branded e-cmmerce
Branded
E-commerce
Evergreen legacy product
shopper experience.
OBJECTIVE
Kitchenaid Stand Míxer, Attachments and Blenders
evergreen d2c product category experiences
ROLE
lead digital designer
From concept to execution – ideation, wireframe, art direction, imagery, production, QA – as well as constantly evolving with direct client input and strategic messaging edits. Constant collaboration across agencies, in-house developers, photographers, product manufacturers and engineers, and point-of-purchase brand in-store team.
Researched customer needs and shopping experience expectations, competitive analysis of an array of brands – going above and beyond expectations with KitchenAid’s unique brand authority.
- Foundational storytelling established by translating product details into strategic brand goals.
- User-focused information architecture to expand product education, cross-promote products, and amplify brand presence.
- Full visual execution comparing product lines in an editorial format with responsive, digestible product details.
- Design components that are able to adapt the entire KitchenAid collection of large/countertop appliances.
- Expand customer brand presence beyond countertop appliances, build information architecture with cross-product marketing opportunities.
immediately increased e-commerce conversion rate by 143% and increased revenue by 193%
By translating iconic point-of-purchase product strategy into a site-wide, long-term direct-to-consumer experience solutions for Stand Míxer.
AGENCY
aisle rocket
chicago, IL
2019
TEAM
design
Nicole Engle
Chelsey Dever
copy
Peter Meersman
Connor O’Brien
Aaron Adams
development
Adam Klemm
Mark Grismoukus
Chet Farley
strategy
Joe Brodicki
account
Jenna Halgen
Tess Babbit
Sarah Senour
view live experiences for
scroll to explore case study
scroll to explore case study
BACKGROUND
An American
Tradition Since 1919
218 SKUs today,
over 752 SKUs tomorrow
legacy of loyal consumers
The míxer has been ingrained in American tradition for over 100 years as a symbol of big traditional life moments, consistently tapping into users’ home needs and dreams. From inventing the first dishwasher to eye-catching appliance finishes, products have empowered and supported women throughout lifetimes. Beyond nourishing family meals, KitchenAid encouraged and normalized self expression for homemakers. 100 years after opening, KitchenAid continues to empower makers all over the world. Users range from millennials to older loyal returning customers...
all with underlying expectations to feel familial sentimental connection to the brand.
Empathetic to the nostalgic connection, reimagine the brand’s voice with a modern digital experience. The KitchenAid customer is no longer the 1950s housewife making cookies!
For millennial homeowners, shopping for big life purchases happens on mobile instead of traditional point-of-puchase buying patterns. As much as we all loved significant trips to department stores, consumers are no longer pressured to spend hours agonizing over colors and features for a product that feels so societally defining.
COMPETITION
3rd party e-commerce landscape
Third party vendors like Target or Bed, Bath & Beyond leave a lot to be desired. For a product as meaningful as the Míxer, the D2C experience translates the brand essence and the customer experience in a digital space: expanding customer loyalty to an entire line of products, and a new generation of makers.
APPROACH
brand inspired component system
Stand Míxers: 175 SKUs, Attachments: 39 SKUs, Blenders:4 overarching models.
Future application: 752 SKUs total! (Up next will be Dishwashers: 48SKUs, 89.5K entries, 266K visits / Refrigerators: 108 SKUs 40K entries, 388K visits.)
- Create an accessible, responsive experience within Adobe Experience Manager.
- Communicate a more educational luxury experience – give users a reason to trust us over third party competitors.
- Maximize brand presence across all products and brand touchpoints by communicating the nostalgic vibe for loyal customers and welcoming new inspiration.
- Design a component system that can be easily updated to adapt to changes in strategic priorities of user needs and buying patterns – and can be applied to product categories site wide.
- Expand brand presence beyond countertop appliances, build information architecture with cross-product marketing opportunities.
evergreen and adaptable, an in-depth digital resource for all brand product categories.
PROCESS
Brand Awareness Beyond the Míxer
enhance the brand digital presence, translating user needs with rich adaptable cross-product story architecture.
high impact storytelling
Functional base design outshines third party customer purchasing experience: able to adapt to morphing strategic and brand goals for an array of products. The component based experience is intended to support and grow with an entire line of KitchenAid products in the future (Total: 752 SKUs / 322K entries).
Adaptable category experience with fully fleshed story architecture for Stand Míxers: 175 SKUs/388k entries/766k visits, Attachments: 39 SKUs/339k entries /673k visits, and Blenders: N/A (experience did not exist prior to gauge).
creating context
Effortlessly compare entire categories of products with scannable information architecture, enabling users to make the most informed decision. Built on the brand pillars, the design has the ability to adapt to any KitchainAid product story, resonating with user interests in a cohesive way.
Beyond basic product details, every member of the brand family has an opportunity to shine with a contextualized, in-depth understanding. Through user-minded visuals and empathetic product detail hierarchy, the components bring context to possibilities via accessories, recipes, maker moments and beyond.
opportunities to inspire
Lux direct to consumer experience builds trust: outreaching point-of-purchase, empowering users with timeless evergreen experiences and hubs of inspired product information. Ability to tell brand stories on a digital scale like never before – built in Adobe Experience Manager, the design system armors KitchenAid brand teams to amplify the maker message on a responsive, global scale.
The foundation adapts to tell a range product stories: from legacy appliances, to seasonal updates and fresh trend releases. The components also equip all sectors of the brand/sales team to update experiences with business strategies and priorities; conduct user testing, A/B testing, cross promotion and brand awareness – interacting with users in impactful instances.
RESULTS
Post Launch Metrics
compared to Black Friday season of prior year
STAND MlXERS
+143%
e-commerce conversion rate
(11/13 to 12/8 of 2019 compared to 11/7 to 12/2 of 2018)
-13%
Bounce rate
+193%
Orders
+197%
Revenue up
ATTACHMENTS
+192%
e-commerce conversion rate
(11/13 to 12/8 of 2019 compared to 11/7 to 12/2 of 2018)
+12%
Orders
+24%
Revenue
+11%
Revenue per order
BLENDERS
Sold Out Before Black Friday
outliers in the data collected insinuated
The component system wasn’t working for Blenders (glaring negative e-commerce conversion rate and orders, contrasting massive upswings for Stand Míxers and Attachments in these areas).
Upon closer investigation from the team, we discovered the page release sold out all Blenders before the Black Friday rush, causing the number flub.
(11/13 to 12/8 of 2019 compared to 11/7 to 12/2 of 2018)
-26%
Bounce rate
+67%
Revenue
+134%
Revenue per order
IMPACT
“Even more amazing
than I could
have ever imagined”
- quote from kitchenaid client
reflection
I was happy to give the iconic Stand Míxer a digital home. To breathe love into an accessible experience and preserve the historic brand message in a fresh format. The design united brand goals and supported every product in a high end, inspiring format. It is also equipped to tell product stories down to the niche details, letting the products truly shine.
The team pushed the expectations and impact of an e-commerce experience, from every storytelling aspect. One reflection worth noting is the scroll was new territory with developers, something I could endlessly QA and never quite get to “feel right” confidently.
challenges
Personally it was a challenge to learn the nuances of the entire line of products – but I was blessed to have two years prior with the brand and team to immerse myself in the voice and expectations. I felt able to fully express the best possible solutions through the lens of the client and surrounding team...
targeting moments of emotional impact and interaction, prioritizing strategic goals and spicy thoughtful messaging.
In development, the team ran into challenges with the original design – product details lived in a scrollable box on mobile, more similar to desktop. This gave users the option to dive deeper into the specifics of the product, easier/shorter page length in mobile to visually play with the experience and examine the product line. The design was easily updated with a fully expanded product detail box *devs cheer*.
takeaways
I learned the value of true user research. Fully understanding the product from a user perspective. More user insights on individual buying tends within categories (example: professional chef prioritize certain information details, or prioritizing the mini top selling color). Range of needs – and how this translates to visuals – as well as information architecture within sections. Ideally every product would have the ability to cohesively niche down with images, informative hierarchy, and tailored messaging, giving future storytellers for the brand an opportunity to express fully within digital brand guidelines.
Ideally the component guides would be fully equipped to hone in on every niche – a better guide to support every product category page to come. Prioritization of user research could have lead to a more impactful and informative experience site-wide.
MORE FEATURED WORK:
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