Case Study: GopherSport.com

Creating an inclusive, fast and smooth experience for all users.

GopherSport.com Desktop
GopherSport.com Mobile

The Challenge

When Rocket Web took over the GopherSport project in September 2022, the site was running on a heavily customized Luma-based theme with significant performance and accessibility challenges. Heavy JavaScript libraries, RequireJS dependencies, and a complex frontend codebase made it difficult to achieve competitive PageSpeed scores. An ADA audit in December 2022 identified multiple accessibility issues affecting screen reader users and keyboard navigation.

Gopher Sport, a leading supplier of sports, PE, and fitness equipment, needed a modern solution that could address these challenges while scaling across their family of brands.

Why Hyvä?

  • Lightweight Architecture: Replaces Magento's bloated Luma theme with a minimal footprint.
  • Modern Tooling: Tailwind CSS and Alpine.js enable faster development cycles.
  • Accessibility First: Clean markup and proper ARIA attributes address ADA compliance.
  • Multi-Brand Ready: Easier to maintain and scale across multiple websites.

Project Goals

Improve Performance

Pass Core Web Vitals assessment and achieve competitive PageSpeed scores.

Fix Accessibility

Resolve ADA issues identified in audit affecting screen readers and navigation.

Simplify Development

Replace complex Luma frontend with modern, maintainable tech stack.

Boost Checkout

Reduce friction in checkout process, especially on mobile devices.

Scale Across Brands

Create reusable theme architecture for sister brand websites.

Future-Proof Stack

Adopt Hyvä Theme with Tailwind CSS and Alpine.js for long-term growth.

Future-proof Development

Rebuilding the frontend using Hyvä Theme allowed us to drastically simplify the tech stack by eliminating heavy JavaScript libraries and replacing them with Alpine.js and Tailwind CSS. We migrated custom functionality including eCommerce Analytics, Customer Specific Pricing, and Share Cart, while implementing Algolia and Yotpo Hyvä compatibility modules for search and reviews.

We replaced the Luma fallback checkout with Hyvä Checkout. Its minimalist and responsive design significantly improved the user journey—especially on mobile devices.

As part of the scaling strategy, we developed custom variations of the Hyvä Theme for Gopher Sport's sister brands, maintaining brand consistency while leveraging shared components.

Project Timeline

September 2022

Rocket Web takes over project

April 2023

NetSuite Connector implementation

October 2023

Site stability & fixes

March 2024

Hyvä designs approved

June 2024

Hyvä implementation starts

October 2024

Hyvä Theme & Checkout go-live

Proven Results

HTTP Requests

BEFORE 359
AFTER 90

75% fewer

Core Web Vitals

BEFORE Failed
AFTER Passed

Passed

INP (Interactivity)

BEFORE 181ms
AFTER 95ms

47% faster

CLS (Layout Shift)

BEFORE 0.27
AFTER 0.02

93% better

TTFB (Server Response)

BEFORE 1.4s
AFTER 1.1s

21% faster

LCP (Largest Paint)

BEFORE 2.5s
AFTER 2.1s

16% faster

Accessibility Score

BEFORE 62
AFTER 89

ADA compliant

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