ForSea – with a new web and e-commerce, customers can enjoy the journey

ForSea offers the sale of goods at favourable prices on board, something that customers can now take advantage of on the website as Epinova helped ForSea realize a product catalogue with stock balance, product data and campaigns.

New web platform on Optimizely 12 and Commerce 13

In the fall of 2022, Epinova had to take over ForSea's web solution, which was then on an older platform. The assignment was partly to upgrade the existing Optimizely solution containing several integrations, but also to build a new e-commerce so that ForSea can present its large product range to customers and present stock balance and offers.

In the spring of 2023, ForSea launched its upgraded web platform based on the latest technology from Optimizely version 12 and Commerce 13.

We have been working closely with Joanna Wieckowska, IT project manager at ForSea, and now some time after the launch we have asked Johanna some questions about the project, the collaboration and the website.

What kind of feedback have you received internally?

I have received a lot of positive feedback. The site feels very fast and we've had surprisingly few bugs. We feel that some content and images are still missing, but that work is underway, so soon everything will be in place, says Joanna. We have now set the foundation and conditions to be able to develop business and to package new services both digitally and physically, both on land and on board in both Sweden and Denmark. ForSea is a business in constant motion.

What benefits do you see?

Now we finally get all product data automated from the business system and avoid the previously onerous manual work we had. This now provides a good basis for continuing to develop the site, especially with an updated shop that now shows our entire range on board, as well as our campaigns.

Can you reveal anything about what you want to do going forward?

We have more exciting positions coming out in the spring, but I can't reveal more right now. You can simply keep an eye on our website.

What is it like to work with Epinova?

The developers are really talented and Epinova's collaboration with the design agency Fyr has worked well as your project manager was able to keep both technology and UX together within one and the same project.

How has it worked with us sitting in different locations?

No, we are used to working with suppliers in other locations and also in other countries. I think that many have become better at working remotely after the pandemic, even though here at ForSea, even before this project, we are used to working remotely. The cooperation between us has benefited the entire project - I really want to emphasize that, says Joanna.

Facts about the project

The challenges were many, but thanks to a close and good cooperation with ForSea, as well as a skilled development team, the projects could be completed in just 90 intensive working days. Below some more facts about what we did together with ForSea.

Code review

The project began with a code review by Epinova as the website to be taken over was a few years old. The review showed that the best way forward, in terms of schedule and budget, was to migrate over the existing solution to a new platform on Optimizely 12 and Epinova's Framework.

Several suppliers

In addition to Epinova's and ForSea's teams, ForSea's business system supplier also participated in the project so that the various projects internally and with the website could be synchronized and prioritized jointly.

Optimizely Commerce

In addition to the migration itself, Optimizely Commerce was implemented in the platform so that we could integrate with the customer's business system and bring in all products with their data, campaigns and inventory balance. Thanks to ready-made components in Epinova's framework, the projects could be realized and launched in about 90 working days.

Design and SEO

In addition to the purely technical implementation, interaction design and SEO were an important part, as there were several complex flows in the product management that needed to be reviewed and the content needed to be optimized for search engines.

Security

When the website was taken over, it had several security flaws, but all of these were resolved by using Epinova's framework. Although the security part is central to ForSea, security adaptations were not something the project had to spend time and money on, as there are ready-made solutions for it in Epinova's Framework.