The Appraisal Foundation

NPO

Transforming UX and B2B with Shopify Plus

The Appraisal Foundation

TEAM, THE FOUNDATION

"What set Symmetry Commerce apart from other organizations in our experience working with them was their continuous commitment to understanding our nonprofit's unique mission and providing solutions to enhance our work. They were a true partner throughout our site build, working hand in hand with our team to solve new challenges and envision an improved customer experience. They were responsive to our questions and concerns at every turn, and their tireless efforts led to the launch of an innovative new website, store, and third-party apps that were on time and under budget. "

Objective

Integrated B2B Transformation to Shopify Plus

The Appraisal Foundation®, the congressionally authorized source of appraisal standards and appraiser qualifications, required an improved responsive and user-friendly e-commerce platform to optimally serve its diversified audience of students, educators, and regulators. Their previous platform made it difficult to manage products, update content, and deliver a smooth online experience for users. Additionally, it heavily relied on third-party tools, which led to insufficient internal processes. We led a 15-week migration to Shopify Plus in partnership with our design partner Jenn Studio — delivering a brand new Shopify site with a focus on improving customer experience for students, educators, and regulators.

Impacts

24+ Hours Saved in Fulfillment

75% Decrease in Support Inquiries

100% Increase in Delivery Estimates & Digital Watermarks

Transformation

Optimized for Impact

The Appraisal Foundation® partnered with Symmetry Commerce to move from their previous platform to Shopify Plus, resulting in a user-friendly and scalable e-commerce experience. Their legacy platform made it challenging to manage digital products, B2B companies, and streamline their internal workflows. In 15 weeks, we migrated 55,000+ customers, 300+ companies, and 50+ products while revamping the website for students, educators, and regulators. We implemented apps including Fileflare for digital downloads, Hulk Form Builder for customized event forms, and Gorgias to reduce support volume. Additionally, Shopify Flow helped to streamline operations and Checkout Blocks enabled B2B-specific features such as ACH payments and licensee-based pricing. Following launch, 100% of customers began receiving delivery date estimates (up from 0% pre-launch), 100% of downloadable documents were watermarked (up from 0% pre-launch), order-to-delivery time was reduced by more than 24 hours through improved fulfillment and batching, and website support inquiries dropped by 75%.

Challenges

Outdated UX

Difficult navigation and poor content organization created friction for students, educators, and regulators.

Disconnected Systems

Relying on multiple third-party tools made digital content delivery, event registration, and customer support inefficient.

Limited B2B Functionality

The old platform couldn’t support ACH payments, net terms, or licensee-based pricing for business customers.

Results

Improved User Experience Redesigned site structure and navigation increased engagement and reduced confusion across user types.

Centralized Operations Integrated apps for chat, events, and digital downloads streamlined workflows and reduced manual tasks.

Enhanced B2B Checkout Custom payment logic and licensee-based settings created a seamless experience for professional buyers.