Marine Depot Direct

Marine Depot Direct is a leading provider of marine-grade plumbing and supply hardware for boats, yachts, and marine installations. With a growing catalog and an increasing focus on B2B operations, the client required a full overhaul of their Magento 2 website to improve speed, usability, and scalability.

What Was the Problem?

The Challenge

Marine Depot Direct’s legacy Magento 2 site suffered from several critical issues:

Outdated Visual Design

The frontend was cluttered and lacked modern design conventions, impacting user trust and conversions.

Poor Mobile Experience

The legacy theme was not optimized for mobile, causing UI issues and navigation difficulties on smaller screens.

Slow Performance

Page load times were significantly affected by bloated frontend code, resulting in poor Google Core Web Vitals scores.

Limited B2B Functionality

The platform lacked support for bulk purchasing workflows and reseller-friendly features.

Manual Product Management

The backend lacked tools for efficient catalog updates, and customers struggled to locate items quickly.

How We Solved It

Our Approach & Solution

Nexus Box rebuilt the Marine Depot Direct site with a performance-first mindset using Hyvä and custom-built Magento modules.

Frontend Redesign with Hyvä Theme

  • Implemented the Hyvä theme, dramatically improving site speed and Core Web Vitals.
  • Replaced outdated Knockout.js dependencies with Alpine.js, and implemented Tailwind CSS for styling.
  • Used React components for interactive frontend widgets.
  • Optimized for mobile, tablet, and desktop to ensure a cohesive omnichannel shopping experience.

Custom Product Builder & Product Finder

  • Developed a Custom Product Builder to guide users through complex product assemblies.
  • Integrated a Product Finder (YMM – Year/Make/Model) tool for intuitive search by vehicle compatibility, improving product discovery.

B2B Tools and Workflow Enhancements

  • Implemented a B2B module to enable volume pricing, reseller account types, and tax-exempt orders.
  • Enabled features like Quick Order, Saved Carts, and custom quote requests to streamline professional purchasing.

Streamlined Catalog Management

  • Built a Product Importer to allow bulk upload and update of products, variants, and metadata via CSV.
  • Improved inventory syncs and internal tools to manage thousands of SKUs with ease.

Technology Used

Platform

Magento 2 with Hyvä Theme

Languages & Frameworks

PHP, React, Tailwind CSS, Alpine.js, HTML, CSS

Payment Gateway

Stripe

Custom Work

  • Hyvä Implementation
  • Product Finder (YMM)
  • Custom Product Builderv
  • B2B Module
  • Product Importer

Results

The rebuilt Marine Depot Direct website delivered measurable improvements across performance and functionality:

80%+ Improvement in Page Speed

The Hyvä upgrade significantly boosted load times, improving SEO and UX.

Reduced Bounce Rates

Enhanced mobile usability led to a measurable increase in session duration and conversions.

Stronger B2B Engagement

The new features attracted resellers and bulk buyers, increasing average order value (AOV).

Simplified Management

Admins can now update the catalog in minutes instead of hours using the custom importer tool.

Better Product Discovery

The YMM product finder and builder helped users find exact-fit components quickly and confidently.

Conclusion

conclusion.png

Nexus Box delivered a comprehensive Magento 2 transformation for Marine Depot Direct, proving the power of:

  • Hyvä theming for performance and design
  • Custom product configuration workflows
  • Scalable tools for B2B operations and catalog growth