In 2019, Great American Cookies and its parent company, Global Franchise Group (GFG), saw an emerging opportunity to expand their in-store model by selling and delivering their decadent delights directly to consumers. In order to capitalize on this, GAC needed to build a fully-integrated eCommerce and inventory management system, aligned with existing production processes and a new consumer-direct delivery model…and launch within a 10-week span to capitalize on anticipated holiday demand. The new website saw a 1200% increase in year-over-year holiday sales, underscoring the magnitude and impact of the new eCommerce solution. Learn how creative agency 3 Owl and WP Engine built a transformative eCommerce solution that’s bringing in the dough for Great American Cookies.

2. How Great American Cookies and
3 Owl built a fully-integrated
eCommerce system in 10 weeks
Lisa Cheatham
VICE PRESIDENT, E-COMMERCE,
GFC MANAGEMENT
David Feldman
FOUNDER/DIRECTOR OF
STRATEGY
3 OWL

3. Decision to go direct to
consumer
Q3 2019
 Great American Cookies. is a chain of independently
owned and operated franchised stores that specialize in
gourmet cookies
 In Q3 of 2019, Great American Cookies saw an emerging
opportunity to expand in-store model by selling and
delivering their cookies directly to consumers

4. Decision to go direct to
consumer
Q3 2019
 While smaller cookie companies had already entered the
digital space, industry analysts were predicting
substantial growth in cookie delivery sales. Great
American Cookies was well-positioned to dominate the
market.

5. The Challenge
 Build a fully-integrated eCommerce and inventory
management system, aligned with existing production
processes and new consumer-direct delivery model.
Launch within a 10-week span to capitalize on
anticipated holiday demand.

6. The Solution
 WP Engine's managed WordPress platform,
integrated with Linnworks inventory management
software and eCommerce functionality
from WooCommerce.
 Global Edge Security and Smart Plugin Manager are
used in tandem to ensure site is protected from top
OWASP vulnerabilities and WordPress-specific
threats.

7. The Result
 Launched successfully in 10 weeks in 2019.
 In 2020, saw 1,200% increase in year-over-year
holiday sales, leading to further growth and
investment in Great American Cookies’ eCommerce
brand as well as plans to expand eCommerce
functionality to other brand lines.

8. How Did We Do It?

9. From Large Scale to Direct
to Consumer
 Great American Cookies’ existing sales, shipping, and
inventory systems were all geared toward the large-scale
delivery of ingredients to franchise owners, he
explained.
 They had no system in place to accept and fulfill direct
consumer orders, and they didn’t have an inventory
management system suited to the dynamic production
of cookies ordered, baked, and shipped out on the same
day.

10. With a 10-week timeframe, the team at 3 Owl
began work immediately, tackling the inventory
management piece of the puzzle first
After evaluating several systems, Linnworks was
chosen as it integrated well with WordPress and
met all of Great American Cookies' criteria

11. With the support of WPengine, site launched
in 10 weeks, including a 2 week testing period

12. After a successful pilot site was launched,
GAC launched new branding and a second,
scaled up version of the site needed to be built
and designed

13. Scaling Up
Moved site to a
Dedicated Virtual
Machine on the Google
Cloud Platform and
with Global Edge
Security and Smart
Plugin Manager
Our Site Our Competitor (on Shopify)

14. Creating a digital
ecosystem
 3 Owl moved all of GFG’s website (11 in
total) to the dedicated server. With GES
and Smart Plugin Manager set up for all
sites, GFG has seen 100% uptime and no
issues with any of its sites
 New features added to the site including
delivery date selection, multiple
addresses, and shared cart across
multiple brands
 New brand being added to the site in
July 2021
 Corporate gifting site to be added this
year as a site within the multisite setup

15. Thank You
Lisa Cheatham
VICE PRESIDENT, E-COMMERCE,
GFC MANAGEMENT
David Feldman
FOUNDER/DIRECTOR OF
STRATEGY
3 OWL