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Tidewater Sandals is a 25-year-old company that makes flip-flops. They’re affordable: most pairs sell for $29.99. They’re comfortable: they mold to the wearer’s feet so well that once a customer has worn a pair a few times, no one else can wear them.
And they’re fun, with whimsical designs ranging from snowflakes to Sasquatches to corgis; according to owner Micheal Smith, just about anything you can think of that someone might collect or be passionate about has been featured on a Tidewater sandal.
That combination of comfort, whimsy and affordability means Tidewater has a fanatical customer base, with customers sometimes collecting dozens of pairs.
While the website worked well enough, it didn’t clearly communicate why Tidewater is different or give a prospective customer the information they needed to buy their first pair. Tidewater wanted a website that would better communicate the quality and maturity of the brand—and its personality. Smith was a fan of The Unofficial Shopify Podcast; she trusted that Ethercycle would make a site that suited Tidewater’s needs.
“The first directive was, don't break what's working—because we already have a very strong conversion rate and average order; all of the metrics that an entrepreneur would hope to have, we have them, and that's been great. The second directive is, bring that personality to life—the personality that exists within each and every one of our patterns that we create, we wanted that to come through and tell that story.”
Ethercycle’s team set out to elevate Tidewater’s design while making it trendy and friendly in a way that would connect with the company’s customer base. The new design leans into a playful coastal vibe, with icons like starfish (for “5-star reviews”) and beach waves (for “fast shipping”).
On Tidewater’s old site, the brand’s comfort story was buried in several paragraphs of copy. It was critical that the new site emphasize the quality and comfort of the product.
“The reality is, our target market is 40 to 60—and oftentimes over 60 years old, and they often feel like, ‘I can't wear flip flops anymore.’ Well, we need to be able to tell them that that's not true. In fact, we needed the site to do some heavy lifting on that education and flip that mindset in fact, our flip-flops offer all of the same comfort of a $75 pair of orthotics. That was what we needed to make sure that we clearly communicated in a way that, again, didn't break what was already working.”-Micheal Smith, owner, Tidewater Sandals
The new homepage includes an animated section—with lifestyle images customers can connect with—explaining the ComfortWave Technology that makes Tidewater Sandals so comfortable to wear. The product page also includes a more simplified section describing the technology.
Smith worked closely with Ethercycle’s team, with Ethercycle staff creating mock-ups and Smith offering feedback on what did and did not suit the Tidewater brand. The project also included an SEO metadata audit and update.
Thirty days after Tidewater’s Shopify theme was updated, the conversion rate was up 15% versus the previous 30 days. Gross sales were also up 10% post-update, and sessions were up 6%.
“It kind of felt like I was working with friends, dare I say. Tom would record videos for me explaining things and I would record videos back. And for me, that’s important. I like to be heard.”
“I feel it's the most beautiful site we've done so far, and I'll be using it as inspiration for future projects.”-Tom Siodlak, design+dev at Ethercycle