Underwaterpistol

Underwaterpistol is a full-service, design-and-build, Shopify Plus agency. We specialise in migrations from leading ecommerce platforms, like Magento, and migrations from custom-built websites. We handle everything from complicated app integrations, building middleware apps, optimising UX, improving CRO, and maintaining SEO, without any disruption to your ongoing business. Our extensive portfolio covers almost every industry, with specific expertise in food and drink, health and fitness, music, and subscription model businesses. In addition to designing and building beautiful websites, we review your entire strategy to identify new profit-boosting opportunities. In business since 1999, our team of Shopify Plus experts is fully invested in the success of your business and enjoys building long-term relationships with our clients.

Interview with Gary Carruthers, Director, and co-founder of UWP

Tell us about UWP?

Underwaterpistol is a full-service ecommerce agency that creates best-in-class user experiences. We bring brand stories to life through memorable design, build conversion-driving stores that customers love, and elevate brands with industry-leading digital marketing.

We’ve been around for over two decades, so we have a lot of experience working with innovative and market-leading online brands. From fashion to food, to music or subscriptions, our team has the technical expertise to design, build and grow stand-out ecommerce stores. 

What sets you apart from other digital agencies?

As a full-service agency, we offer a holistic approach to ecommerce, encompassing strategy, design, development, and growth services. We developed a 4-phase framework to shift our focus towards building fruitful, long-term growth for brands, instead of solving a single issue. This framework involves 4 key stages – Plan, Create, Grow and Accelerate – during which we work closely with our clients to develop a comprehensive and collaborative strategy from day one, specialising in ecommerce strategy and creative services. 

What would you say to a client looking to re-platform to Shopify?

As an official Shopify Plus partner agency, we work with a lot of merchants who are interested in re-platforming to Shopify. The first question we ask those clients is ‘Why now?’. We want to develop an understanding of exactly what they want from a new platform, and which features they like about their current platform. Then, we work with the client to pull together a plan of action that manages the migration smoothly, and best incorporates those features onto the new platform.

Tell us about one of your proudest moments/biggest achievements as an agency.

Something we’re really proud of at UWP is the long-term relationships we build with our clients, and the significant milestones we achieve for and with them, whether that’s launching into a new market or launching a totally new brand. 

As for our biggest achievement, that’s got to be the fantastic team we’ve managed to build over the past 21 years. Each member of our growing team brings a totally unique perspective and expertise that helps us help our clients grow and thrive. That’s what we’re most proud of at UWP.

Oh, and we won Yopto’s Shopify Plus Agency of the Year award earlier this year. That was a pretty big deal too. 

Is there a trend you think will be prominent in the near future?

There are a few trends we can see becoming more and more popular, including headless ecommerce, omnichannel customer experiences, DeFi (decentralised finance), metaverses, and blockchain. We also believe that online marketplaces like eBay, Etsy, Amazon, and Depop will be really prominent in the near future. OC&C Strategy Consultants reckon by 2025 that 45-50% of ecommerce spending will be done on marketplaces.

Why do you think product discovery is important to your client base?

People being able to search for and find the new products they’re looking for enhances their user experience and makes them more likely to make a purchase. 

Product discovery also replicates the offline shopping experience by recommending items that you might also like, just like when you’re in a real-life shop and come across something you love that you weren’t necessarily looking for. It also allows merchants to create memorable, personalised experiences on their sites. 

Why did you decide to partner with Klevu?

Here at UWP, we’re excited by the prospect of helping brands innovate their performance and constantly improve. Klevu is a technology and service that shares this ethos!

Why did you choose to implement Klevu for Arighi Bianchi?

As a stand-out luxury furniture brand, Arighi Bianchi boasts a wide range of products across many categories. Product discovery is integral to how their ecommerce site functions. We recommended Klevu for smart search to enhance the user experience by generating more relevant product recommendations with accompanying images to, in turn, boost the store’s conversion rate.

If your agency was an animal what would it be? 

Given that our name is Underwaterpistol, it’s got to be a sea creature! We might be something like an octopus, because as a full-service agency, we have our tentacles involved in lots of different elements that drive the growth of ecommerce businesses, from design and development to digital marketing. We’re also very adaptable – just like how octopuses manipulate themselves into lots of unusual spaces.

This week we’re shining a light on Shopify Plus Agency, Underwaterpistol. Gary Carruthers, Director and Co-founder of Underwaterpistol tells us about the agency’s proudest moments, what sets them apart from other agencies and why product discovery is so important.

Tell us about UWP?

Underwaterpistol is a full-service ecommerce agency that creates best-in-class user experiences. We bring brand stories to life through memorable design, build conversion-driving stores that customers love, and elevate brands with industry-leading digital marketing.

We’ve been around for over two decades, so we have a lot of experience working with innovative and market-leading online brands. From fashion to food, to music or subscriptions, our team has the technical expertise to design, build and grow stand-out ecommerce stores. 

What sets you apart from other digital agencies?

As a full-service agency, we offer a holistic approach to ecommerce, encompassing strategy, design, development and growth services. We developed a 4-phase framework to shift our focus towards building fruitful, long-term growth for brands, instead of solving a single issue. This framework involves 4 key stages – Plan, Create, Grow and Accelerate – during which we work closely with our clients to develop a comprehensive and collaborative strategy from day one, specialising in ecommerce strategy and creative services. 

What would you say to a client looking to replatform to Shopify?

As an official Shopify Plus partner agency, we work with a lot of merchants who are interested in replatforming to Shopify. The first question we ask those clients is ‘Why now?’. We want to develop an understanding of exactly what they want from a new platform, and which features they like about their current platform. Then, we work with the client to pull together a plan of action that manages the migration smoothly, and best incorporates those features onto the new platform.

Tell us about one of your proudest moments/biggest achievements as an agency?

Something we’re really proud of at UWP is the long-term relationships we build with our clients, and the significant milestones we achieve for and with them, whether that’s launching into a new market or launching a totally new brand. 

As for our biggest achievement, that’s got to be the fantastic team we’ve managed to build over the past 21 years. Each member of our growing team brings a totally unique perspective and expertise that helps us help our clients grow and thrive. That’s what we’re most proud of at UWP.

Oh, and we won Yopto’s Shopify Plus Agency of the Year award earlier this year. That was a pretty big deal too. 

Is there a trend you think will be prominent in the near future?

There are a few trends we can see becoming more and more popular, including headless ecommerce, omnichannel customer experiences, DeFi (decentralised finance), metaverses and blockchain. We also believe that online marketplaces like eBay, Etsy, Amazon and Depop will be really prominent in the near future. OC&C Strategy Consultants reckon by 2025 that 45-50% of ecommerce spending will be done on marketplaces.

Why do you think product discovery is important to your client base?

People being able to search for and find the new products they’re looking for enhances their user experience and makes them more likely to make a purchase. 

Product discovery also replicates the offline shopping experience by recommending items that you might also like, just like when you’re in a real life shop and come across something you love that you weren’t necessarily looking for. It also allows merchants to create memorable, personalised experiences on their site. 

Why did you decide to partner with Klevu?

Here at UWP, we’re excited by the prospect of helping brands innovate their performance and constantly improve. Klevu are a technology and service that shares this ethos!

Why did you choose to implement Klevu for Arighi Bianchi?

As a stand-out luxury furniture brand, Arighi Bianchi boasts a wide range of products across many categories. Product discovery is integral to how their ecommerce site functions. We recommended Klevu for smart search to enhance the user experience through generating more relevant product recommendations with accompanying images to, in turn, boost the store’s conversion rate.

If your agency was an animal what would it be? 

Given that our name is Underwaterpistol, it’s got to be a sea creature! We might be something like an octopus, because as a full-service agency, we have our tentacles involved in lots of different elements that drive the growth of ecommerce businesses, from design and development to digital marketing. We’re also very adaptable – just like how octopuses manipulate themselves into lots of unusual spaces.

Find out more about Underwaterpistol here.