store but were heavily dependent on having access to Sarah for consultation. As her business pivoted to include both “off the rack” standard products and highly customizable products, she needed a website that could handle traffic and sales independently. She needed something that could capture dozens of customization options and turn them into orders – without needing phone calls or emails every step of the way.
The Job
Maya worked with her most trusted web dev partner to build the new, e-commerce-driven Hansen Equestrian website from scratch. From setting the content strategy and writing the copy, to organizing the product matrix backend and all supporting images, Maya translated the love and care Sarah puts into her products into a digital showcase. As Sarah’s business evolved from standardized products to providing fully customizable designs, so did the complexity of managing endless combinations. There were endless permutations of fabrics, trims, embroidery, piping, and accents (not to mention shipping, tax, and international exchange rules). The project was launched just in time for the 2018 Royal Agricultural Winter Fair – a marquee event for the equestrian community where Hansen Equestrian is a staple exhibitor.
Results
Moving to an owned platform has allowed Hansen Equestrian to have ultimate flexibility in the product listings and customizations without relying on the Etsy platform (and its commissions). Hansen Equestrian’s competitors don’t provide the user experience for self-serve customization that her website gives to its customers – giving them hassle-free access to design their accessories online.
In Closing
Pivoting a business to be self-sustaining online is critical to surviving volatility (and welcome late-night shoppers with the ability to process their order in a snap). Hansen Equestrian is well-positioned to continue showing up in tack rooms everywhere through her e-commerce crown jewel.
