Case: Area Store

Uhura created a premium eCommerce experience for Area Store, combining minimalist design, Shopify Plus, and deep ERP integration into a scalable luxury retail platform.
Picture of a modern attic lounge area

Area is one of Portugal’s leading premium home and interior design brands, known for its carefully curated collections, refined aesthetic, and contemporary lifestyle positioning. With four flagship retail locations across the country offering a distinguished in-store experience, Area commissioned Uhura to create a digital commerce platform capable of translating the brand’s minimal, elegant, and detail-oriented retail philosophy into a seamless online environment.

  • UX/UI Design
  • Shopify Plus
  • Integrations
  • Performance Optimization

Challenge

Area’s physical retail experience is defined by elegance, restraint, and meticulous attention to detail. Translating this premium and highly curated atmosphere into a digital shopping experience presented a significant challenge in itself.

The goal was not simply to launch an online shop, but to create a digital environment capable of expressing the brand’s visual sophistication while supporting a highly functional and scalable commerce operation. The minimalist design language required exceptional precision in UX, interaction design, and technical implementation, as every detail, transition, and interface element became more visible and impactful within such a reduced visual system.

At the same time, the platform needed to integrate seamlessly with Area’s internal ERP and operational infrastructure, including inventory management, product synchronization, accounting, invoicing, and logistics processes. The challenge therefore combined premium brand experience with complex backend integration and operational reliability.

Solution

Uhura worked closely with the Area team, external creative collaborators, and the company’s internal IT department to develop a fully customized Shopify Plus eCommerce platform aligned with the brand’s premium positioning.

Particular focus was placed on creating a refined and frictionless shopping experience that reflects Area’s minimalist visual language while maintaining clarity, usability, and performance across devices. The interface design intentionally emphasized whitespace, typography, photography, and product presentation to create a calm and editorial-like browsing experience.

Beyond the frontend experience, we developed a robust technical infrastructure with deep SAP ERP integration. A custom middleware application enabled continuous synchronization between Shopify Plus and SAP, to address inventory management, product information management, order handling, accounting flows, invoicing, and payment integration.

To support Area’s strong editorial and curatorial identity, we also extended the standard content capabilities Shopify Plus provides, allowing the creation of richer editorial formats, galleries, and product storytelling experiences.

Digital editorials featuring capsule collections or seasonal trends.

Result

The new online store, built on the powerful Shopify Plus platform, takes Area’s trademark blend of minimalism and elegance one step further by adding a new dimension of convenience to the brand experience.

The minimalist UX and refined interface create a calm and highly visual shopping experience where products, collections, and editorial content remain at the center of the journey without compromising usability or checkout performance. At the same time, the robust technical architecture and ERP integrations provide a stable operational foundation capable of supporting complex retail and logistics processes.

The eCommerce platform enabled Area to successfully expand its operations digitally while preserving the brand’s distinctive positioning and premium customer experience across both online and offline touchpoints.

  • + 2000

    orders in 1st quarter after launch

  • + 530 €

    avg. ticket size

  • 126 k

    monthly session

Platform & Website Cases