Case Study · 2026
Lumen Commerce
A headless storefront built around editorial storytelling — scroll-linked product reveals, a magazine-like grid, and a checkout flow that converts without ever leaving the page.
+34%
Conversion
−21%
Bounce rate
< 40ms
TTFB (edge)
8 wks
Timeline
Avg order value
$148.20
↑ 22% vs previous build
Role
Frontend lead
Stack
Next.js · Stripe · Sanity · Edge Runtime
Team
2 devs, 1 designer
Result
+34% conversion lift
The problem
A beautiful brand trapped in a slow storefront.
The client sold premium home goods with a strong editorial identity — but their existing Shopify theme loaded in 4.8 seconds on a 4G connection and felt nothing like their print catalog. Mobile conversion sat at 1.2% while their email CTR consistently hit 12%.
The gap between the brand promise and the shopping experience was costing them money every single day. The brief was to close it.
The solution
Editorial first, storefront second.
We built headless on top of Sanity for content and Stripe for payments, with all product pages rendered at the edge. The editorial grid uses scroll-linked motion — images reveal and parallax as you move through the story. Checkout lives in a slide-over panel so customers never lose their place in the product narrative.
Edge-rendered pages
Every product page ships from Cloudflare's edge network — TTFB under 40ms globally, no cold starts.
Slide-over checkout
Stripe Elements embedded in a slide-over panel with optimistic line item updates. One payment intent, no redirects.
Scroll-linked reveals
Product images enter on scroll using a single shared motion value — no GSAP overhead, just CSS custom properties driven by JS.
Process
Eight weeks to a live storefront.
Wk 1–2
Architecture & content model
Defined the Sanity schema alongside the editorial team. Established the edge deployment pipeline on Cloudflare Pages with ISR for product catalog pages.
Wk 3–4
Storefront shell & design system
Built the editorial grid, typography scale, and motion system. Wired Sanity's live preview so the content team could see changes in real time.
Wk 5–6
Checkout & Stripe integration
Implemented the slide-over checkout with Stripe Elements, address autocomplete, and Apple/Google Pay. Covered the happy path and a dozen edge cases.
Wk 7–8
Performance, QA & launch
Performance audit on real devices. Lazy-split the editorial images with BlurHash placeholders. A/B tested the CTA copy. Shipped to a 10% traffic rollout, then 100%.
Outcome
Conversion went up 34%. Bounce rate dropped 21%.
Within the first 30 days after launch, mobile conversion climbed from 1.2% to 2.1% — closing most of the gap with desktop. Average session depth increased by 2.4 pages. The client's support inbox stopped receiving complaints about slow load times.