Barnes

Since 2021, Kobe Creations has been working with Barnes to build, maintain and continuously improve their online eCommerce system. This includes their Australia and New Zealand websites, and their business integration with MYOB EXO, as well as with MachShip shipping. Read on to find out how we worked with Barnes to build the EXO integration and the Australian site, and then later expanded to launch their New Zealand platform, implement a shipping solution and effect numerous other improvements and new features across both markets.

Barnes, a supplier of moulding, casting, and sculpting materials, originally commissioned the Kobe team to develop a brand new website that would function as an eCommerce storefront and content hosting platform for customer resources.

The project entailed creating a responsive web UI with a seamless user experience from scratch, along with integrating a shop to their MYOB EXO system and shipping carrier services. Additionally, the team was tasked with building a dedicated section on the site to feature FAQs, video tutorials, and product demonstrations offered by Barnes to their customer community. Finally, our team had to import all data from the previous website, including product documents and customer reviews and ratings, into the new website.

Barnes is a fundamentally creative company, and Kobe Creations acted as their dedicated development arm, translating their vision into a functional, high-performance website. Our team worked closely with Barnes to coordinate and ideate on the new website’s design, ensuring it honored the Barnes style while meeting the highest standards of usability and functionality.

From the outset, we took a proactive approach to project management, swiftly establishing site-wide theme details, layouts for key pages, and optimised mobile options. As soon as Barnes approved the final designs, we immediately translated them into a fully functional WordPress-based site on our development servers. We customised the platform extensively to match the approved designs with pixel-perfect accuracy and conducted thorough testing in collaboration with the Barnes team to guarantee the site performed exactly as intended. Throughout the project, Kobe Creations provided technical leadership, ensuring smooth execution and a seamless transition from design to deployment.

Simultaneously, we set up a WooCommerce storefront on the site and integrated it swiftly with Barnes' MYOB EXO system, using our existing MyIntegrator platform. The integration was tailored to accommodate Barnes' custom fields and documents for products, as well as a unique payment logging system for customer orders. Every step of the way we sought feedback from the Barnes accounting team, in order to ensure we fully and accurately automated the most tedious and time-consuming of their data transfer processes.

Once all the designs and integrations were ready, we imported data from Barnes' legacy system, including their old reviews and community content, into the new site. At their request, their guides and video content were placed within a brand-new “Learn” section for easy browsing by customers.

The new website was a huge success, and our partnership with Barnes continued with monthly site updates and frequent meetings.

Another major aspect of development involved shipping, where we took a proactive approach and helped onboard Barnes onto the MachShip freight management service, which was quickly integrated with WooCommerce. Our team also devised a system for per-product shipping methods, including the option to generate consignments automatically and restrict 'Dangerous Goods' orders to specific carriers. We also implemented automated packing slip generation and printing with PrintNode, significantly reducing manual processing time for the Barnes warehouse team while also improving delivery accuracy and customer communication.

The biggest improvement came with the launch of the Barnes New Zealand website. Rather than building from scratch, we identified an opportunity to leverage the existing architecture and codebase, creating substantial cost and time efficiencies. We carefully adapted the site to accommodate New Zealand-specific requirements, including regional pricing, local compliance and shipping options. This approach helped Barnes to rapidly expand into a new market while maintaining consistent brand identity and operational workflows in both countries. The two websites now enjoy synchronised improvements, with new features automatically deployed to both markets.

Throughout this ongoing relationship, our collaborative development has enabled Barnes to gain technological advantages in a competitive market while still keeping their costs manageable.

• Twin customised WooCommerce sites for Australia and New Zealand markets

• Seamless integration with MYOB EXO for products, inventory, and orders

• Dedicated educational "Learn" section with FAQs and video tutorials

• Automated workflows reducing administrative time by 15-20 hours weekly

• Continued upgrades and feature deployments across both markets

• Support for managing custom marketing and discount campaigns

Our work for Barnes has had a transformative impact on their business. The new websites have increased their business footprint at home and abroad, facilitating expansions with new physical stores in Australia and abroad in New Zealand. At the same time, the integration has elevated efficiency, saving almost a full time staff member’s share of work weekly - over 250 orders are integrated each week! Our work with Barnes shows how a close and cooperative partnership can transform digital operations for complex multi-market requirements.

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