Case Study: Essential Depot achieves 20% increase in online sales and 52% faster site load times with Miva

Miva's powerful ecommerce platform improves sales, cuts costs, & saves an online B2B & B2C retailer from the limitations of cookie-cutter solutions

Essential Depot, launched in 2009 to supply soap‑making ingredients and now selling a wide range of bath, body and specialty chemical products, had outgrown its ProStores cart and needed a platform that could handle complex international and hazardous‑materials shipping, deep customization, and ongoing support. After evaluating Bigcommerce, Volusion and Magento — which were either too limited or too costly and resource‑intensive — the company sought a more flexible, service‑oriented solution.

Essential Depot moved to Miva, using its in‑house professional services to build custom international checkout logic (including automated Harmonized Tariff codes), advanced shipping rules and extensive product custom fields. The new site delivered strong results: 20% higher online sales, 52% faster page loads, $480,000 in new annual international revenue, about 132 man‑hours saved per month (≈$1,800/month), and a 33% reduction in shipping errors.

Essential Depot

Derek Hodges

President & CEO