How we helped The Cross Decor & Design create a sense of home online.
When Vancouver’s go-to decor and design retail destination came to us with an online store in need of updating, we jumped at the opportunity to help bring the magic of their immersive Yaletown flagship experience online. Using the right technology, custom solutions, and aesthetic consideration, we worked together to bring The Cross’s welcoming sense of home online with an easier to manage, seamless online shop.
Our method.
As a crucial first step, we took the time to listen to our client’s top challenges caused by having an out-of-date, under-performing online store. Working together, we established their team’s top priorities – from increasing online conversions to proving their premium and unique offering in a saturated online market. Ultimately, we set out to answer the question: “How can we engage customers’ sense of imagination as well online as through their impeccable brick and mortar experience?” A complete UX overhaul was in order.
Secondly, we immersed ourselves in their company values and customer experience, coming to understand that, beyond the technology upgrades and custom design functions we would offer them, suffusing their online presence with the same warmth and charm as their formidable in-person shopping experience would be the ultimate key to this project’s success.
By elevating the aesthetic consideration of their product pages, we were able to mirror the beauty of their brick and mortar experience. Improving their team’s ability to self-manage inventory and reflect their in-house marketing initiatives online created a renewed sense of ownership. Lastly, by increasing overall site functionality through multiple innovative technology integrations and a UX redesign, we were able to provide The Cross with a thoroughly supported 360-degree overhaul of their online presence.
“It's been a pleasure working with the team at The Jibe on the redesign of our new e-commerce website! They have supported us through a lot of change and growth. Most importantly, the big decision to switch platforms to BigCommerce last year. We love the design and the functionality of the new site and are already seeing growth over last year.”
Megan Close, Director of Marketing
Challenges
Lacked a correlation between their stunning in-store shopping experience and their minimally designed, difficult to navigate online store
Product pages were missing key details, integrated video and photo components, and storytelling elements needed to increase conversion rates
Unhappy with their existing Magento platform and ability to manage content internally
Felt disempowered when it came to controlling and updating their website internally; needed to be able to merchandise their online store as beautifully and seamlessly as their brick and mortar
Missing key integration between their eCommerce store and point-of-sale (POS) system (Lightspeed Retail)
Solutions
Dramatically improved the visual look and feel of the product pages by integrating more imagery and video, richer product information (like influencer collaborations), and on-brand design features
Made the informed decision to switch to BigCommerce platform for its increased functionality, improved total cost of ownership, greater reliability, and lower maintenance costs
Reevaluated every aspect of the information architecture for streamlined navigation and user experience
Integrating ShipperHQ with BigCommerce allowed their team more granular control of pre-order functions (allowing them to now sell larger made-to-order pieces online), plus further shipping options
Created a custom integration between BigCommerce and Lightspeed Retail to create a greater continuity between the in-person and online shopping experiences
Complete platform overhaul.
To better understand the scope of help we could provide, we sat down with The Cross to hear what challenges they were having with their existing platform. After a complete site audit and business analysis, we determined that a new, more user-friendly yet sophisticated platform would be necessary in order to deliver the site we were all beginning to envision.
Beginning with a decision to switch from Magento to BigCommerce, we then enhanced our strategy with further supportive technologies and vendors. We selected BigCommerce for a variety of reasons, not least of all for its more simplified usability and increased scalability, and began the process of mapping out how best to carry over existing functionalities from platform to platform. We also designed and integrated multiple third-party and custom solutions.
Improved team-led merchandising capabilities.
Through our thorough audit of their existing site’s functionalities, we identified that Lightspeed, their POS and inventory control system, was not syncing properly with their online store. By switching to BigCommerce and creating a custom, robust API integration between the web store and Lightspeed, we were able to deliver a site that required much less maintenance from The Cross team, and much more self-led site merchandising.
As the team gained more control over their online merchandising capabilities, they became more empowered to upgrade the site regularly with fresh product and sales-driving marketing initiatives. With an online shop as carefully curated as their brick and mortar experience, the sky was the limit when it came to their online sales.
Ongoing supportive partnership.
As with all our projects, we committed to a true partnership with The Cross team from the very beginning. From the development stages of our strategy to implementation of the new site, The Cross could rely on our team’s support from start to finish. One of the final steps before launching the new and improved website was creating and providing an informed staffing strategy that their team could lean on to prepare for the relaunch of their online shop, fluctuations in demand on their shipping and fulfillment, and the inevitable growth to follow.
The outcome.
We relished the opportunity to help a business so committed to improving its customers’ quality of life by providing an elevated feeling of home and sense of design to their spaces. Retailers tend to bring a lot of passion and expertise to their in-store experience, so we were sure to spend plenty of time in their space, getting to know their brand personality and defining objectives as we developed our strategy and implementation.
eCommerce continues to show no signs of slowing down, as the number of global online shoppers steadily increases. Traditional retailers and beautiful brick and mortar experts like the team at The Cross recognized the opportunity awaiting them on the other side of a digital and UX overhaul – and we were more than happy to help fulfill their vision of an online store as beautiful and carefully considered as their 8,500 square foot shopping destination.
“Everyone at The Jibe has always been very helpful, knowledgeable, and patient with our team throughout the whole process. As a small business, it is imperative that any agency we bring on feel like a part of our family and we feel extremely lucky to have found Francis and the team at JIBE eCommerce. We're excited to be moving forward into the next steps of growing our e-commerce business with their support!”
Megan Close, Director of Marketing