Houthandel Jan Sok
From WordPress + page builder to bespoke web design with a custom shop and order management.
The old setup was WordPress with a generic site builder: a basic layout without a strong professional structure and limited room for a serious online shop. That was fully replaced with custom design and a tailor-made webshop. Orders no longer sit inside a rigid template - they run through an order-management layer aligned with how Jan Sok works, from enquiry to fulfilment.
The challenge
The site had to earn trust with consumers and contractors alike, and support serious online timber sales - including sizing and logistics.
- ✗WordPress with a visual builder: limited brand expression and layout freedom.
- ✗No robust e-commerce foundation for catalogue and checkout at scale.
- ✗Order status and follow-up were not transparent for customers and staff.
- ✗Little room for a clear product hierarchy (species, lengths, use cases).
The solution
Bespoke front end and shop: product structure and order management aligned with how Jan Sok actually works, with a calm, professional look.
- ✓Custom web design without templates - brand, hierarchy and overview first.
- ✓Tailor-made shop logic suited to timber assortments and customer types.
- ✓Dedicated order management with clear status, delivery and next actions.
- ✓Scalable structure: ready to grow without hitting template walls again.
Key deliverables
Palette
Fully bespoke web design and brand-led layout
ShoppingCart
Webshop with product structure aligned to the catalogue
Layers
Order management and traceability from enquiry to delivery
LayoutGrid
Scalable site structure instead of page-builder blocks
Context
Jan Sok supplies timber and building materials to a mix of retail and trade customers. The old site felt like a builder project with limited shop logic: complex product choices and lead times were hard to explain.
Approach & outcome
We restarted with information architecture and checkout: which steps customers see, how custom sizes and stock are communicated, and how orders stay traceable internally. Live at houthandeljansok.nl.
What the shop does that WordPress did not
The builder could show a catalogue. It could not run a timber merchant’s order path: enquiry, size, delivery, internal status. The new shop follows the assortment, not a generic WooCommerce grid.
What I do not claim
No invented order counts. [NEEDS INPUT: go-live date, product groups, whether an accounting link is live].
Process: from builder site to own shop
First the gap: the WordPress builder could show a catalogue, not size, delivery and internal status. Then a fixed-price build: new design, product hierarchy, checkout steps and an admin path that fits a timber merchant. Not a theme migrate-plus-plugin. [NEEDS INPUT: duration, whether the old range moved one-to-one, who supplied photos and specs]. Live: houthandeljansok.nl.
Why WordPress plus a builder stalled here
A builder is fine for a brochure. A timber yard does not sell t-shirts: species, length, use, often made-to-measure, plus delivery. WooCommerce forces that into a generic grid; order status stays an export or an email. At Jan Sok the shop belongs to the yard, not to a theme update. Hence a custom front end and an order path without a plugin pile.
Order management without invented metrics
Own order management means predictability: who ordered what, what is still open, what was delivered. I do not publish order counts or conversion. [NEEDS INPUT: go-live date, number of product groups, whether accounting or stock is linked, whether guest accounts exist]. Until then the checkable claim is: own shop, catalogue, internal order path, no builder layout. Open houthandeljansok.nl and you can see the range and the path to an order. What happens internally after that stays private until Jan Sok wants it public.
Drenthe, Meppel, Hoogeveen
Anyone searching “webshop laten maken Hoogeveen” or a timber merchant in south-west Drenthe will recognise this. Private buyers and contractors both have to read the catalogue; the shop should not feel like a national marketplace. A custom webshop from €4,000 (public guide price) only pays when the order process really diverges from a standard Woo shop. Before: WordPress plus a builder without a real commerce foundation. After: own design, assortment hierarchy, internal order path. No revenue figure; a URL you can open. Timber trade here needs clarity on size and delivery, not a theme update every other month. The same applies to other merchants who need catalogue plus order handling, not a theme gallery.