Taylored Expressions: Putting a Stamp on Ecommerce Success

A strategic BigCommerce rebuild focused on the user experience transformed the brand's digital storefront into a high-performing hub for the crafting community.

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PROJECT OVERVIEW

Taylored Expressions, a leading brand in the paper crafting industry, selected Mira Commerce to execute a complete redesign and re-platforming of their ecommerce website. The brand’s existing site did not fully capture its market leadership or effectively serve its dedicated community of makers. Mira Commerce was tasked with developing a best-in-class digital flagship on the BigCommerce platform, engineering a solution to enhance the user journey and build a scalable foundation for future D2C growth.

The Challenge

The central challenge was to architect an online experience that not only simplified the path to purchase but also actively inspired and engaged a user base of passionate crafters, reflecting the brand's community-centric values.

Our solution was to build a user experience based on how crafters actually think and work. We chose BigCommerce because it provided a solid foundation that was also flexible enough for us to build the custom features needed to bring the brand’s vision to life.

Our process started with understanding the customer. We studied how crafters plan projects and shop for supplies to find areas where the old site was frustrating or missed a chance to inspire. Based on this, we did a complete redesign of the site, built several new features from the ground up, and connected their popular blog content directly with their products.

Key features we implemented include: 

Shop by Color: Crafters often look for materials in a specific color palette. We built a visual tool that lets users pick a color and instantly see all matching products—from cardstock to ink—which makes planning a project much easier.

Crafting Kit Finder: To prevent customers from feeling overwhelmed by options, we created a smart filter. This helps users find the perfect kit for their needs by sorting by project, style, or skill level.

Blog and Store Integration: We connected their inspirational blog posts to their product pages. Now, when a customer reads a tutorial, they can find all the supplies they need right there, closing the gap between inspiration and creation.

Wishlist for Project Planning: We turned the basic wishlist into a tool for organizing projects. Customers can create multiple lists, add notes, and see if items are in stock, helping them plan future purchases.

Custom Promotions: We set up a system for banners and offers that adapt to what users are doing on the site, making promotions more relevant and helpful.

Taylored Expressions

Founded in 2008 by Taylor Van Bruggen, Taylored Expressions is a highly respected brand in the paper crafting community, known for its high-quality, American-made stamps, dies, and supplies. The company has built a loyal following by focusing on education, inspiration, and authentic community engagement.

Results

The new website launch delivered immediate, measurable improvements across key performance indicators, confirming the success of the user-centric strategy. By tailoring the platform to the creative workflows of makers, the new digital storefront significantly increased both customer engagement and purchasing activity.

The 22% increase in engaged sessions validated the new site's design and features, proving that users found the environment more supportive and interactive. This deeper engagement directly influenced purchasing behavior on the site. Rather than just browsing, users converted at a higher rate, leading to a 24% increase in total transactions.

Furthermore, custom tools like the "Shop by Color" navigator and the "Crafting Kit Finder" successfully encouraged cross-category discovery and product bundling. This resulted in a 16% increase in Average Order Value (AOV). Ultimately, the cumulative impact of higher engagement, more frequent checkouts, and larger cart sizes drove a 44% increase in overall revenue, demonstrating a clear return on investment for the platform upgrade.

Metrics at a glance

+%Increase in Revenue

+%Increase in Engaged Sessions

+%Increase in Average Order Value

+%Increase in Transactions

"Mira delivered timely, well-managed projects with clear task oversight, always responsive to our needs. Their ability to understand our unique business requirements truly impressed us, and the results speak for themselves - increased traffic, higher engagement, stronger conversions, and measurable average order growth."

Megan Elfers

CMO, Taylored Expressions

SUMMARY

The strategic replatforming of TayloredExpressions.com successfully aligned the brand's digital presence with its market reputation. By shifting from a purely transactional model to an experience-driven one, Mira Commerce delivered a custom BigCommerce solution that generated significant growth across all key metrics. The project resulted in a 44% increase in overall revenue, driven by a 24% increase in transactions and a 16% boost in Average Order Value (AOV). User interaction also saw a strong lift, marked by a 22% increase in engaged sessions. This performance proves that a maker-first approach has equipped Taylored Expressions with a powerful, scalable platform poised for long-term success.