FootBalance
International e-commerce and easily customizable website
FootBalance is a Finnish wellness company focusing on the well-being of active individuals’ feet. FootBalance offers a unique service— their 3D foot scanning service provides crucial information on the health of a customer’s feet.
When FootBalance started the collaboration with Druid, the company’s old website needed an update. The old pages were difficult to edit and the layout was outdated. The new project aimed to avoid previous mistakes. In a nutshell FootBalance needed a fully functional, customizable and stylish website.
“Druid incredibly managed to turn our needs into reality. From the start, the attitude was about figuring out how to implement our wishes. There was no talk of ‘it’s not possible’; instead, it was all about how we could make it happen,” says Laura Mukkala, FootBalance’s Marketing Executive.
A complete website overhaul was performed for FootBalance’s international site and online store. Alongside Druid and FootBalance, the customer-selected design agency Aivan was involved in the project. Druid handled the technical implementation, while Aivan took care of the visual design. The entire project took five months.
Unbeatable combination of Drupal and Next.js
The website platform uses Drupal, and the user interface is built with the Next.js web application. It was important for the customer that the site could be extensively customized without compromising its visual appeal. Various visual elements were designed for this purpose. Next.js enabled these element structures and their management within Drupal. Content producers can now easily select suitable elements, edit content and the result always looks good.
“It was amazing to follow the development of the website, as well as the integration between Next.js and Drupal. We achieved precisely what we had planned with the customer and the design agency,”
says Jesse Tikka, Druid’s Project Manager.
Challenge of international e-commerce
The website features an international online store, where FootBalance products can be purchased throughout Europe. Depending on the customer’s location, variables like product range, taxes, currency, and shipping fees are automatically updated. The new online store is now user-friendly.
Custom accounts and personalized products
FootBalance’s 3D foot scanning service is a significant part of its business model. One of the website’s essential tasks is to guide customers to the nearest store offering foot analysis. For this, the site features a map of retail locations, which is easy for FootBalance to maintain. The information automatically updates from FootBalance’s database to the website.
“When we get a new store in Denmark, it automatically appears on the website. All the information comes from our backend system into Drupal,” Mukkala explains.
Once a foot analysis is done, and the customer is registered, they can find their details on their account. Some products are only available for purchase by customers who have undergone foot scanning. The website understands this and displays the appropriate products to the customer.
“All customer information goes into their profile. The system shows the customer those products that the scanner has recommended for them,” Mukkala continues.
Easy collaboration
Laura Mukkala particularly thanks Druid for excellent communication. The project team had its Slack channel, and messaging was particularly intense towards the end of the project.
“At the point when things became urgent, we were in constant contact with each other. Additionally, there was a weekly meeting where we went through matters,” Laura Mukkala says.
The website was launched in the fall of 2022 and has received much positive feedback. Based on the feedback, small adjustments have been made. The website has a lot of unique features and functionalities, which Mukkala finds great. Overall, she considers the project a success.
“The website is modern and represents our brand. It’s also simple enough that I can navigate the site myself,” Mukkala concludes.
The platform evolves to meet needs
The previously used domestic B2B customer portal no longer met the customer’s needs. Additionally, there was a growing demand for an electronic ordering channel in other markets as well. The new B2B portal was built on Drupal, with orders being processed in a separate system.
The goal of the upgrade is to ensure that all FootBalance sellers and B2B customers can place their orders electronically through the B2B portal, including easily on the go via phone or tablet. The new ordering channel was launched in June 2024.
