Ecommerce · skincare
Apicare
A full online store for a mānuka honey skincare brand — product range, accounts, loyalty rewards and checkout, built to sell on a phone.
- Role
- Design & front-end build
- Year
- 2024
- Location
- New Zealand
The situation
Apicare have made healing honey skincare in New Zealand since 1993. Selling direct online meant the site had to do real retail work: carry a large product range across skin concerns, handle accounts and repeat purchases, and make buying on a phone effortless — while still telling a thirty-year-old brand story properly.
What I did
- 01A full ecommerce build — browsable product range, cart, accounts and checkout
- 02A loyalty rewards programme so repeat customers earn points on every purchase
- 03Clear shop navigation by product type and skin concern, so people find the right thing quickly
- 04Promotional mechanics — monthly specials and free-shipping thresholds surfaced site-wide
- 05Brand storytelling running alongside the store rather than buried behind it
How it went
From first conversation to live.
- 01
Discovery
The first conversation wasn't about design, it was about the range. Apicare sell across a lot of skin concerns, and customers arrive in two completely different states: some know the exact product they repurchase, others arrive with a problem — eczema, dryness, sensitivity — and no idea what solves it. The site had to serve both without compromising for either.
- 02
Look & feel
The brand's credibility is in its provenance: New Zealand made, medical-grade mānuka honey, since 1993. We kept the visual language clean and clinical enough to be trusted with sensitive skin, while letting the product photography and the honey carry the warmth. Presented as a clickable preview before any build began.
- 03
Build
The store was built around two parallel navigation paths — shop by product, or shop by concern — so both customer types land somewhere useful. The loyalty programme and promotional mechanics were wired in as first-class features rather than bolted on, because repeat purchase is where a skincare brand actually makes its money.
- 04
Launch
Launched with the full catalogue, accounts and loyalty live from day one, and the team trained to run promotions themselves.
- 05
Support
The brief was explicit that the team shouldn't need a developer for routine work. Products, pricing, specials and content are all theirs to change — which is the difference between a site that stays current and one that quietly goes stale.
Notable
- Full transactional ecommerce: cart, accounts, checkout
- Loyalty points earned and redeemed on every order
- Navigation by both product type and skin concern
- Free-shipping threshold and monthly specials surfaced site-wide
- Self-managed by the client team day to day
The result
A complete direct-to-consumer store the team runs themselves — products, pricing, specials and content updated without a developer.
On a phone
Delivered through a New Zealand agency
Let's see what your website could be.
Tell me a bit about your business and I'll show you what's possible — no obligation.
Prefer email? sam@digitalhouse.nz