Pete McKee
Pete McKee is a Sheffield icon and one of the UK’s most recognisable contemporary artists, known for work that is full of character, nostalgia and warmth. With an established audience, a busy online store and a brand that fans know instantly, the project required more than a standard ecommerce rebuild. The new website needed to bring Pete’s world together in one place: presenting the art beautifully, making products easier to browse and buy, and giving the team a stronger platform for long-term online growth.
Consolidating Two Sites
McKee’s original digital presence was split between a main website and a separate online store. To create a smoother customer journey and reduce the risk of visitors being lost between two domains, we brought the two sites together into one unified ecommerce platform. This meant consolidating content, products and store functionality under a single CMS, while carefully handling redirects from the old domain to protect valuable traffic, search visibility and external links built up over years of brand recognition.
True to the Brand
For an artist with such a distinctive visual world, it was essential that the new site felt unmistakably Pete McKee.
We spent time with the team in person, immersing ourselves in the physical gallery and understanding how the brand was experienced offline before translating it online. The result is a website that feels bold, colourful and familiar, with the design taking its cues from the existing McKee identity while giving the artwork, products and photography the space they deserve.
"My business had a great experience with Wilkes Wood. Fred and the team were able to listen to the issues we were currently having with our existing website, and suggest solutions to resolve these. The work was done to a very high and professional standard and delivered on time. Because of this we have taken out one of their support packages so we can continue to improve our online experience for customers."
Optimising Product Pages
During discovery, we identified the product-page experience as one of the biggest opportunities for improvement.
We redesigned the pages around clearer ecommerce journeys, stronger imagery and more confident calls to action. This included a persistent add-to-cart route, easier checkout access, related product recommendations, larger product visuals and a fully responsive layout across devices.
The aim was simple: make it easier for customers to explore the work, understand what they are buying and complete their purchase with less friction.
Data-Driven Decisions
For an ecommerce project of this scale, performance had to be measurable.
We benchmarked historic site data before launch, giving the team a clear basis for comparing performance after the rebuild. We also implemented more precise analytics tracking, making it easier to understand customer behaviour and identify opportunities for ongoing improvement.
Since launch, the new site has performed strongly against historical data for the same period, giving McKee a more effective ecommerce platform and a clearer foundation for future growth.
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