Katri OÜ is a building materials specialist based in Rakvere, who has been a Web Systems partner for over six years. During this time, we have built two web solutions for the company, the most recent of which was completed in 2026. The main goal of the new site was one clear metric: speed. In addition, the new solution had to maintain the complex interface with the old SAF-based ERP system, where all the data exchange has been built over the years. Today, Katri.ee scores above 90% in all metrics in Google PageSpeed Insights and is running exactly as fast as the client wanted. For the time being, we continue to work together on maintenance and new developments.
Client and project background
Katri OÜ has a physical building materials shop in Rakvere, which originally served mainly local builders and home builders. When the first e-shop went live, its main target group was still buyers in Rakvere and Lääne-Viru County. Over the years, however, Katri’s e-shop reach has expanded significantly, and today Katri’s customers shop from all over Estonia, which meant that when designing the new site, we had to think through the needs of both the local buyer and the more distant customer.
The long-term partnership has given us a deep understanding of Katri’s business model, catalogue and technical systems. It was this context that helped us to build the new site quickly and in a focused way – we didn’t start the mapping from scratch, we knew in advance what worked and what was worth updating.
Challenge: speed, better UX and maintaining the old SAF interface
- Speed was a critical metric: the client wanted a new page that loaded quickly on any device, the goal was a Google PageSpeed Insights score above 90% in all key metrics (Performance, Accessibility, Best Practices, SEO).
- Legacy SAF-based ERP: Katri’s business systems have been built over the years on and tightly interfaced with SAF’s business software. The new site had to maintain all of this without any process interruption.
- UX/UI deficiencies on the old site: a thorough UX/UI audit was conducted, which identified areas for improvement on several fronts, navigation, search, filters, product page, checkout, mobile view. These were all to be addressed in the new version.
- Image management pragmatism: the client wanted to enter product images themselves, but this is time-consuming for a large catalogue directly from the WordPress management interface. A more flexible and faster solution was needed.
- For sale locally across Estonia: The initial focus was on the residents of Rakvere and Lääne-Viru County, but as the e-store’s reach expanded, the transport solutions, checkout and product view had to work well for shoppers across Estonia.
- Comprehensive product catalogue: building materials, insulation, vans, dry mixes, wood, blocks, bricks, metal frames, electrical equipment, garden products, all with logical hierarchy and working filters.
Solution: high-speed WooCommerce, SAF interface and a package of UX improvements
For the new solution, we again chose WordPress + WooCommerce as the basis, but we rebuilt the entire layering, theme, front-end and optimization, with a focus on speed. We’ve written more about how building a successful e-commerce store is based on thorough preparation on the service page.
Pre-construction UX/UI audit
Before building the new site, we conducted a thorough UX/UI audit of the existing solution. We identified dozens of specific improvements for both the desktop and mobile views: simplifying navigation, optimising the search field, improving filters (including price, brand and availability filters), making product descriptions more comprehensive, making price and discounts more prominent, streamlining the checkout process and WCAG accessibility improvements. The audit provided a concrete action plan on which the development of the new site was built.
Speed over 90% on all Google PageSpeed metrics
Speed was not a “nice to have” goal for us, but a key quality feature of the site. We achieved this through a number of separate optimizations: minimal plugin usage, sensible theme architecture (custom layering rather than a heavy page builder), lazy-loading of images and support for modern formats, minimization and combination of CSS and JS, prioritization of critical resources, server-side caching and proper hosting setup. The result is clearly measurable: a Google PageSpeed Insights score of over 90% on both desktop and mobile.
SAF ERP interface
Katri’s economic software is built on top of the old SAF system and all data exchange goes through it. In the case of the new site, this did not mean “building a new interface from scratch”, we had accumulated a deep understanding of how SAF works in the Katri context over the years. The new page maintains all the existing data exchange logic: stock levels, prices, synchronisation of orders, category management. For Katri, this meant that no internal processes were interrupted when going live.
Image management via FTP
With a large catalogue, managing product images from the WordPress admin interface is time-consuming. We solved this by allowing Katri’s team to upload images directly via FTP, which is faster and more flexible than online entry. It’s a good example of how a long-term partnership can help find solutions that match real workflows, not theoretical ideals.
Ongoing maintenance and development
After Live, we will continue to work together on ongoing maintenance and development of new features as business needs arise. This is typical of those projects where the build is not the end, but the starting point for a long-term development effort that follows the growth of the client’s business.
The result: a fast e-shop that works in Rakvere and across Estonia.
The new katri.ee went live in 2026 and fulfils its main purpose, loads fast, displays products smoothly and serves customers equally well in Rakvere and elsewhere in Estonia. A PageSpeed Insights score of over 90% across all key indicators is not “achieved once and forgotten”, our maintenance ensures it stays there.
Project details
- Client: Katri OÜ (Katri Ehituskaup)
- Field of activity: building supplies and building materials (e-shop + physical shop in Rakvere)
- Website: katri.ee
- Platform: wordpress + WooCommerce + custom layering (with speed focus)
- Language: estonian
- Technologies: WordPress, WooCommerce, PHP, JavaScript, HTML5, SCSS
- ERP interface: SAF (stock, prices, orders, categories)
- Image management: FTP-based (client’s own faster upload).
- Score: Google PageSpeed Insights over 90% across all metrics (Performance, Accessibility, Best Practices, SEO) on both desktop and mobile.
- Previous work: in-depth UX/UI audit of old site (navigation, search, filters, product page, checkout, mobile view).
- Services: UX/UI audit, design, e-store development, SAF ERP interface, speed optimisation, ongoing maintenance and further development.
- Duration of cooperation: 6+ years (two web solutions built)
- Delivery date: new version live 2026; ongoing maintenance and development
For similar e-commerce projects that require long-term partnership and performance focus, we will be by the client’s side every step of the way, from e-commerce creation and WooCommerce development to SEO service and long-term maintenance.