Customer assistant
Contextual help on key pages, grounded in approved site content and live catalog data. Suggested prompts change with where the visitor is in their journey.
Field study · Great Lakes Additive
From a slow WooCommerce store to a custom platform they own.
Great Lakes Additive, a 3D printing manufacturer in Traverse City, Michigan, had outgrown a plugin-heavy WooCommerce store. We rebuilt it as a custom platform, added operational tools and grounded AI assistants, and still look after it today.
- Next.js
- TypeScript
- Node.js
- PostgreSQL
- Stripe
- Shippo
- Google Cloud Run
- AI assistants
§01Results
Google's speed test, from red to green.
The same pages on the original store and the new platform, tested the same way. Anyone can rerun the test on the live site.
Before8.2 s
After0.2 s
Server response
40× faster
Before20.7 s
After2.4 s
Main content visible (mobile)
Within Google's 2.5 s bar
After4×
Visual load (Speed Index)
Faster on mobile
Before15
After0
Third-party plugins
Nothing left to patch
§02Before and after, measured
Every number, with its method.
| Homepage unless noted | WooCommerce | Custom platform |
|---|---|---|
| Server response time | 8.2 s | 0.2 s |
| PageSpeed score (mobile) | 41 | 98 |
| PageSpeed score (desktop) | 51 | 100 |
| Main content visible (mobile) | 20.7 s | 2.4 s |
| Files downloaded per page | 183 | 37 |
| Page weight | 3.1 MB | 0.7 MB |
| Product page weight | 5.4 MB | 0.7 MB |
Measured 2026-10-17 · archived copy of the original WooCommerce store vs the live platform · scores and main-content times from Google PageSpeed Insights (new site: lower of two runs) · other figures are medians of three Lighthouse 12 runs · server response is the time before the page starts to arrive
Why these scores matter: PageSpeed Insights is Google's own test of how a page loads on a typical phone, and faster pages keep more visitors on the path to buying.
The scores explained§03The starting point
Precise manufacturing, held back by its website.
Great Lakes Additive's production is precise and modern. Its website was not. The store ran on WordPress and WooCommerce with a growing stack of third-party plugins, and the cracks showed as soon as online sales started.
Every new need meant another plugin, and every plugin update was a chance for something to break. The platform had become the bottleneck.
01
Pages were slow to load, especially on phones
02
Database queries timed out
03
Managing inventory through a rigid template was a daily struggle
04
Fifteen third-party plugins, each one more thing to update and keep compatible
§04What we built
A custom platform, planned from the roots up.
We designed the data model, integrations and admin workflows first, then built a lean platform with only the code the business needs.
Custom storefront
A Next.js and TypeScript store designed around their products, with Stripe checkout.
One API for everything
A Node.js API with the business rules in one place, backed by PostgreSQL.
Shipping built in
Shippo rates and labels connected directly to orders, instead of a plugin.
Admin portal
Orders, refunds and inventory managed in screens built for how the team works.
Fig. 01 · The platformGreat Lakes Additive
§05The next season
Grounded AI assistants, for customers and staff.
As the platform matured, we added two assistants built into the same stack as the store, so their answers reflect how the product actually works. Not a generic chat plugin.
Staff assistant
Built into the admin portal, with a live snapshot of what needs attention and workflow guidance the team can edit without a code change.
Guardrails
Explicit rules against inventing policies, customer data or steps that do not exist. When unsure, the assistant hands over to a person.
§06Still tended
Launch was a milestone, not the finish line.
Great Lakes Additive owns its platform outright: the code, the data and the accounts it runs on. No plugin rent, no lock-in. We continue to maintain and improve it as the business grows.
About website careClient note
“Eamon at Cusic Digital is highly intelligent with a creative side which makes him a very valuable asset to our company. We intend to utilize his expertise… for as long as he is available. All around great person to have on our team. Reliable, expeditious and courteous are but a few of his positive traits.”
Next season starts here
Outgrowing your current setup?
Tell us about your store. We will show you what is holding it back and what a move to a platform you own would involve.
- Free, no-obligation consultation
- Reply within one business day
- Led by a principal architect