Vela Jewellers

Extending Shopify beyond its native capabilities

Customized Shopify’s Prestige theme through Liquid, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to support VELA’s bespoke requirements without replacing its existing commerce infrastructure.

Rebuilt the mega menu and collection navigation to improve product discovery, using Shopify’s product objects, templates, and metafields to manage custom information and product options across more than 50 products.

Redesigned the mobile shopping experience by replacing horizontal product-image sliders with vertical galleries, refining responsive layouts, and developing scroll-driven image-and-text sections that integrate jewellery photography with product storytelling.

Resolved three bespoke-order issues and other problems within the theme’s Liquid and JavaScript, including incorrect sold-out states, product variant behaviour, conflicting scripts, and cart functionality. These changes restored reliable storefront interactions while preserving Shopify’s native checkout and product-management capabilities.

Turning interest into a conversation

Bespoke jewellery requires a different conversion strategy from a typical online purchase. Customers want to understand the materials, craftsmanship, customization possibilities, price and process before making a commitment. I organized the experience around those questions and built clearer routes from product discovery to consultation.

Establishing trust. I brought the founder’s story, master jeweller Paul Ginocchi’s expertise, customer testimonials, certifications and craftsmanship closer to the points where customers make decisions.

Making the process understandable. The website explains how a custom piece moves from consultation and stone selection to 3D visualization, approval and production. Starting-price information and service details help customers understand what to expect.

Making enquiries easier. I improved the hierarchy of calls to action around booking consultations, calling the team, contacting VELA through WhatsApp and starting a custom design. Form and thank-you-page flows also supported conversion tracking.

The goal wasn’t to make the website more aggressive. It was to answer customers’ questions and make the next action obvious.

Building visibility into the storefront

I approached SEO as part of the website’s structure rather than something added after development. The work covered technical, on-page and off-page optimization, including page titles, meta descriptions, heading hierarchy, product descriptions and image alt text; product and collection discoverability; and a backlink audit addressing harmful or irrelevant links where appropriate.

I compressed images and video, removed unused assets, and reduced unnecessary scripts and render-blocking resources. I connected Google Search Console, GA4 and Google Business Profile to support search visibility, local discovery and performance measurement, and used Hotjar and Klaviyo to understand customer behaviour and support marketing decisions.

The result was a more measurable storefront, with technical improvements that could be evaluated through real search and performance data.

Bringing customers into the design process

Beyond the Shopify storefront, I developed VELA Concierge, a separate interactive companion-app prototype for customers exploring custom jewellery. The idea was to let customers take a more active role in designing a piece before speaking with VELA’s team.

Built with React, TypeScript, Three.js and React Three Fiber, the experience includes an interactive 3D ring configurator where customers can explore different shapes, settings, bands, metals, gemstones and finishes. The configurator supports indicative pricing and a design brief that can help turn personal preferences into a more structured consultation.

I also developed an AI-assisted concept exploration interface using Google Gemini, alongside prototype experiences for virtual try-on, ring sizing and tracking the custom-jewellery journey.

The companion app remains a separate prototype, not a feature claimed to be live in the Shopify store. It demonstrates how VELA’s bespoke service could extend beyond traditional e-commerce into a more personal, interactive design experience.