CarBahn, founded by world-class performance engineer and driver, Steve Dinan, is the premier destination for BMW, Audi, and Mercedes tuning, engines, and vehicle modifications. With a passion for performance and precision engineering, CarBahn provides best-in-class aftermarket upgrades, from engine modifications to suspension enhancements, ensuring optimal performance and reliability.
CHALLENGE
Serving a diverse clientele ranging from executives and luxury commuters to young DIY car enthusiasts, CarBahn needed to modernize its ecommerce infrastructure to support its growth ambitions. CarBahn's initial online presence was built on a combination of WordPress and WooCommerce that struggled to deliver a cohesive customer journey that its customers expected, site speed and SEO optimization that Google valued, and ecommerce performance modern businesses demand. The site’s limitations included:
Performance & Experience Issues
Slow load times and limited search capabilities hindered customer experience.Low Conversion Rates
With a conversion rate well below industry standard, CarBahn’s existing site underperformed, resulting in missed sales opportunities due to a disjointed customer experience between commerce and content platforms.Abandoned Carts
CarBahn had a notable amount of unconverted carts, indicating intent but friction in the current user experience suggested a lack of trust.Limited Scalability
The existing platform wasn’t built to scale as demand for CarBahn’s products increased, making it challenging to invest in and grow the direct-to-consumer (D2C) business.
SOLUTION
Red Van, a leading Shopify ecommerce consultant, was brought in to address these challenges. They proposed a re-platforming to Shopify to better support CarBahn's growth objectives and D2C strategy. Key elements in the solution included:
Migration to Shopify
Red Van migrated CarBahn from WordPress to Shopify, activating Shopify’s modern ecommerce capabilities to provide a faster, more reliable platform.Enhanced User Experience
The new Shopify site was optimized for speed and ease of navigation. Red Van focused on creating a modern storefront that allowed customers to easily find and purchase products, addressing the poor user experience of the previous site.Scalability and Integration
Red Van set up the new Shopify site to prepare for CarBahn’s future needs, including laying the groundwork for an ERP integration to automate pricing and inventory management.Strategic Consulting
Beyond the technical aspects of deploying a new ecommerce infrastructure, Red Van provided strategic advice on third-party integrations and optimizing commerce operations, helping CarBahn not only launch a new site but also set a foundation for long-term growth."This site makes telling the story of CarBahn even easier and gives our customers the performance they’ve been waiting for and an experience they can trust"
RESULTS
Since going live with its new site, the impact of Red Van’s work was immediately apparent.
“This is the website we’ve been waiting for all along,” said Zachary Burgeson, Chief Marketing Officer at CarBahn. “This site makes telling the story of CarBahn even easier and gives our customers access to the performance they’ve been waiting for and an experience they can trust.”
In the short period since launch, CarBahn has achieved its biggest online sales month ever, setting record highs in revenue, order count, conversion rates, and traffic. CarBahn’s trust in Red Van has delivered a conversion rate two times higher than seen previously and a dramatic increase in average order size.
A key driver behind these results is the 105% increase in organic search traffic, with steadily improving SEO rankings due to the upgraded site architecture. Shopify's out-of-the-box abandoned cart feature has also played a role, contributing 10% of site demand. On top of that, more customers are using diverse payment options like Venmo, PayPal, and Shop Pay, further boosting conversions.
Revenue gains are also tied to an enhanced user experience and the power of Shop Pay’s purchase financing, which is expected to convert even more abandoned carts. From an operational perspective, Shopify’s streamlined product management tools allow CarBahn to focus more on developing its products and less on the day-to-day upkeep of its storefront. Together, CarBahn, Red Van, and Shopify are poised to exceed expectations and continue driving impressive results.
“Many leading automotive aftermarket brands rely on Shopify for their core infrastructure, and CarBahn is no exception. Shopify eliminates the guesswork, replacing it with the confidence needed to run our business,” remarked Burgeson when assessing the move to Shopify.
CarBahn Has Found a Long-Term Partner in Red Van
"Shopify, the ecommerce equivalent to a luxury high-performance vehicle, was enhanced by Red Van in the same way CarBahn optimizes BMWs. They took an already powerful platform and fine-tuned it for peak performance—just as we do with cars," noted Burgeson.
By acting as a trusted partner and commerce advocate, Red Van helped CarBahn turn their online store into a best-in-class machine, ready to accelerate its D2C business to new speeds.