Hogg Hummock Artisan Market
Project Overview
The Hogg Hummock Artisan Market is a community artisan market and herbal apothecary located in the historic Hogg Hummock community on Sapelo Island, Georgia. Operated by Mystic Roots Foundation, Inc., the market features handcrafted products, locally made goods, herbal remedies, books, artwork, and gifts that celebrate the culture and heritage of the island.
As the market continues to grow, the digital experience needed to better support visitors before they arrived. Coastal Lifestyle Studio partnered with Mystic Roots Foundation to improve the customer journey by making it easier for people to discover the market, understand what it offered, plan a visit, and explore the online storefront.
The Challenge
For many first-time visitors, finding the market was only the beginning. Important information was difficult to find or unavailable. Visitors often had questions such as:
Where is the market located?
When is it open?
What products are available?
Is there an online store?
Without clear answers, potential customers would experience unnecessary friction before they ever stepped inside the market.
The goal was to connect the individual pieces into a clearer experience that helped customers confidently move from discovering the market to planning an in person visit.
Viewing the Market Through the Customer’s Eyes
Before recommending any changes, I wanted to experience the Hogg Hummock Artisan Market as if I were discovering it for the first time.
I considered how a potential visitor might first hear about the market. The options were a flyer, an Open sign, or a recommendation from someone else. From there, I considered the different paths a potential customer could take if they wanted to learn more, shop, or decide to visit us in person.
“Does the customer have everything they need to confidently take the next step?”
That perspective became the foundation for every improvement made throughout the project. That meant looking outside of each individual touchpoint and also paying attention to what happened between those touchpoints.
The Customer Journey
Mapping the customer journey revealed that visitors could discover the market in different ways. Someone already exploring Hogg Hummock might see the Open sign and visit the market immediately, while someone who encountered a flyer could use the QR code to continue their experience online.
Rather than expecting every customer to follow the same path, I made sure the experience supported these different entry points and made the next step clear.
Path One: Discover the Market While it is Open
- See the Open Sign
- Follow the Directional Arrow
- Visit the Market
When the market is open, the physical sign helps visitors recognize that the market is available to visit and directs them toward the location.
Path Two: Discovering the Market Through a Printed Flyer
- See a Flyer
- Scan the QR Code
- Learn About the Market
- Explore the Online Store
- Plan a Visit
- Visit the Market
The QR code creates a bridge between the printed promotion and the market's digital experience. After scanning it, potential customers can learn what the market offers, browse products online, find store hours and directions, or schedule an appointment outside regular hours.
This gives customers a way to continue engaging with the market even when they are not ready or able to visit immediately.
Making Visitor Information Easier to Find
Once a visitor scanned the QR code, the next step was making sure they could quickly find the information needed to understand the market and plan a visit.
I created a dedicated market landing page that brought important information into one place, including store hours, location details, directions, access to the online store, and an option to schedule an appointment outside regular business hours.
Because many visitors would access the page from their phones while waiting for the ferry to Sapelo Island, I also reviewed the experience on mobile devices to make sure the important information and next steps were easy to navigate and see from one landing page.
The goal was to reduce searching and uncertainty so visitors could quickly answer the question:
“How can I experience the market?”
Creating a Clearer Online Shopping Experience
Once visitors understood what the market offered, they also needed an easier way to explore the products available online.
As the market’s inventory grew, the storefront needed clearer organization to help customers browse without having to search through one large collection of products. I reorganized the online store into more useful categories based on the types of products customers were looking for, making it easier to move through the growing inventory.
I also strengthened the connection between the market information page and the online storefront so customers could move naturally from learning about the market to exploring its products.
The goal was to make online shopping feel like a connected part of the market experience rather than a separate destination.
Strengthening Product Presentation
Organization was only one part of improving the online shopping experience.
The existing product images varied in lighting, composition, backgrounds, cropping, and overall quality. This created an inconsistent presentation across the storefront and did not fully reflect the experience of seeing the products in person.
I photographed the market’s products specifically for ecommerce, edited the images for consistency, and prepared them for online use.
The updated photography created a more cohesive storefront while giving customers a clearer view of the products available before visiting or shopping online.
Business Impact
All of the improvements created a more connected path for customers to discover the Hogg Hummock Artisan Market, understand what it offers, explore products, and confidently plan a visit.
Visitors now have a direct connection between the market’s printed promotion and its digital presence. They can see essential visitor information, browse a more organized online storefront, view products more consistently, find directions, see when the market is open, and schedule an appointment when needed.
Most importantly, the different touchpoints now work together to support the customer as they move from one step to the next.
This project reinforced an important principle behind Coastal Lifestyle Studio’s approach to customer experience:
It isn’t enough for the individual pieces to work. What happens between those pieces matters too.
When customers know where to go next and have the information they need to make a decision, businesses can reduce friction, build confidence, and make it easier for people to take the next step.
Coastal Lifestyle Studio helps organizations identify gaps across the customer journey and create more connected experiences from first interaction to conversion.
