Case Studies

Gardner, Inc.

About Gardner, Inc.

Gardner Inc, based in Columbus Ohio, is one of the premier national distribution companies servicing the mechanical services industries. They represent a catalog of more than 20 different recognized brands, including Kohler, Echo, Ryobi and many others. They service the entire North American continent through their three distribution houses in the US.

Client

Gardner, Inc.

The Challenge

The Gardner website suffered from several key problems. Primarily, its internal maintenance by a single web developer attempting to meet diverse internal needs (sales, marketing, warehousing, and management) under tight deadlines led to structural degradation. Functionality became prioritized over strategic architecture and planned development. Consequently, when Gardner initiated a functional update and visual rebranding, the underlying framework proved unstable, with old code causing widespread disruptions to different business areas, even with minor modifications. Gardner required a team capable of modernizing a significant legacy IT infrastructure without interrupting ongoing business operations.

The Solution

Switchbox partnered with Throttle for a distinctive web design. Through collaboration with Gardner’s new Director of IT, a thorough code review revealed the need for significant website reconstruction. Initially, Gardner approved changes focusing on updated visuals and layout, but the project expanded to encompass a complete overhaul of the site’s architecture. Previously, page-specific code led to inefficient updates due to its length. This code was then centralized into modules, enabling a single functionality to serve multiple pages. Additionally, a more structured approach to the ecommerce cart and the creation of promotional programs involving diverse inventory sources was implemented.

The Outcome

The Gardner solution, although ultimately more extensive and intricate than first envisioned, proved to be the ideal choice for the client. Over a six-month engagement, Switchbox successfully transformed a visually dated and functionally disjointed website into a modern, streamlined tool. This new platform features an improved client experience and significantly simplified central management of the site and its content. By updating the site to current code standards, Switchbox also ensured easier integration of future functionalities without risking instability.

Throughout the project, the client expressed consistent satisfaction with the progress. Despite a timeline extension following the initial site analysis, the client recognized that the additional time and investment would result in a superior platform, better equipping them to serve their clients and facilitate business growth in the future.

The Technology & Services That Went Into Creating Gardner, Inc.

Custom E-commerce

ERP Integration

Web Development