Some products have a story before they ever reach the customer. Pingree Detroit has found a way to turn materials from the automotive industry into something entirely different. Since 2015, the Detroit-based worker-owned cooperative has been transforming upcycled automotive materials into handcrafted footwear, bags, and accessories.

But the products are only part of the story. Pingree is a worker-owned social impact cooperative focused on sustainability, Detroit, and creating meaningful employment and training opportunities for Veterans and Detroiters. Every product represents a different way of thinking about waste, craftsmanship, and what a business can contribute to its community.

When we partnered with Pingree, the opportunity was to bring more of that story into the digital experience. The brand had a strong mission and distinctive products. What it needed was a website and digital strategy that could help more of the right people discover them, understand their value, and ultimately become customers.

Bringing the Pingree Story Into the Shopping Experience

Pingree’s website needed to do more than sell products. It needed to communicate the craftsmanship and purpose behind them.

We redesigned the website with a stronger focus on navigation, product discovery, and the overall customer journey. Products were given more room to stand out, while the site’s structure made it easier for visitors to move between collections and individual products.

The redesign also created more opportunities to communicate what makes Pingree unique. Its Detroit roots, sustainable approach, and commitment to creating opportunities for local workers are important parts of the brand, and the digital experience needed to reflect that.

Helping More Customers Discover Pingree

A great product does not help much if the people looking for it cannot find it.

We focused on improving Pingree’s organic search visibility through technical SEO, on-page optimization, content development, and a stronger site structure. Product and collection pages were optimized around relevant searches related to sustainable footwear, Detroit-made leather goods, and veteran-owned businesses.

We also improved internal linking and site architecture to create clearer connections between pages. This helped make the website easier to navigate while giving search engines a better understanding of the site’s content and product categories.

The strategy was designed around the types of searches that could introduce new customers to Pingree, rather than simply trying to increase traffic across the board.

Giving the Brand’s Mission More Room to Tell Its Story

Pingree’s sustainability story is closely connected to its products. The company takes materials that might otherwise go to waste and turns them into handcrafted goods. Its work also supports training and living-wage opportunities for Detroiters and Veterans.

That gave us a strong foundation for content marketing.

We developed and optimized content around Pingree’s products, craftsmanship, sustainability efforts, and Detroit identity. The goal was to help visitors understand not just what Pingree sells, but why the products exist and what their purchase supports.

For a brand like Pingree, that context can be an important part of the buying decision.

Connecting With Customers Beyond the Website

The customer relationship does not end when someone leaves the product page.

We implemented a segmented email marketing strategy to help Pingree communicate more effectively with different audiences, including people interested in sustainable products, Detroit supporters, and veteran-focused communities.

We also supported the brand through paid advertising, giving Pingree additional ways to reach potential customers while its organic visibility continued to grow.

Together, these channels created a broader digital strategy around discovery, engagement, and conversion rather than treating each marketing activity as a separate effort.

Turning Digital Improvements Into Measurable Growth

The work started showing up in the numbers, too.

Organic website traffic increased by 63%, while engaged organic sessions grew by 87%. Visitors were also spending more time engaging with the site, with average organic engagement time increasing by 1,463%. Organic events per session increased by another 72%.

Those numbers tell us more than just how many people found Pingree through search. They show that more visitors were actively interacting with the website once they got there.

Helping a Detroit Business Reach More of the Right People

Pingree Detroit has built its business around a simple idea: products can have a purpose beyond what they are made to do.

A pair of shoes, a bag, or a wallet can also represent a different approach to materials, manufacturing, employment, and community.

Our role was to make more of that story visible online. Through the website, search, content, email, and paid media, we helped create a digital experience that better reflects the business behind the products.

For Pingree, digital growth is not just about selling more products. It is another way to connect sustainable craftsmanship and Detroit-made work with people who value both.

If you are building a business with a clear purpose and need help turning that purpose into digital growth, book a free discovery call with The Growth Shark.