Industries — who we serve

Tools & Hardware

Tools and hardware buyers research hard before they buy — specs, compatibility, durability, and price all matter. We build Shopify stores that make complex catalogs easy to navigate, turn technical detail into buying confidence, and win both DIY and pro or B2B customers. For heritage tool retailer Shelter Tools, that approach drove a 74% lift in conversion rate and 97% more online orders.

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The challenges we solve

Selling considered products online isn’t like selling impulse buys. These are the headwinds the category throws at you — and a generic Shopify build doesn’t address any of them.

Complex specs & SKUs

Sizes, materials, compatibility, and variants multiply fast. Shoppers need clean filtering and clear specs to buy with confidence.

DIY and pro buyers at once

You're selling to weekend DIYers and trade or contractor buyers in the same store — each wants different pricing, content, and checkout.

Heavy, freight-sensitive shipping

Bulky, heavy items make shipping cost and logistics a make-or-break part of the buying decision.

Durability & trust signals

Buyers pay for quality that lasts. Reviews, warranties, and spec transparency turn browsers into confident purchases.

Big-box & marketplace pressure

Home Depot, Lowe's, and Amazon dominate search. You need SEO, brand, and UX that give shoppers a reason to buy direct.

How we grow your brand

Three levers that actually move the needle

01 · Convert

Convert the researcher

We turn dense product knowledge into buying confidence — PDPs that answer the real questions, comparison and finder tools, and CRO tested against your actual traffic, not best-practice guesswork.

02 · Acquire

Acquire efficiently

Paid search and paid social built around your margins and seasonality, not vanity ROAS — so growth is profitable, not just big.

03 · Retain

Grow lifetime value

Email, SMS, loyalty, and post-purchase experiences that turn a first-time buyer into a repeat customer and a referral source.

The First Pier method — how every engagement runs

Strategize

Tie every build to a growth outcome.

Integrate

Connect the tools and data that run the store.

Measure

Prove it in revenue, retention, and ROAS.

Iterate

Ship, learn, refine in fast sprints.

Proof

Results we’ve delivered

Ecommerce Growth & Catalog Optimization for Shelter Tools

+74%

Conversion Rate

+56%

Online Store Sales

+97%

Online Store Orders

Performance Marketing for Shelter Tools

+94%

Orders YOY

+79%

New Customers YOY

Blended ROAS

Services

What we bring to your store

Shopify & Shopify Plus development

Stores built for technical, variant-heavy catalogs — fast and ready to scale.

Conversion rate optimization

Testing and buying-guide UX that converts high-consideration traffic.

Paid search & paid social

Google Ads and Meta built around your margins and seasonality.

Klaviyo email & SMS

Flows and campaigns that carry customers across seasons.

Retention & loyalty

Programs that reward repeat and referral-driven customers.

Migration to Shopify

Move off a legacy platform without losing SEO or sales.

Why First Pier

Why brands choose First Pier

Senior team, no handoffs

You work directly with the people doing the work — senior Shopify specialists, not an account manager relaying to an offshore queue.

Shopify specialists

We build, optimize, and scale on Shopify and Shopify Plus every day — from technical catalogs to conversion and retention.

Maine-built, growth-obsessed

Headquartered in Portland, Maine, we partner with brands across the U.S. and measure our work in revenue, retention, and ROAS.

In their words

What clients say

“They are the real deal.”

Shelter Institute

60% e-commerce growth YoY

They were receptive to my ideas and translated them into technology.

Oterra Designs

Outdoor products · Shopify

RECOGNIZED BY CLUTCH

Award-winning ecommerce work

First Pier is recognized by Clutch across Shopify, ecommerce development, design, and performance marketing — nationally and here in Maine.

Top Shopify Company · U.S.

Top E-Commerce Developers · U.S.

Clutch 1000 · 2025

Top Squarespace Company · U.S.

Top Conversion Rate Auditing · U.S.

Top Design Company · Maine

Top Digital Marketing · Portland

Global Award · Spring 2026

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you work with tools and hardware brands specifically?

Yes — tools and hardware is one of our deepest verticals. We grew heritage tool retailer Shelter Tools to a 74% lift in conversion rate and 97% more online orders, and category challenges like spec-heavy catalogs, DIY-vs-pro buyers, and freight-sensitive shipping are ones we solve every day.

Can Shopify handle a catalog with complex specs and thousands of SKUs?

Yes. The platform handles large, variant-heavy catalogs well — the difference is in filtering and spec presentation. We build clean filtering, comparison tools, and clear spec callouts so shoppers can buy with confidence instead of abandoning a confusing catalog.

How do you sell to DIY shoppers and pro or contractor buyers in the same store?

We build tiered pricing, dedicated trade flows, and content tailored to each audience without fragmenting the catalog, so weekend DIYers and contractor accounts each get the pricing and experience they expect.

We're worried about shipping costs on heavy, bulky products — can you help?

Yes. Freight-sensitive shipping is one of the biggest margin risks in this category. We design shipping logic, rate rules, and fulfillment integrations that get bulky items to customers without surprise costs killing conversion at checkout.

How do you help us compete with Home Depot, Lowe's, and Amazon?

We build the SEO, brand, and UX that give shoppers a reason to buy direct — durability proof, warranty transparency, and reviews that big-box listings can't replicate. That approach helped drive Shelter Tools' 5x blended ROAS on paid.