Aqualona: Headless Storefront and Purchase Tracking

The brief

Build an industry leading ecommerce platform that integrates with the tech stack and ensures ad platforms can optimise and learn from real purchases.

What we built

• Headless Webflow and Shopify (Smootify) storefront.
• Custom storefront design, built in Client-First Webflow: catalogue layout, product pages, and motion. A brand site, not a Shopify theme.
• Server-side GTM via Stape so purchase events survive browser blocking.
• Ad platform infrastructure that ensures full end to end visibility of purchases.
• Form capture for Contact, Trade, Newsletter, and Ask a Question.
• Dogs Trust partnership surfaced on the site and in creative.
• Custom AQL Journey Analyser Tool alongside the store.

The approach

We stayed in design with Aqualona until the pages were the ones they had asked for. Then we shaped the route so a visit can end in a purchase.

Mood boards and palette came first. Homepage, collection, product, FAQ, and contact followed, in working sessions with the client team. The product page was the one they called really brilliant. Light blue, with orange calls to action, was the palette they kept. The Webflow build started only after that file was signed off.

The layout follows how someone actually shops. They land, browse the catalogue, filter a collection, and open a product. Trade has its own door on the homepage. Checkout sits on Shopify, so the design hands them into the cart instead of stopping on a brochure page.

The same pass was built to be bought. Product pages carry the imagery and titles Google Shopping needs. Add to cart is the point of the page. Server-side tracking means a completed purchase is what the ads can optimise on. Contact, trade, and ask-a-question catch anyone who is not ready to check out yet.

The purchase path

1. Land. The homepage is a catalogue, not a campaign page. The next click is a range or the trade door.
2. Browse. Collections are filtered (seat shape, product type) so a shopper narrows the range instead of hunting.
3. Choose. The product page does the selling: imagery, the detail they need, and a clear add to cart.
4. Cart. The basket stays in reach. The design stops at a handoff into checkout, not a dead end.
5. Buy. Checkout is Shopify. The purchase is recorded server-side, so paid media can optimise on the order, not a broken tag.

The stack

• Webflow: headless front-end.
• Shopify and Smootify: cart, checkout, catalogue, and product sync.
• Stape and server-side GTM: purchase events at /st.
• GA4, Google Ads, and Merchant Center: Shopping, with Search and Performance Max phased in.
• Meta Pixel and CAPI: retargeting.
• Cloudflare, Klaviyo, n8n, Cookiebot, Judge.me: DNS and cache, email, form capture, consent, and reviews.