ONLINE SHOP RELAUNCH – MORE TRAFFIC AND ENGAGEMENT IN E-COMMERCE THROUGH DIGITAL BRAND MANAGEMENT
One of the first tasks we took on together, the complete relaunch of their online shop, stands as an impressive demonstration of the importance of strategic and conceptual foresight in the ongoing collaboration with Ernsting’s family. Numerous details of this enhancement are influencing the customer’s digital ecosystem now and will continue to do so in the future. Such results can only be achieved if, at the beginning of a project, you are prepared to pay the necessary attention to every little detail – from the agile development of the overall project to the establishment and expansion of the digital brand presence as well as anticipating the projects that will come.
CUSTOMER
Ernsting’s family GmbH & Co. KG
PROJECT DURATION
11 months
EXPERTISE
- Frontend development
- User experience/user interface design
- Agile way of working | Scrum
- Conception
Technologien
With around 1,900 branches in Germany and Austria, a successful online presence and around 12,000 employees, Ernsting’s family is one of the largest cross-channel providers in the German textile retail sector. The company, based in Coesfeld, was founded in 1968 by Kurt Ernsting and offers clothing, underwear, bedding, accessories as well as home & living ranges for the whole family.
THE TASK
INSPIRATION, CUSTOMER FOCUS AND STRONG ADDED VALUE
The task was to create a new web shop for Ernsting’s family that set new standards in design, inspiration and customer focus, with the objective being to provide strong added value for families, inspiration, attention to the customer and useful services.
Through an optimal service design, trust-building advice and best usability, the offer had to generate a high level of commitment and thus become a benchmark in the area of children’s and family fashion. Of course, these requirements were also paramount in ongoing operations. Supporting the web shop after launch is a task that we are happy to take on with our expertise in customer experience, UX and UI.
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OUR SOLUTION
A WEBSHOP AS A FRIEND OF THE FAMILY
After a highly intensive and demanding development period, the Ernsting’s family web shop is seen as having relevant and inspiring themes for families, being always approachable, emotional, happy and authentic in terms of approach and content.
Each of the company’s own brands has its own distinctive appearance under the brand umbrella. With its diverse offers, user-orientated advice and meaningful functionality, the shop has become a “friend of the family” for its customers.
Our work is ongoing to make sure the website continues to develop. Constantly aligning targets and KPIs leads to new measures and thus ensures a steady growth of reach and conversion rates. The ongoing development of the shop frontend for optimal performance on all end devices also helps to provide an all-round positive shopping experience.
THE CHALLENGE
INTRICATE TO THE VERY LAST DETAIL
Always one of the biggest challenges is combining the brand-relevant aspects with usability needs. Intensive workshops lasting several days were therefore required in the run-up in order to realise the relaunch. The aim of these was to understand the brand, its values, the company philosophy and many other requirements and to incorporate what was found out into the development process.
Through close cooperation, personas were developed for the different target groups, each brand was precisely defined and further milestones were worked out for the joint development of the web shop. As a digital agency, however, we continue to design the content for the branding – from corporate, UX/UI to visual design.
All developments were designed to be user-centred, so that they are suitable for an inspiring user journey through the shop’s numerous thematic worlds. To achieve this, we used the ‘atomic design’ approach, which deliberately focuses on the small-scale nature of the design approach and then leads into page and functional design.
When it comes to relaunching a website, a great deal of time and care ensure a deep understanding of the customer’s requirements. This is the only way to create concepts that work perfectly. In the case of Ernsting’s family, this close and trusting collaboration has resulted in a solution that everyone can rightly be proud of
BRAND EXPERIENCE
FROM LOGO TO LIVING STYLE GUIDE
From the beginning of our collaboration, it was our priority to redefine the design guidelines for Ernsting’s family’s seven brands, as well as for the entire digital brand identity of the company — from the colours and fonts used to the design of individual and brand-appropriate design and interaction elements.
In particular for UX and UI design, the design was repeatedly compared with the respective brand image and implemented for the digital environment. Some of the attributes we defined can now also be found in the company’s classic communication. We are currently using the additionally developed Brand Hub, a style guide based on TYPO3 that is decoupled from the web shop. In its entirety, it digitally depicts the brand spectrum of Ernsting’s family and can be used online by anyone involved in the company’s communication.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT ACCORDING TO SCRUM PRINCIPLES
FLEXIBLE, AGILE AND PRECISE
To realise projects of this size, Medienwerft uses an agile project management model according to Scrum principles. The interdisciplinary team consisting of concept, design and development was thus able to work independently with the customer for the entire period of time.
Tasks were continuously refined and improved using sprints. The result? The project was finalised within the specified time window and according to the budget and roadmap – a real winner. We also use agile methods to address new tasks quickly and in a focused manner as part of our continuous development.
DEVELOPMENT
TECHNOLOGY THAT INSPIRES
As well as designing the shop, we took the time to develop additional innovative tools and systems that are now in extensive use. In the Patternlab, a template framework that bridges the gap between the online offering and the style guide used for it, every small design element is managed live.
If you change a colour, font style or interaction element here, this change is automatically implemented in the online shop. Another tool specially developed for the customer is a WYSIWYG teaser modular system. It is always used when the customer wants to design advertising space in the shop quickly and easily.
CONCLUSION
A WEBSHOP FOR MORE BRAND AND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
The relaunch resulted in much more than a newly designed online shop. Thanks to a comprehensive examination of the company’s goals, as well as the brand values and target groups, we have laid the foundations for an innovative and high-turnover web shop.
The focus is on the company’s online offering, which ensures an exciting user journey with a well-thought-out, user-centric concept. The Brand Hub, Patternlab and other offerings will also provide tools for the current and future development of all their communication.
The good cooperation with the customer on an equal footing in which our e-commerce experts constantly optimised the web shop, has resulted in great success: all figures in terms of traffic, conversion and quality of use are in the green.
CONCEPTUAL, CREATIVE & ACCURATE
In addition to the strategic input, we value Medienwerft for their conceptual and creative ideas as well as for its accurate planning
CONTACT
„When you’re looking for new perspectives on the development of your process or transaction-oriented online platforms, my team and I will be happy to advise you. I look forward to getting to know you.“
Managing Director
HENDRIK VAN LAATEN
Tel: +49 40 / 31 77 99-0
Email: info@medienwerft.de