On Weston Tables Visitors to the e-commerce site are greeted with colorful lifestyle photography, step-by-step tutorials accompanied by illustrations, blog posts and recipes. It looks like an interior design magazine.
That’s because founder Dianne O’Connor first started Weston Table as a lifestyle, travel, and food blog. And even when she decided to monetize the blog by selling home goods, she still wanted Weston Table to feel like an entertainment platform first.
Dianne was inspired by magazine design. This meant considering new fonts, using color transitions, and even wireframing the website on paper.
Dianne keeps the Weston Table website updated each season, much like a magazine’s publishing cycle, with thousands of unique home products. Here’s his plan to make it go smoothly.
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Building for a wider audience
From the beginning, Dianne knew she didn’t want Weston Table to look like any other e-commerce site. She had a clear vision for how she wanted the site to work and she needed a technology stack that could support it. It meant anticipating.
“I invested in ShopifyPlus when we only had $250,000 in income,” explains Dianne. Shopify’s enterprise solution gave her the scalability and customization she needed, and Weston Table increased sales by up to 300% year over year.
Change with the seasons
Dianne attributes much of Weston Table’s success to the constant newness of the website. The company completely renews the site every three months. The colors, layout and photography reflect each upcoming season.
![an outdoor table](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0070/7032/files/Magical-Gatherings-Weston-Table.jpg?v=1702419841)
“It’s not really an entertainment platform if people come back and there’s nothing new,” Dianne says. “So we try to tell new stories every three months.” She explains that the team plans months in advance and does most of the creation in-house. This gives Weston Table creative control and the ability to respond quickly to changing trends.
Share the stories behind the products
Dianne always sources all products herself, giving her first-hand knowledge of the manufacturing and history of the pieces. This helps it inject storytelling into product descriptions and website content.
“In general, I will not buy [a product] unless [the suppliers] give me a little idea why it’s special or where it comes from,” Dianne says. For example, she fell in love with oyster plates when she met a man who sold them in Normandy, France. The supplier showed him how oyster plates tell the story of Europe.
![Oyster plate with bust and champagne bucket](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0070/7032/files/Vintage-Silea-Oyster-Plate-Weston-Table-3.jpg?v=1702419934)
Search for rare, handmade and vintage pieces
Weston Table also keeps customers coming back to purchase unique or limited-quantity pieces. Dianne says sourcing rare products was risky at first, but once she got to know her customers well, she became more confident in choosing new products for Weston Table.
To keep the process sustainable, the company has allocated a budget for rarities. “We keep 10 percent of our selection for vintage and antique items because they are one of a kind,” says Dianne.
It also works with some of its suppliers to evolve the relationship. Dianne asked manufacturers to start with smaller orders and work their way up if the products sold well. “I invested in them, so they were willing to invest in me,” says Dianne.
To learn more about how Weston Table thinks creatively when it comes to website design and sourcing, listen Dianne’s full interview on Shopify Masters.