Russells Western Wear

Shopify Modernization, Accessibility-Focused Design and UX Transformation

Russell's responsive website displayed on laptop, tablet, and smartphone screens.

First Glance

Russell’s Western Wear is a Florida-based retailer specializing in Western apparel and footwear. They have a long-standing reputation for outfitting customers with quality merchandise across their multiple store locations. Started back in the 1960s, the brand is built on tradition and quality, however the team wanted to keep an eye on attracting a modern audience. Under this lens, the Russell’s team noticed their ecommerce presence was falling behind expectations. Their user experience felt outdated, the site lacked accessibility standards, and administrators couldn’t easily update the site. They knew a change was needed.

As Russell’s Western Wear looked to modernize its storefront, they turned to Sunrise Integration for a theme upgrade and ADA compliance audit. A full redesign was the only way to address these concerns while also preparing the store for future expansion. Luckily, Russell’s had already chosen Shopify as their ecommerce platform, which meant the foundation was in place to move quickly. Let’s review how we helped Russell’s improve their Shopify experience and increase conversions with a custom Shopify Plus Development.

STYLE GUIDE CREATION

Discovery Process

Through stakeholder interviews, persona development, and competitive audits, Sunrise Integration established a clear strategic direction that directly informed the final site plan and design structure. The team identified user frustrations, content gaps, and workflow inefficiencies—and used that insight to build an actionable framework that addressed both business needs and user expectations.

The discovery process yielded:

Clear behavioral mapping for Russell's key market revealed their need to be informed about quality.
Insights into gaps in product discovery, filtering, and spec comparison
A need to better segment products that require in-store purchase vs. those available online
Direction for improving the visual storytelling and brand presence on-page
Detailed technical and feature requirements to guide Shopify theme customizations

These findings weren’t just documented—they were used to architect the entire site experience.

Russell's website optimized conversion flow featuring cowboy boots with a focus on product selection and styling.

The Challenge

The Russell’s Western Wear’s site faced three primary challenges. First, the outdated user experience created accessibility barriers and was not aligned with inclusive best practices. This meant that customers with different needs, such as those relying on screen readers, struggled to shop easily. Businesses can face legal risks and costly lawsuits if their sites are not accessible, so Russell’s was eager to remedy this issue.

Second, the site was incompatible with Shopify’s latest features, resulting in missed opportunities. When a store runs on an outdated theme, it cannot take advantage of the new tools Shopify regularly releases. Shopify’s roadmap includes constant feature updates, performance enhancements and speed improvements. These changes can only be realized with the newer themes and Russell’s was being held back from these updates.

Finally, the user experience and purchase flows were not optimized. The site suffered from unclear navigation, weak calls to action and friction during checkout. These gaps created hesitation for customers and reduced the number of completed purchases. Optimizing CRO was another one of the critical improvements Russells was seeking.

These challenges showed that Russell’s Western Wear had outgrown its existing site. Accessibility gaps, outdated design and non-optimized purchase flows were holding them back. To move forward, a complete transformation was the only solution. Sunrise Integration was ready to step in and upgrade the Shopify site for success.

Brand Collection Page
Custom Product Page

The Solution

With the challenges clearly defined, it was time to reimagine Russell’s Shopify store to unlock new opportunities. Sunrise Integration ensured every solution directly addressed the pain points holding the business back. Each solution was carefully designed to align with Russell’s business needs while ensuring the site could scale with future growth. Our first solution addressed the fundamental need for a new theme.

The theme modernization began by providing Russell’s with multiple design mockups using Figma. Our design team performed design-discovery meetings with key Russell’s stakeholders to understand their current customers and desired new audiences. The design mock-ups ranged from simple ideas to a “spicier” layout with considerable new sections. Russell’s chose a more “medium” approach and our frontend implementation team was able to translate the Figma designs into Shopify’s newest Horizon design system. Shopify Horizon is centered around AI sections, so our team was able to develop customized blocks using AI prompts. We quickly output new flexible page templates using modular design patterns. Navigation and site structure were also reimagined to improve product discovery and simplify the purchase flow. Clearer calls to action and streamlined checkout paths ensured a more intuitive customer journey.

Next, accessibility was prioritized during the design process. The redesign was created with accessibility-first practices. Key improvements included better color contrast, semantic structure and accessible interactive components. Throughout the theme development, we performed detailed ADA Compliance Audit Reports to ensure the implementation held up to the proper standards. The new theme was now fully compliant and provided Russell’s with peace of mind. We also provided them with a Compliance Overview presentation and checklist to outline guidance for maintaining accessibility.

To take advantage of the new theme, the Russell’s team needs analytics to understand how customers are utilizing the new layout. To help with this, we provided Russell’s with a complete analytics overhaul. Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager were configured to align reporting with the updated site architecture. This meant that every customer event could be tracked with accuracy. This level of insight can then be studied to identify bottlenecks, measure the impact of marketing campaigns, and make data-driven decisions to improve performance. The new Shopify store is now positioned to continuously optimize its ecommerce strategy and maximize return on investment.

Russell's mobile first design showcasing full site and customer purchase flow

The Outcome

With this transformation, Russell’s Western Wear overcomes the limitations of its old site and steps confidently into a modern Shopify solution. The redesign eliminated accessibility barriers and optimized the customer journey to drive conversions. With ADA compliance built into the foundation, Russell’s can serve all shoppers while avoiding the risks tied to outdated layouts. The result is a scalable Shopify implementation that meets today’s ecommerce standards with room to grow.

The launch of the new Shopify storefront delivered measurable improvements across performance, accessibility and customer experience. Using the new analytics framework, we can confirm the success of the project by reviewing the data.

Performance score: increased from 53 → 64
Accessibility score: improved from 81 → 96
SEO score: climbed from 92 → 100

The updated site architecture and modern theme produces faster load times, smoother navigation and an improvement in user experience. The project outcome created a site that reflects the needs of today’s ecommerce landscape. Customers now experience a faster, more inclusive shopping experience. What began as a response to critical challenges ultimately became an opportunity to strengthen Russell’s brand, empower its staff and position the company for long-term success.

Sunrise Integration is proud to have partnered with Russell’s on this transformation, and we thank them for trusting us with their vision. We look forward to continuing our partnership and supporting them with future innovations, ensuring their storefront always stays at the forefront of ecommerce.