Rau Antiques
Rare Antiques, Fine Art, and Exquisite Jewelry
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The Brand
M.S. Rau Antiques is a premier antique dealer, renowned for offering rare and high-quality antiques, fine art, and jewelry. Based in New Orleans, Rau Antiques has been in business for over a century, providing discerning collectors with timeless treasures and helping them build exclusive collections. Known for their expertise, Rau’s team offers unparalleled insight into each unique piece, contributing to a rich buying experience.
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The Brand
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At a Glance
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At a Glance
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The Challenge
Rau Antiques needed to migrate their ecommerce operations from Magento to Shopify Plus in order to modernize their online store and provide a more engaging customer experience. This migration involved several key challenges: transferring extensive data, including products, customer accounts, and past orders; maintaining SEO rankings through 301 redirects; and recreating the existing design while making improvements to the user experience and interface.
Additionally, they needed custom functionalities to support their product catalog, wishlist, and customer interaction features.
Additionally, they needed custom functionalities to support their product catalog, wishlist, and customer interaction features.
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What We Did
Our scope of work for Rau Antiques included the following key services:
Content and Data Migration
We managed the migration of all content, including the sitemap, product listings, collections, and historical back-end data, from Magento to Shopify Plus. This involved migrating approximately 2,200 active products, 2,000 inactive products, customer accounts, past orders, and wishlist data. We ensured data integrity and consistency throughout the migration process, working closely with Rau Antiques’ team to resolve any data discrepancies.
301 Redirects and SEO Maintenance
To maintain SEO rankings during the migration, we implemented a comprehensive 301 redirect strategy. This included detailed analysis and mapping of existing URLs and ensuring that all redirects were properly implemented during the transition. We used tools like Google Webmaster Tools, SEO Powersuite, and Shopify’s Transportr app to preserve SEO integrity and submitted an updated sitemap post-launch.
Custom Theme Design and Development
We recreated Rau Antiques’ Magento design on Shopify Plus, incorporating improvements to enhance user experience. Key improvements included optimizing the account creation process, adding recently viewed and suggested products, and enhancing the 'Sell Your Antiques' page. Our design team provided mockups for all major pages, incorporating feedback through two rounds of revisions before proceeding to development.
Custom Functionalities
We developed several custom functionalities for Rau Antiques, including wishlist integration, product zoom, a dynamic tag-based collection update feature, and a testimonials section for product pages. The wishlist functionality was designed to be session-based, allowing users to interact with it without creating an account. We also built a custom login page to help with the account activation process for customers migrating from Magento to Shopify, making the transition as seamless as possible.
Store Setup and Integration
We configured the Shopify store setup, including the checkout procedure, payment gateways, and tracking codes. We integrated tools like Google Analytics, Google Webmaster, and Klaviyo to enhance marketing and engagement capabilities. The store setup also included styling transactional emails to match Rau’s branding, and setting up a dedicated blog section for content and articles.
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The Result
- Rau Antiques Team
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Next Steps
We continue to support Rau Antiques with the following initiatives:
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Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
We are conducting ongoing CRO initiatives, including A/B testing of key landing pages, optimizing the checkout flow, and enhancing mobile responsiveness to increase user engagement and conversions.
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Advanced Marketing and Customer Engagement
We are working with Rau Antiques to improve personalized email marketing campaigns using Klaviyo, enhancing customer segmentation and driving more engagement through tailored content.
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Ongoing Design Improvements
We are collaborating with Rau Antiques to implement continuous design improvements based on user feedback, focusing on enhancing the customer journey and showcasing their exquisite collection in the best possible light.
Bridging Tradition and Modern Ecommerce
Through our partnership with Rau Antiques, we have successfully migrated their ecommerce operations to Shopify Plus, developed a custom store design, and introduced several new functionalities to enhance the user experience. By blending the timeless beauty of Rau’s collections with modern ecommerce capabilities, we have helped Rau Antiques create an engaging digital experience that matches the quality and exclusivity of their products.
Moving forward, our continued collaboration will focus on optimizing the ecommerce experience, enhancing customer engagement, and maintaining Rau Antiques’ position as a leader in the antique and fine art market. By staying customer-focused and embracing digital transformation, Rau Antiques is well-positioned to offer an exceptional online experience to collectors worldwide.
Written by Renka
Community Manager
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