Creating and Launching a Multilingual Online Pharmacy
A case study on how to launch a full-featured e-commerce project in Latvia
with SEO optimization, payment, and delivery integration in 2 months.
A case study on how to launch a full-featured e-commerce project in Latvia with SEO optimization, payment, and delivery integration in 2 months.
T his pharmacy was already performing well offline. Customers were coming in, consulting, and buying; the team knew their regular buyers by sight. For a while, everything seemed stable. But eventually, it became clear: competitors were already actively taking over the internet.
People were searching for "medicines Riga" and seeing other websites. When they ordered delivery, it wasn't our client's pharmacy that arrived, but a competitor. Each day represented a risk of lost profit and losing regular customers who were increasingly choosing the convenience of online shopping.
The company faced a choice: either launch online and win back their place in Google search results, or slowly lose ground. Time was short — just two months to create a platform that would immediately compete in search and inspire trust among buyers.
Project Description
Client: A direct-sales pharmaceutical company in Riga, Latvia.
Task: Create an online pharmacy from scratch — fully ready for sales and SEO.
Timeline: February–March 2018.
Languages: Russian and Latvian — for the convenience of both Latvian-speaking and Russian-speaking audiences in Latvia.
What We Did: From Idea to Live Platform
1. Foundation: Choosing Technology and Design
We knew we needed a platform that was fast, convenient, secure, and ready for SEO promotion. Therefore, we chose OpenCart — a proven e-commerce solution that works well for product catalogs and technical search optimization.
The design and logo were developed based on the client's wishes: clean, trustworthy, with a medical focus. We chose colors that evoke associations with safety and care — things that are vital for a pharmacy.
2. Multilingual Support: More Than Just Translation
Simply translating texts wasn't enough — it was crucial to make the site convenient and understandable for both Latvian-speaking and Russian-speaking users in Latvia. Therefore, we:
- Set up a full-featured dual-language structure on OpenCart.
- Prepared content in two languages, taking into account the search queries of the target audience.
- Designed navigation so that language switching was intuitive.
3. Product Catalog: 100+ Items Ready for Sale
The most time-consuming but critically important part was filling the catalog. We prepared and uploaded over 100 products, featuring:
- High-quality photographs.
- Descriptions in both Russian and Latvian.
- Up-to-date pricing and availability information.
- Links to relevant registries (Uztura bagātinātāju reģistrs).
- Usage instructions so users knew how to use the product correctly.
Every product page was Google-optimized: titles, meta-descriptions, and text structure were prepared according to SEO requirements without compromising readability.
4. Home Page: Building Trust and Initial Sales
On the home page, we gathered everything essential for a great first impression:
- Banners with promotions and key offers.
- Featured and popular products.
- Informational blocks explaining the benefits of buying from this specific pharmacy.
The footer contained contacts, links to "Delivery," "Returns," and "Privacy Policy" sections, and a banner for the Drug State Agency (Zāļu valsts aģentūra) — this builds trust and shows that the company operates legally as an authorized pharmacy.
5. Technical Optimization: Speed and Mobile-First
We made the site responsive — it works perfectly on smartphones, tablets, and computers. To speed up page loading, we optimized images and implemented caching mechanisms. This is important both for users and for ranking in Google, which prioritizes the speed and usability of mobile versions.
6. Payments and Delivery: A Full Customer Journey
To make the path from product selection to payment as simple as possible, we integrated:
- Payment processing through Swedbank — a leading bank for online payments in Latvia.
- Delivery through Omniva and Itella — the most popular logistics companies for delivery in Latvia.
Every step from the shopping cart to order confirmation was tested to minimize the risk of errors or lost orders.
7. Blog with Helpful and Engaging Articles
We added a blog section to help the pharmacy attract organic traffic not just through "buy" queries, but also through informational searches. Products from the catalog could then be naturally recommended within the articles.
Results: A Platform Ready for Growth
Within two months, a responsive bilingual online pharmacy was launched, fully ready to serve online customers:
| Before | After |
|---|---|
| No independent online store | A fully functional bilingual platform with 100+ products in Russian and Latvian |
| Competitors were more active online | Structure and pages prepared for Google SEO promotion |
| Online buyers lacked a convenient service | Swedbank payments and Omniva/Itella delivery across all of Latvia |
| Insufficient digital trust indicators | Registry links, contact info, legal details, and visual trust markers |
| No content to attract traffic | A blog with helpful articles driving users to product pages |
Want the same result? Contact us, we'd be happy to start working with you. You might also be interested in our SEO optimization service for online stores on search engines like Google and Bing to gain free organic traffic. Learn more HERE.
