Behind the Leekes transformation: Clarity in a complex project

Leekes is a long-standing, multi-category home retailer. Their range spans furniture, homeware, and appliances, with thousands of SKUs, each carrying its own delivery rules. On top of that, product and stock data lived across ecommerce, ERP, and physical stores. Add a checkout shaped by years of small fixes and tags, and the brief was clear:

Modernise the customer experience, keep revenue flowing, and give the Leekes team tools they could use without constant developer input.

The brief in simple terms

• Bring Magento back to a supported version through platform and module updates
• Make the site faster and easier to use
• Reduce error rates on customer checkout journeys
• Improve navigation and checkout
• Keep delivery promises honest and consistent.

Where we started

We began with a few big hurdles:

• Thousands of products with different delivery conditions
• Data spread across multiple systems that didn’t always agree
• A checkout weighed down with “just one more tweak” over the years
• Loyal customers who sometimes found it harder than it should be to buy what they wanted.

Key decisions and the trade-offs
Every project like this comes down to choices. With Leekes, we agreed to focus on impact first and deal with complexity in stages.

Immediate impact

Updating Magento to the next supported version as a matter of urgency – Leekes were facing a short time frame to perform this update before their Commerce Cloud infrastructure was decommissioned.

Using a pragmatic approach to minimise downtime and keep the site available without introducing new issues helped Leekes to meet their deadline and plan for the future direction of the site.

Phased rollout vs. one big launch
We tackled navigation, PDPs, and checkout first, leaving deeper work for later.
Result: Revenue remained stable, and customers didn’t need to relearn everything at once.

Performance budget vs. endless features
If a feature slowed pages, it had to prove it lifted conversion.
Result: faster site speed and a smoother checkout.

Mega-menu vs. search-first
We reduced menu sprawl and invested in strong search and filters.
Result: Customers now find what they want quicker.

Real delivery promises
PDP messaging was updated to reflect true stock and lead times.
Result: Trust improved, and “where’s my order?” calls dropped.

Promotions that make sense
Clear rules shown on PDP, basket, and checkout.
Result: Fewer customer questions and better control of margins.

A checkout that’s simple by design
Fewer fields, fewer distractions, and the payment and delivery options most people want.
Result: Lower bounce rates and cleaner analytics.

What made the difference

• Lean product data: consistent names, specs, guides, and notes
• Accessibility alongside performance: faster load times, stronger contrast, larger tap areas
• Testing, not guessing: copy, images, and layouts refined through evidence
• Guardrails: a component library and CMS rules so new content doesn’t break speed or design.

If you need a strategy to overhaul your online shopping experience then drop us a line.