Case Study: Supporting FutureYou Cambridge’s Transformational Migration to Shopify & Recharge

Part of the Cambridge Nutraceuticals group, FutureYou Cambridge’s mission is to help people live longer, healthier lives. This UK-based company specialises in high-quality, science-backed supplements, specifically formulated to support optimal absorption.

Almost all of FutureYou’s products are available on subscription, with recurring orders driving a significant portion of the business’ revenue.

This case study explores how Swanky supported the business’ transition away from a legacy strategy and architecture with a migration to Shopify and Recharge.

The challenge: Legacy infrastructure requiring future-proofing

When the Cambridge Nutraceuticals team approached Swanky, they were looking to take the business in a new direction. Historically, the business had been very technology-focussed, with a number of bespoke in-house solutions (including a custom subscription platform) which had been developed and maintained by a relatively large technology team.

With the business aligning around a new strategy, this systems architecture was no longer fit for purpose:

• It demanded significant developer input, resulting in high operational expenses and slower time to market.

• It didn’t align with Cambridge Nutraceuticals’ aspiration to enhance its customer-first focus.

• It was beginning to carry significant technical debt, which would likely grow over time.

Swanky was engaged to replatform the FutureYou website to a more flexible, scalable technology stack. This project was a key initiative in Cambridge Nutraceuticals transitioning away from its legacy strategy, enabling the business to grow as a strong, consumer-facing brand delivering a premium customer experience.

Project objectives

Core objectives of this website build included:

• Elevating frontend UX to aid product discovery and help users make more informed purchase decisions.

• Ensuring a stable migration to Shopify Plus from a hybrid BigCommerce/Magento front-end solution.

• Safely migrating over 30,000 subscribers to Recharge, with minimal customer impact and subscriber churn.

• Improving the subscription experience – making setting up and managing subscriptions easier for customers.

• Reducing operational complexity and technical debt.

• Empowering the FutureYou ecommerce team to operate with greater self-sufficiency.

How Swanky helped

Technical discovery

As part of our replatforming project with FutureYou, Swanky conducted a comprehensive technical discovery to ensure the success of the brand’s new Shopify Plus store from launch. This phase was critical in shaping the foundations of the project and aligning all stakeholders around a shared vision and roadmap.

We identified the key features required for launch that would deliver immediate value to the business, whilst also laying the groundwork for future iterations. Our team collaborated closely with FutureYou to validate the design approach, ensuring it supported brand expression, UX best practice and conversion goals.

Our team also mapped out the solutions architecture and recommended a consolidated tech stack, taking into account FutureYou’s long-term ambitions, performance needs, and internal capabilities. This included planning for custom technical solutions where native functionality wouldn’t suffice.

All of our discoveries include detailed risk assessments and RACI analysis (including roles for third-party partners). This level of rigour enables delivery to proceed with clarity, agility, and minimal friction.

Ecommerce migration from Magento & BigCommerce to Shopify Plus

Frustrated by legacy and custom ecommerce platforms, an increasing number of retailers are choosing Shopify as the modern alternative for scalable commerce.

A key factor in our client’s decision to migrate to Shopify was the way the platform is engineered to reduce total cost of ownership (TCO). Its transparent, SaaS-based pricing model, fully managed infrastructure and intuitive backend all help eliminate costs and allow for more predictable budget forecasting.

Another significant pull factor was the flexibility and efficiency offered by Shopify Store 2.0. The platform’s modular architecture and intuitive theme editor mean that the team will be able to quickly create and edit content-rich pages without having to rely on developers – enabling greater autonomy and faster time to market as desired. Read more about the benefits of Shopify Store 2.0.

We followed our proven replatforming process to ensure a smooth and stable migration to Shopify Plus.

Subscription migration to Recharge

Recharge was identified as the best fit for FutureYou’s subscription needs for a number of reasons, including:

• Easy subscription management, allowing customers to pause, skip, swap or cancel in just a few clicks –  a particularly useful feature considering the brand’s older customer demographic.

• Increased upsell and cross-sell opportunities.

• Significant support provided by the Recharge team during subscription migrations.

Swanky has a robust process for subscription migration, resulting in the successful migration of tens of thousands of FutureYou customer subscription records to Recharge.

Read more about how a Recharge migration powers subscription growth.

Custom subscription development

Following the migration to Recharge, we configured this best-in-class subscription tool to make it easy for customers to set up and manage recurring orders.

The new self-serve portal gives users full control over their subscriptions – with flexibility that supports both convenience and wellbeing.

Custom subscription development included:

• A custom subscription widget, styled to match the design of the site and work correctly with FutureYou’s variant setup.

• Leveraging metaobjects to enable trial subscriptions.

Leveraging Patchworks for systems integration

Our Systems Integration team used leading iPaaS Patchworks to power key integrations in FutureYou’s commerce ecosystem and introduce greater automation across systems. This included integrating Shopify and Netsuite ERP to sync order and inventory data – allowing more accurate tracking, providing better real-time visibility, and increasing business efficiency.

We often recommend the use of Patchworks to de-risk and accelerate replatforming projects. It can eliminate many hours of development work on integrations thanks to its pre-built connectors and workflows – facilitating integration freedom and helping business unlock value faster.

In this instance, we were able to deliver a fully-functioning Shopify < > Netsuite integration in just three months.

Elevating on-site UX to support product discovery & informed decision-making

In health and wellness ecommerce, supporting product discovery and informed decision-making is essential to building trust, ensuring customer safety, and helping individuals to find solutions that genuinely meet their needs.

Swanky delivered a series of on-site enhancements designed to prioritise this on the FutureYou website.

Needs-based navigation to connect users with relevant products

A key focus was streamlining site navigation to help high-intent shoppers quickly find suitable products. The mega menu uses branded icons and condition-based categories to streamline discovery. This is particularly important given the older demographic of FutureYou’s audience.

Further down the homepage, there is more opportunity for users to shop according to the area of health they would like to improve.

Meanwhile, a responsive search function helps users navigate to relevant products and content.

Product recommendation quiz for a customer-centric experience

In parallel, we leveraged Octane AI to create a personalised supplement quiz that provides a more guided shopping experience. Built to integrate seamlessly with the site’s design, the quiz asks visitors targeted questions about their health goals and lifestyle, before recommending a curated selection of products tailored to their needs.

This helps to seamlessly connect customers with relevant products – creating a thoughtful, customer-centric experience that drives both engagement and trust, whilst reflecting FutureYou’s commitment to friendly, exceptional service.

Zero-party data collected during the product recommendation quiz can also be used to personalise the post-purchase experience.

Social proof to support confident purchase decisions

Authentic social proof is crucial for any health and wellbeing ecommerce site, helping to validate brand integrity and boost consumer trust. The FutureYou site leverages Trustpilot to showcase ratings and reviews across key touchpoints.

It also includes real-life customer testimonials, leveraging visuals and copy to connect with potential customers and inspire confident purchases.

Tech stack consolidation

We worked with the FutureYou team to consolidate their technical architecture, removing any inefficient or redundant functionality. The aim was to reduce technical debt and increase efficiency across the business.

Key tools within FutureYou’s new Shopify tech stack include:

• Patchworks
• Recharge
• Netsuite
• OctaneAI
• Trustpilot

These solutions work together to provide a joined up customer experience across channels and touch points, whilst reducing data silos and improving efficiency behind the scenes.

Results

FutureYou now delivers an intuitive and supported online shopping experience, tailored to users’ unique health requirements. Meanwhile, the brand’s ecommerce team is enjoying a much simpler and more flexible backend experience.

But this project was about far more than a website upgrade – it was a chance to transform how FutureYou operates. Freed from legacy architecture constraints and technical debt, the brand is now primed for digital growth and continued customer experience innovation.

This testimonial from Matthew Keys, CEO of Cambridge Nutraceuticals, speaks volumes about the impact of this project:

“The launch of our new website has been truly transformational, not just technically, but culturally and commercially. By moving away from a restrictive, custom infrastructure and legacy platform, we’ve empowered every team – from tech, supply chain and finance to product development, marketing, ecommerce, business development, insights and customer care – to work faster, smarter and more collaboratively. 

“The result is a scalable, high-performing site that enhances the customer experience (through improved accessibility, subscription management, product discovery and more), significantly boosts operational efficiency (we eliminated 95% of our technical debt), and positions the business for accelerated growth. 

“At last, we have a website that aligns with the very highest quality of our health supplements!”

View the FutureYou Cambridge website.

Replatform with a Shopify Platinum Partner

Swanky is a leading authority in the Shopify Plus ecosystem, with particular expertise replatforming subscription-first brands from complex, legacy technologies to modern, scalable alternatives like Shopify and Recharge.

To discuss your replatforming project with our solutions team, complete an enquiry form.