Project Brief
Fountain Timber approached Sonder with a significant challenge: rebuild their ecommerce platform so online sales could scale without being held back by unreliable third-party stock management. With 200+ products online and a busy in-yard operation, the new system needed to support both retail customers and trade buyers — including trade logins with bespoke pricing and streamlined order management.
Alongside the rebuild, Fountain Timber wanted a long-term digital partner to grow performance month by month. Our role covers CRO, SEO (foundations plus ongoing content and landing pages), Google Ads (Shopping + Performance Max, with robust conversion tracking via the Google Ads API), Mailchimp email marketing, and continuous optimisation across key product ranges — particularly gates, sleepers and fencing.
Project Background
Fountain Timber are a veteran timber yard based in Bristol, supplying high-quality timber products for over 60 years — from sleepers and fencing to gates, sheds and garden structures. As customer behaviour shifted, the opportunity was clear: grow online ordering without disrupting the day-to-day realities of a working timber yard.
About the Project
The original ecommerce setup was being held back by a fragile third-party integration for stock and order management. We rebuilt the platform entirely on Envelope, creating a more reliable foundation for ecommerce — including trade logins for bespoke pricing and smoother order handling.
A key part of the rebuild was a bespoke POS integration that keeps operations joined up across online and offline sales: stock, pricing, discounts and order flow. We phased the switchover carefully and managed indexing throughout to protect search visibility during migration.
Since launch, we’ve focused on growth through continuous optimisation: improving UX and conversion paths, building local SEO visibility with landing pages and product guides, running Shopping + Performance Max campaigns, and supporting seasonal demand with email campaigns and on-site merchandising. The April YoY results speak for themselves — both overall sales and Google Ads-driven revenue have accelerated significantly.
How we do it
Achieving results for Fountain Timber
Bespoke integration with offline POS
We built a bespoke integration that connects ecommerce to Fountain Timber’s offline operations — syncing the details that matter: stock, pricing, discounts and order handling. That means fewer manual workarounds, fewer errors, and more confidence when scaling online sales alongside a busy yard.
Ongoing content marketing strategy
We focus on local search demand and product-led intent — building landing pages and guides that match how customers actually buy timber. A standout example is the bespoke featheredge calculator, which helps users plan accurately and brings in high-intent traffic for one of Fountain Timber’s key growth areas.
Local SEO foundations built to scale
We covered the fundamentals properly — clean structure, strong internal linking, template hygiene and content planning — then built out local landing pages and product guides to improve visibility where it matters most. The aim is simple: more high-intent traffic that turns into orders, not vanity rankings.
Timely sales funnel newsletter campaigns
Mailchimp supports both retention and seasonal demand — from product range pushes to timely reminders during peak buying periods. The goal isn’t “more emails”; it’s better timing, clearer offers and a cleaner path back to the right product pages.
53% April YoY sales growth
By combining a more reliable ecommerce foundation with continuous optimisation across SEO, CRO, email and paid search, online sales have accelerated. In April, year-on-year sales rose from £62,275 to £95,287 — a 53% increase.
Trade logins with bespoke pricing and smoother ordering
Trade customers can log in for bespoke pricing and simpler repeat ordering — removing friction for high-value customers and keeping pricing and discounts controlled. It’s a better experience for buyers, and a more manageable system for the team internally.
“Rob and the team have helped us navigate a new site design, integration to a new SOP system, and improve our social media and marketing plan. At every step, they have helped guided us with knowledge, and expertise. I would recommend anytime. A fantastic company to work with!”
– Ross, Managing Director at Fountain Timber
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