In 2023, Lecavalier Cellars reached out to Dedicated Designs to partner on a complete website redesign for an expanded online presence. Lecavalier Cellars, a local wine producer and vineyard located in Placer County, knew they needed a new website that integrated their in-house branding while also having the ability to sell wine to potential customers.
Before working with Dedicated Designs, the client had a legacy front-end brochure website. While their previous website included basic information for the user, it did not have the capabilities required to sell wine through the site. The original website also struggled because of an outdated builder, which caused any editing to be more time consuming and made the site less functional as a whole. During the initial client intake review, the ability to sell wine through the site, as well as an elevated online presence that communicated their brand and core values, became the leading priorities for the project.
The Right Time for an Expanded Presence & Reach
Lecavalier Cellars reached out to Dedicated Designs at a crucial time in their business development. The company was currently in the process of bottling their first wine vintage and building additional infrastructure on their property, including a wine tasting room, which will be opening in Spring 2024.
During this crucial time, it was especially important that the winery partnered with Dedicated Designs to elevate their brand and make their products widely accessible to the larger community through an expanded online presence and commerce capabilities. Our phased approach to this project ensured that Lecavalier could start selling wine while they continued with other projects, including the construction of a future tasting room. However, it was equally as important to ensure that the brand communicated online reflected the high quality of their products and overall operation.
Elevating the Online Presence through Branding and Imagery
One of the client’s main goals was to elevate their online presence through the strategic use of branded elements and sophisticated imagery. Pre-existing branding was integrated throughout the site in order to communicate Lecavalier Cellars as an elevated and sophisticated brand that sold high-quality wine. To do this, the Dedicated Designs web team wrote customized code to format the site in line with Lecavalier’s branding elements.
A portion of the new Lecavalier homepage.
It was important to the client that the images and video files showcased the winery location through personalized photography and videography. In order to get location-accurate footage, Dedicated Designs partnered with KJ2 Productions, a Sacramento-based production company to create shots and videos specific to the needs of the website. The production company went to the winery site and took a full photo and video shoot in the location, including photos of the grape vines, the wine production space, and surrounding environment. Once they had edited and perfected all of the videos and images, the Dedicated Designs web team integrated them into the new website design to showcase the beauty and brand of Lecavalier Cellars.
Integrating Commerce 7 into the Website
When the Dedicated Designs web team started this effort, Lecavalier Cellars had already chosen a commercial system, Commerce 7 for their operation. To make sure the site could start selling wine, our team at Dedicated Designs worked to integrate Commerce 7 into the new website design– and make the user purchasing experience as straightforward as possible.
To ensure that Commerce 7 integrated seamlessly into the website, the Dedicated Designs web team wrote customized code to ensure that the format and aesthetic of the sales platform would match that of the rest of the site. This was an extra touch that the web team took on in order to make the website, the commerce system, and its brand as cohesive as possible. In other words, they worked to make sure the aesthetic of the site didn’t shift as the user navigated from browsing to purchasing wine!
Additionally, the Dedicated Designs web team also completed customized code to ensure that Commerce 7 would operate efficiently in both mobile, tablet, and desktop formats. In order to do this, the team used different coding languages to structure the website and made sure that the mobile and tablet versions of the purchasing platform were functional – so potential customers could access wine sales on the go!
Spotlight on Innovation
Lecavalier Cellars is breaking ground with the work they do in sustainable wine making. Because of this, they wanted to dedicate a full “Innovation” section of their website solely to their work in developing innovative processes and discoveries in wine making.
The focus of this page emulates their overall methods that “green is the new gold” in winemaking and sustainability efforts. For this page, our web team designed various image and video spotlights, highlighting the innovative work done at the Lecavalier Cellars winery. The incorporation of this page on the site does wonders in telling the brand story of the winery, and in showing that they are a thought leader in wine innovation.
Adding Backend Functionality through Enhanced System Organization
Setting up the site with Commerce 7 required our web team to optimize the backend of the new website as much as possible. This optimization allows the commercial system to operate efficiently throughout website use, high traffic volumes, and website sales.
The zip code checker on the Lecavalier website.
One of the custom coding projects the web team leveraged to make the site work even more efficiently was the zip code tool they integrated into the site. Because Lecavalier Cellars is consistently expanding their delivery area, the website needed a tool to alert customers if the delivery operations have not yet reached their desired delivery address. As the customer navigates through the commercial system, they are alerted by a pop-up window in the checkout area if Lecavalier is able to deliver to their area.
The web team at Dedicated Designs developed this web tool to help Lecavalier Cellars’ customer understanding, as well as the overall commerce process. With a zip code checker created for the site, every website user is able to know immediately if they can order wine to their home. By getting creative, the team found a solution that worked with the platform – without sacrificing the user experience.
Fostering a Wine Club Online
Lecavalier Cellars wanted the ability to manage a tiered system of wine club memberships on their online platform. To make sure they could complete this process, the Dedicated Designs web team utilized Commerce’s built-in functions for memberships, clubs, and enhanced group management.
The different tiers of wine club memberships available on the Lecavalier website.
The wine club, which has “Granite,” “Gold,” and “Green” tiers, needed the ability to host the three specific tiers of membership. The Dedicated Designs team seamlessly integrated the Commerce7 club platform onto Lecavalier’s website, allowing an easy place for visitors to become members, pick a club, and enjoy their wine subscriptions.
With this integration, visitors could use the same accounts they purchase individual wines to also maintain, update, and view their Club memberships.
Work with Dedicated Designs for an Expanded Online Presence
With the help of the Dedicated Designs web team, Lecavalier Cellars got a brand new website that integrated their upscale brand identity into their expanded online presence, while also allowing customers to buy bottles of wine directly from the site’s integrated commerce system. This project helped the winery craft their own online messaging through an increased online presence – and enabled Lecavalier to get the word out about their current wine selection and other services.
If you are in need of a website redesign for an expanded online presence, fill out the form below, call us at (916) 243-5003, or follow us on Instagram or Facebook!
