For over 50 years, Audio Advice has helped consumers create extraordinary spaces to enjoy music and movies. They relished in the early days of stereo systems and have been experts every step of the way as the technology evolved into custom home theaters and fully connected sound systems.
Unlike their expertise with audio and entertainment technology, Audio Advice faced challenges with site speed and an outdated platform on Magento (now Adobe Commerce). They decided to move to Shopify to unlock a faster, more user-friendly site that would enable better engagement and shopping experiences. They had worked with Netalico on their Magento platform for years, so it was only fitting that they apply Netalico’s knowledge of Audio Advice’s complex data, backend setup, and customer expectations to their migration onto Shopify.
Since moving to Shopify, Audio Advice has achieved:
- 21% increase in overall revenue
- 28% increase in total number of orders
- 47% increase in conversion rate year-over-year
- 154% increase in direct traffic conversion rate since site launch
The challenge: Breaking free from Magento’s limitations
Audio Advice found their growth constrained by Magento's rigid platform. Even simple updates required advanced technical expertise, creating bottlenecks that prevented the marketing team from responding quickly to business needs, new product launches, or seasonal promotions.
The platform's slow load times further compounded these issues, frustrating customers and reducing conversions. As a high-touch retailer selling premium equipment, Audio Advice needed to provide rich educational content—comparison charts, expert guides, and setup walkthroughs—to help customers make informed purchasing decisions on big-ticket items.
For a company built on providing exceptional customer experiences, these technical limitations directly undermined their ability to deliver the same quality online that customers had come to expect in-store. If the marketing team wanted to tweak a page layout, launch a limited-time promo, or add a new video review to a product, it all went into the developer queue. This dependency made it hard for teams to move quickly, especially when reacting to new product drops or seasonal promotions. Audio Advice needed a solution that would empower their team with greater autonomy while supporting the content-rich experience their specialized products demanded.
And that’s what led them to Shopify.
"We've worked with Audio Advice for years and seen how their marketing team was constantly waiting on technical implementations for basic content changes on their old Magento platform," says Mark William Lewis, founder and CEO of Netalico. "In a fast-moving space like audio and entertainment, that kind of delay meant missing the moment when interest was highest. We recommended migrating to Shopify for its intuitive content management and streamlined codebase, which frees us up to collaborate on bigger, more impactful projects than just swapping out a hero image.”
The solution: Fine tuning shopper experiences on Shopify
Audio Advice partnered with Netalico to migrate their ecommerce store from Magento to Shopify, seeking a platform that could match their expertise in high-end audio equipment with an equally impressive online shopping experience. The migration was carefully timed to complete well before the holiday season, particularly so that the enhanced shopper experiences would be ready in time for Black Friday Cyber Monday.
Data migration can be a delicate part of replatforming, but using Matrixify, Netalico was able to seamlessly transfer product content, images, customer records, and orders from both WordPress and Magento. This careful approach ensured no data was lost and operations continued smoothly throughout the transition.
As for the shopper experience, Audio Advice knows that high-end audio equipment requires detailed technical specifications for customers to make informed purchasing decisions. To improve this, Netalico added features including:
- Custom product listing pages (PLPs): The new pages use Boost-powered filters that enable shoppers to refine searches by brand, product type, or dedicated series curated by the Audio Advice team.
- Enhanced search: When customers search for a particular amplifier for their home theater, they're now presented with intuitive categories including popular recommendations, curated product collections, and expert articles to help with their technical setups. This enhanced search experience has led to a 8% increase in organic search sessions, with a 3% increase in active users.
- Redesigned product detail pages (PDPs): Each page prominently displays shipping and return policies, inventory status, and full technical details, making it easier for shoppers to compare options and buy with confidence.
It’s these improvements to the shopper journey that have since led to a 47% increase in conversion rate year-over-year, including a 154% increase in direct traffic conversion rate since the site launched.
Internally, the Audio Advice team also has more control than ever. With Shopify’s user-friendly admin and a flexible setup of custom metafields and content blocks, their marketing and merchandising teams can independently update product content, launch new landing pages, and publish blog articles without developer support. This agility has shortened turnaround times and freed up the team to focus on bigger-picture initiatives like strategic campaigns, brand growth, and new content development.
Moving to Shopify has been a game-changer for Audio Advice. We were previously constrained by Magento's complexity, but now our team can implement changes quickly and independently.
The results: Getting into the rhythm of business growth
The move to Shopify didn’t just improve the look and feel of Audio Advice’s site, it changed how they connect with customers and operate behind the scenes. The site now loads faster, navigates more intuitively, and allows shoppers to confidently find exactly what they need, even for highly technical purchases. As a testament to this performance, the site now has 100% Core Web Vitals compliance across all pages, compared to 0% pre-migration.
Customer satisfaction has also climbed as a result of easier navigation, clearer stock and shipping information, and product detail pages packed with the specs and policies that audio enthusiasts care about. Post-launch, Audio Advice had their best performing November to date, generating $1.99 million in revenue that translated to a 3% yearly increase for that month alone. What’s more, their Black Friday Cyber Monday weekend revenue was up 15% on the year.
This is just the beginning for Audio Advice’s growth through their commerce site. With total revenue up 21% on the year and the number of orders increasing 28%, they’re looking for more ways to engage their customers.
Next, they plan to work with Netalico to custom design a product comparison tool and use a third-party wishlist app, making it easier for customers to evaluate options side by side or save products for future consideration. They’ll also look to expand their search filters by adding rich content options like core product features and operating principles, which are essential for guiding purchases in the high-end audio space. Working with Netalico every step of the way, they’ll continue to make noise as a leader in the audio and entertainment technology industry.
Netalico's guidance throughout the migration was exceptional—they understood our unique needs as an audio retailer and built custom solutions that speak directly to our customers. The performance improvements have exceeded our expectations, with load times dramatically reduced and conversion rates climbing. This partnership has positioned us for sustained growth in a competitive market.