Case Study: GopherSport.com
Creating an inclusive, fast and smooth experience for all users.
The Challenge
When RocketWeb 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
RocketWeb 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
