PapelyCarton case study: two websites for two very different customers

* Metrics and testimonial pending confirmation with the client.

The context

PapelyCarton is an industrial paper and cardboard distributor with over thirty years of experience and FSC certification. Its value isn't just in having the product: it's in cutting it to size, keeping it in stock, and shipping it fast, plus advising on which material works best for each application.

That distinction matters. Anyone can sell a sheet of cardboard; few deliver it cut to the exact size a production line needs, by tomorrow. Customers who receive ready-to-use material save handling and time: the real product isn't the cardboard, it's the problem solved.

Then there's the expert advice. Thirty years in the business teaches you which paper weight a display stand can handle or which material won't transfer odors to food: knowledge that lived on the phone and nowhere else.

Over the years, they'd ended up with two websites that had each grown separately: an aging, outdated corporate site and a brand-new online store. Neither was the result of a deliberate decision, but of quick fixes and urgent needs: two storefronts with no plan defining what each one was for.

The challenge

The underlying problem wasn't aesthetic: neither website was designed around how its visitors actually buy. That cost doesn't show up on any invoice; it shows up in lost sales and in phone calls that make up for what the website should handle on its own.

• Two customer types with opposite buying habits: industrial buyers request quotes, compare, and negotiate; small customers want to add to cart and get it now.
• The corporate website had become outdated and needed a rebuild without losing the traffic already coming in from Google.
• The store looked nice but was clunky to use and slow, and products were hard to find.
• Two websites from the same brand competing with each other instead of working together.
• An industry where almost no one is getting digital right: a clear opportunity to stand out.

In euros and cents: the production manager looking for food-packaging cardboard found no page for their industry and called someone else. The designer who wanted five sheets for a mock-up gave up searching. And the sales rep spent half the morning on thirty-euro orders while a big quote waited in line. On top of that, a botched corporate site rebuild could throw away years of free organic traffic.

The solution: one website for each customer type

Before sketching anything, we decided who each website speaks to and what it needs to achieve. That split shapes the entire project.

1 · Understanding how each customer buys

We analyzed what each profile is looking for and what they expect to find. A production manager doesn't buy the same way as a designer who needs five sheets for a mock-up.

The first wants to know whether the supplier is reliable and delivers on time; the second just wants to see the price, pick a size, and pay. Combining them meant boring one and scaring off the other.

2 · The corporate website, built to win industrial accounts

Rebuilt from scratch, with a dedicated page for each of the 11 industries they serve (printing and graphic arts, packaging, manufacturing, converters, protective packaging, food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, point-of-purchase, displays, and print shops), plus product families and services: custom cutting, converting and die-cutting, expert advice, in-stock and rush delivery, and samples.

The goal is to make the phone ring and bring in quote requests. Giving each industry its own page isn't a whim: someone looking for pharmaceutical cardboard wants to read about pharma. It's rounded out with sustainability, weekly deals, a blog, and a contact page.

3 · The online store, built for frictionless selling

We kept the look, which the client liked, and fixed what wasn't working: finding products fast and buying them without hassle. Customers shop by category, by application (packaging, models, gifts, food, perfume), and in the three units they work with: by the sheet, by the square meter, or by the kilo, with custom cutting.

Shopping by application is key for influencers: an architect isn't looking for a paper weight; they're looking for something that works for their model. Lead them to the right material, and the sale closes itself.

4 · One shared look for both

The two websites now share the same personality (kraft tones, distinctive typography, and clean design) while each stays true to its purpose: the corporate site professional, the store fast and direct.

The shared look has a sales payoff: whoever discovers the brand on one site recognizes it on the other. A thirty-year-old company can't look like two different businesses.

5 · A launch that protects existing rankings

Everything the old website ranked for is redirected to its new page, so neither Google nor your customers hit pages that no longer exist.

We took inventory before changing anything and checked it afterward, page by page. It's the most tedious step and the one that prevents the most headaches.

6 · Telling the story of what they do best

Thirty years builds up a lot of know-how: material data sheets, paper-weight recommendations, answers the team repeats every week. It lived in people's heads, not anywhere a customer could find it.

Once it's written down, it attracts people searching for exactly that answer (who arrive with half the sales work already done) and demonstrates expertise before the first call. It's also what makes the brand show up on Google and in AI-generated answers.

Two websites, one business

The reasonable concern is whether two websites will end up stealing customers from each other. They won't, as long as each has a clear role: here they don't compete; they hand off the customer when the time is right.

The typical path goes from small to big. The designer who buys five sheets for a mock-up could be, two years later, the studio that needs material for an entire campaign. The store is the cheapest front door for meeting the customers who'll one day buy in volume.

It works the other way, too: someone looking for an industrial supplier finds the corporate site, and someone looking for a single sheet finds the store. Each path strengthens the other in an industry where most companies still haven't done their homework.

Results

PapelyCarton went from two disconnected websites to two sales tools, each with a clear role: one that brings in industrial customers and one that sells online to small customers, who used to drop off along the way or end up buying from someone else.

The first impact is internal and shows from day one: there's a place to send every customer. The sales rep routes small inquiries to the store and spends their time on large quotes.

The second is about search visibility: eleven industry pages, clearly explained services, and the team's expertise in writing add up to eleven front doors where there used to be just one.

The project has just entered its monitoring and continuous improvement phase. Data from the first few weeks says little, so we'll publish the lead generation and sales numbers here once there's enough history to tell a meaningful story.

What the project includes

It's not just a new website: it's the full set of pieces that make both sites work as one business, with tracking to measure whether they deliver results.

New corporate websiteOnline storeIndustry pagesCustom designContentRankings on Google and in AI answersConnected to their management systemMeasuring results

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