Finding the Recipe for E-Commerce Success

Selling handmade truffles to the world.

There’s just something truly special about Chubby Chipmunk truffles and it’s more than their unique location in Deadwood, South Dakota. Handcrafted with butter and love, their hand-dipped chocolates are legendary in the Black Hills. They have even hit the big stage, so to speak, by having its truffles included in the Grammy Awards gift bags that go to all the nominees.

What started as the dream of a nurse from California has grown into a successful retail endeavor located in the heart of the Black Hills. When Chubby Chipmunk approached tdg, they were looking for advice on how to take the next step in their evolution.

Selling Beyond the Tourist Season

Chubby Chipmunk had been successful at growing a local following. Likewise, travelers throughout the world who visit Deadwood raved about the deliciousness that was their chocolates. The challenge was giving those visitors and individuals throughout the world an option to purchase chocolates 365 days a year and have it delivered to their doorstep.

A Sweet Solution

When tdg and Chubby Chipmunk started working together in 2011, there was a basic web presence that did allow for purchase of some products online. However, the system was antiquated and clunky and ended up being frustrating for users and the buying experience. We knew that if we could deliver an elegant and captivating design, and package it with a robust e-commerce platform, we could greatly improve overall sales.

We deployed Joomla CMS to run the website and integrated the Ecwid E-Commerce service to run the web-store and checkout functionality. This combination kept the project cost under control and is simple enough to use so the client can keep focused on feeding their customer’s chocolate addictions.

Chubby Chipmunk has a beautiful product that makes people’s mouth water just looking at it. We captured beautiful product photography, crafted a compelling story-line with the goal of driving sales and increasing brand awareness.

Results to Drool Over

The new website was a hit. Sales immediately increased and the website even won a Gold Addy Award for best Website Design and Development. The website, combined with other marketing work over the past four years has resulted in a 50% increase in total sales. From the first six months after launch to the same time period three years later, website traffic has increased 63%.