WooCommerce Case Study: Bonsoy, a Beverage Brand Selling About $1M a Month
WooCommerce case study: Bonsoy is a plant-based beverage brand founded in 1983. In 2024 it came to Rowerr for a full revamp of its website, the third version of its online store. We rebuilt it mostly in custom HTML, CSS and JavaScript on WooCommerce, with our own plugins. The brand reports sales of around $1 million a month. We also fixed shipping rates that disappeared for logged-in customers.
- CLIENT & MARKET
- Bonsoy · Australia (AUD, en-AU)
- PLATFORM
- WordPress · WooCommerce · custom theme
- PROJECT HISTORY
- Founded 1983 · online early 2000s · rebuilt 2011 · Rowerr revamp 2024
- ROWERR'S ROLE
- Full website revamp, plugins, shipping fix
Results at a glance
| Business task | Give a long-running beverage brand a fast, bold online store for drinks and merchandise. |
|---|---|
| Before | A store first built in the early 2000s and rebuilt in 2011. |
| Constraints | Strong brand design, retail and wholesale channels alongside the website, AUD pricing. |
| What we changed | Revamped the whole website in 2024, mostly custom code with Elementor and WPKits plugins, and fixed missing shipping rates for logged-in customers. |
| How we checked | For the shipping fix: compared guest and logged-in checkouts, used shipping debug mode, and checked saved order totals. |
| Measured result | Around $1M in sales a month (client figure). Shipping rates show for every customer again. |
| Status | Solved. |
Figures reported by the client and Rowerr's project records, published with the client's approval, November 2026.
Book a free consultation →Project Overview
Bonsoy is a plant-based beverage brand. It sells soy and almond drinks, coconut water, isotonic hydration drinks, kombucha and branded merchandise. The brand also sells through stockists and food-service distribution, so the website is one of several sales channels.
The business started in 1983, went online in the early 2000s and rebuilt its website in 2011. In 2024 Bonsoy came to Rowerr, and we revamped the whole website for the third time. The store now lists 34 products in Australian dollars, and the brand reports sales of around $1 million a month.
Business Challenges
- An old site for a bold brand: the 2011 build no longer matched how the brand looks and sells.
- Many channels: the website sits beside retail stockists and food-service distribution.
- Speed and control: a design-heavy site that still had to load fast.
- Shipping bug: shipping rates showed for guests but disappeared for logged-in customers.
The Stack
| Need | Tool |
|---|---|
| Theme and design | Custom theme, mostly hand-written HTML, CSS and JavaScript |
| Page sections | Elementor, CotKit Addons for Elementor |
| Store | WooCommerce |
| Forms | FormsKit |
| Wishlists | Wishlist Kit |
| Tracking | Google Tag Manager |
| Security and speed | Cloudflare |
Revamping the Whole Website
The goal: a store as bold as the brand.
How we did it
We rebuilt the site mostly in custom HTML, CSS and JavaScript on WooCommerce, using Elementor and CotKit only for some sections. For features we used our own plugins, FormsKit and Wishlist Kit, with Google Tag Manager for tracking and Cloudflare in front.
Is your brand site due for a rebuild?
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The problem: logged-in customers saw no shipping.
Shipping rates for the Germany, Austria and Switzerland zone appeared for guests but were missing for logged-in customers, even though their saved addresses looked complete.
What caused it
WooCommerce’s “Hide shipping costs until an address is entered” option was hiding the rates. Turning it off brought them back. This does not prove a WooCommerce core bug, and showing an early estimate has to match how the store wants to present shipping.
How we fixed it
- Reproduced guest and logged-in checkouts with the same destination, basket and address fields.
- On staging, used shipping debug mode to confirm the matched zone and separate rate matching from the display setting.
- Turned off “Hide shipping costs until an address is entered” and compared the results.
- Kept the change because showing an early estimate fits the store, and confirmed checkout still recalculates for the real address.
- Turned debug mode off and checked the saved order totals.
- Kept postcode and country validation in place.
How we verified it
- Tested guest and logged-in checkout for Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
- Changed country and postcode after the first estimate and saw the rate recalculate.
- Tested a new account with no address and an existing account with saved fields.
- Checked that a paid test order’s shipping line matched the checkout total.
Status: solved.
Results
| Year | Business challenge | Solution and outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 1983–2011 | Brand founded, online store, 2011 rebuild | Store that the brand had outgrown |
| 2024 | Outdated website | Full Rowerr revamp, custom code with WPKits plugins |
| 2026 | Shipping missing for logged-in customers | Display setting fixed, zones tested; solved |
| Today | About $1M in sales a month (client figure) | |
WooCommerce Shipping & Store Revamp FAQ
01Why do WooCommerce shipping rates show for guests but not logged-in customers?
On Bonsoy, the “Hide shipping costs until an address is entered” option was hiding the rates for logged-in customers. Turning it off brought them back, after checking with shipping debug mode which zone matched.
02Should I always turn off “Hide shipping costs until an address is entered”?
No. Only if showing an early shipping estimate suits your store. Check that checkout still recalculates for the real address.
03How do I debug WooCommerce shipping zones?
Turn on shipping debug mode on staging, compare guest and logged-in checkouts with the same cart and address, and see which zone and rate match. Turn debug mode off afterwards.
04Can a WooCommerce site be mostly custom code?
Yes. Bonsoy’s store is mostly hand-written HTML, CSS and JavaScript on WooCommerce, with Elementor used only for some sections.
05How often should a brand rebuild its online store?
When the site no longer fits the brand. Bonsoy went online in the early 2000s, rebuilt in 2011 and revamped again with Rowerr in 2024.
Key Takeaway
A strong brand deserves a store built for it, not squeezed into a template. And when shipping vanishes for some customers, compare guest and logged-in checkouts side by side before changing settings.
Is your brand site due for a rebuild?
We revamp WooCommerce stores for fast, design-led brands.
Discuss Your WooCommerce Project Explore WooCommerce Services