How did the new website design reflect FTA’s brand identity?

Leveraging BigCommerce’s Stencil theme framework, the website was redesigned to reflect FTA’s professionalism and expertise in firearms training. The design incorporated a clean, professional aesthetic with bold typography and impactful imagery, aligned with industry standards to convey authority and trust.

What role did BigCommerce’s built-in features play in the website’s success?

BigCommerce’s built-in eCommerce features were crucial in ensuring secure transactions, effective inventory management, and robust customer relationship management. These features helped streamline FTA’s operations and improve the overall customer experience.

How did the new platform enhance FTA’s customer engagement?

The new platform included features like a custom product page that allows for both full course purchases and deposits, as well as a custom React component for the side cart. Additionally, the platform's design incorporated community engagement elements, such as discussion forums, to create a more enriching learning environment.

What was the impact of the migration and redesign on FTA’s business?

The successful migration and redesign equipped FTA with a modern, scalable, and user-friendly eCommerce platform. This transformation enabled them to expand their reach, better serve their growing customer base, and establish themselves as a leader in the digital firearms training landscape.

FTATV Drupal to BigCommerce Migration and Redesign Case Study -

Firing Range/Firearms Certification | Launched 03/01/24

Firearms Training Associates (FTA), a premier provider of firearms training and certification courses, sought to elevate their digital presence and expand their reach. However, their existing Drupal-based website was hindering their growth. Outdated, cumbersome to manage, and lacking essential eCommerce features required for their expanding course catalog and growing customer base, FTA needed a modern, scalable solution to streamline operations and drive growth. That's where MAK Digital, a leading BigCommerce agency, stepped in to provide the expertise and solutions needed to transform their online platform.

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Concept

Recognizing the limitations of their Drupal-based website, FTA sought to migrate to a platform that could better support their expanding training business. The existing site, built on an outdated version of Drupal, struggled to handle the increasing volume of course enrollments, manage a growing library of video content, and provide a seamless user experience for customers.

The concept for the new website envisioned a robust, scalable platform that could streamline FTA's operations and enhance the overall customer journey. This entailed migrating all existing course content, video content, and customer data to BigCommerce, a leading eCommerce platform known for its flexibility, scalability, and powerful built-in features. To ensure a seamless transition, FTA partnered with MAKDigital, BigCommerce developers that are experienced in BigCommerce data migration, ensuring all critical information was securely and efficiently transferred to the new platform.

Moreover, our BigCommerce designers were tasked with creating a modern design that reflects the brand's professionalism and expertise in firearms training, providing an engaging and intuitive experience for visitors.

Additionally, FTA sought to incorporate features that would foster community engagement, such as discussion forums or interactive elements, to create a more enriching learning environment for their students. By addressing these key areas and leveraging the capabilities of BigCommerce, FTA aimed to transform their online presence, attract a wider audience, and establish themselves as a leader in the digital firearms training landscape.

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Redesign

The concept for the new website envisioned a robust, scalable platform that could streamline FTA's operations and enhance the overall customer journey. This entailed migrating all existing course content, video content, and customer data to BigCommerce, a leading eCommerce platform known for its flexibility, scalability, and powerful built-in features. To ensure a seamless transition, FTA partnered with a BigCommerce developer experienced in BigCommerce data migration, ensuring all critical information was securely and efficiently transferred to the new platform.

Moreover, a BigCommerce web design team collaborated closely with a BigCommerce designer to create a modern design that reflects the brand's professionalism and expertise in firearms training, providing an engaging and intuitive experience for visitors.

Key features of the new BigCommerce platform would include a user-friendly course catalog, a simplified enrollment process, and robust eCommerce capabilities to support course purchases and transactions. The platform would also need to be mobile-responsive, ensuring accessibility for learners on various devices. Additionally, the team focused on BigCommerce speed optimization to ensure fast loading times and a seamless browsing experience, enhancing user satisfaction and engagement.

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Solution

To address FTA's outdated Drupal website, we migrated all existing content and data to the robust BigCommerce platform. This provided a solid foundation for a custom BigCommerce Stencil theme, meticulously crafted to reflect their professional brand identity and resonate with their target audience.

We prioritized a seamless user experience by implementing intuitive navigation, a streamlined checkout process, and integrating a secure, high-performance video hosting platform for smooth delivery of their training content. In addition, we developed several custom features to enhance functionality and user engagement.

These included a Custom Gallery React Component enabling infinite image scrolling, a complex dropdown navigation menu with category images and a calendar schedule, and various custom category views that display products as classes, as a calendar schedule, or as a monthly class schedule, catering to different user preferences.

To further streamline the customer journey, we implemented a custom product page that allows for both full course purchases and $50 deposits, and a custom React component for the side cart, ensuring a seamless checkout experience. We also leveraged BigCommerce's built-in eCommerce features, in collaboration with a BigCommerce elite partner, for secure transactions, inventory management, and customer relationship management.

Additionally, to improve online visibility and drive more organic traffic, we utilized BigCommerce SEO services to optimize the site for search engines, ensuring that FTA’s courses and offerings reached a wider audience. FTA also enrolled into MAKDigital's BigCommerce retainer service for on-going support, this will ensure if they ever run into an issue MAK will be there to fix it!

As a result of the successful migration and redesign, FTA is now equipped with a modern, scalable, and user-friendly eCommerce platform that has enabled them to expand their reach and better serve their growing customer base.

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FTATV.com BigCommerce Website Redesign and BigCommerce Platform Migration: Everything You Need to Know About the FTATV.com Digital Transformation

Why did Firearms Training Associates (FTA) decide to migrate from Drupal to BigCommerce?

FTA's existing Drupal-based website was outdated, difficult to manage, and lacked essential eCommerce features needed to support their expanding course catalog and growing customer base. BigCommerce offered a modern, scalable solution that could streamline their operations and enhance the overall customer journey.
What were the key challenges FTA faced with their previous Drupal-based website?

The Drupal-based website struggled to handle the increasing volume of course enrollments, manage a growing library of video content, and provide a seamless user experience. It was also cumbersome to manage and lacked the necessary eCommerce features to support FTA’s growth.
How did the migration to BigCommerce improve FTA’s online platform?

The migration to BigCommerce provided FTA with a robust, scalable platform that included a user-friendly course catalog, a simplified enrollment process, and robust eCommerce capabilities. The new platform also ensured the website was mobile-responsive, improving accessibility for learners on various devices.
What custom features were implemented on the new FTA BigCommerce website?

Several custom features were developed, including a Custom Gallery React Component for infinite image scrolling, a complex dropdown navigation menu with category images and a calendar schedule, and various custom category views to display products as classes or as a calendar schedule.
How did the new website design reflect FTA’s brand identity?

Leveraging BigCommerce’s Stencil theme framework, the website was redesigned to reflect FTA’s professionalism and expertise in firearms training. The design incorporated a clean, professional aesthetic with bold typography and impactful imagery, aligned with industry standards to convey authority and trust.
What role did BigCommerce’s built-in features play in the website’s success?

BigCommerce’s built-in eCommerce features were crucial in ensuring secure transactions, effective inventory management, and robust customer relationship management. These features helped streamline FTA’s operations and improve the overall customer experience.
How did the new platform enhance FTA’s customer engagement?

The new platform included features like a custom product page that allows for both full course purchases and deposits, as well as a custom React component for the side cart. Additionally, the platform's design incorporated community engagement elements, such as discussion forums, to create a more enriching learning environment.
What was the impact of the migration and redesign on FTA’s business?

The successful migration and redesign equipped FTA with a modern, scalable, and user-friendly eCommerce platform. This transformation enabled them to expand their reach, better serve their growing customer base, and establish themselves as a leader in the digital firearms training landscape.