OVERVIEW

UX Research and Digital Marketing Analytics for an E-commerce Website Redesign of a Gastown, Vancouver Gift Shop, aimed at boosting online presence and increasing sales.

Gifts and Things, a one-stop shop in Vancouver's Gastown, offers a range of products from Canadian souvenirs to local merchandise. As a sales staff member, I noticed the shop's strengths weren’t fully reflected in their previous website, despite positive customer feedback and strong sales. I wanted to leverage my experience as a digital marketing director and UX researcher to enhance their online presence and further boost sales.

ROLE

UI/UX Researcher, Digital Marketer

CLIENT

Gifts and Things (with an outsourced designer)

DURATION

August 2023 - Present

TOOLS

Figma, Square

Problems

How might we redesign the gift shop's website to increase traffic, improve conversion rates, and effectively showcase their most popular products online to maximize sales potential?

Outcomes

I identified the shop’s most popular products and highlighted their unique selling points. As a result, the website achieved an 850% increase in sales, a 330% increase in conversions, and a 400% boost in conversion rate within 4 months of its launch. The physical store also experienced a significant sales growth.

Stakeholder Interview

First of all, I had meetings with the manager and the owner and asked 12 questions. Below are the examples of the questions and the key insights derived from the answers. In short, their objective is to optimize the current website to acquire potential customers and lead them to the physical store.

Sample Questions

• What are the main goals of your gift shop?

• What do you want to achieve with the website?

• Who is your target audience? What groups of users do you want to attract to the site?

• What are the characteristics, needs and preferences of your potential customers?

• What makes your gift shop special? How do you plan to differentiate yourself from your competitors?

Key Insights

• Their long-term goal is to attract potential customers via Instagram and persuade them to purchase products and collect them in person.

• Their short-term goal is to create an engaging, exciting, and inviting website that captures the interest of potential customers and entices them to visit the physical shop.

Market Research

To gain a broader perspective on the market beyond the store and to provide more objective viewpoints to support my suggestions when presenting them to stakeholders, I conducted market research and competitive analysis.

Trends in Canadian Consumer Market

According to Simon-Kucher (2023),

• 97% of Canadians would prefer buying local to support the economy, while 87% believe it is better for the environment.

• 75% of Canadians are willing to pay more for products or services from Socially Responsible Companies.

Canadian Gift Industry Statistics

According to ReviewMosse (2023),

• The second top gift picks for holidays are closed-loop gift cards (45%). (CPPO)

• Canadian gift card industry is projected to grow at a CAGR of 8.2% during 2020-2024. (Global Newswire)

• More than 70% of Canadians are purchasing gift cards in-store, according to gift shopping e-commerce industry trends. (Globe Newswire)

• The gift wrapping products market is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 7.4% from 2019 to 2025. (Grand View Research)

Physical Shop

I conducted data analytics and research on the physical shop using Square data and my experience as a sales staff. This provided useful insights to better reflect customers' needs on the website.

Suggestions: These categories should be highlighted in the navigation bar when creating the site map.

Suggestions: Adding the option of wrapping paper on the product page exclusively for online buyers and provide a "Gift Ideas" category to show recommended gifts

Website Performance

I conducted data analytics of the website performance using Square data. According to Shopify, average e-commerce conversion rates are around 2.5% to 3%. The website's conversion rate is significantly lower than this average. The pageviews data highlights the most viewed pages, providing valuable insights for renewing the website.

Suggestions: Low conversion rates may stem from the lack of delivery options and limited product displays online. Customers may favor visiting the physical store. Offering delivery options, showcasing more products to attract customers, and displaying interior pictures to entice more foot traffic to the physical shop would be beneficial.

Suggestions: Since the "Shop Now" button stands out but is redundant as users are already shopping, it could be replaced with "Buy Gift Card." Popular categories like cat-themed items, bags & pouches, and Studio Ghibli can be highlighted, similar to the findings from the physical store

User Survey

I conducted a user survey with 10 participants, covering both the physical and online shops. Here are some key questions and answers that will guide the website redesign.

Physical Shop

Online Shop

Q. Please list the categories you would like to see in the website.

Message Cards

The gift part with details

A gift suggestion for the occasion

Pictures, I want them to be able to zoom in and out

Updated staff picks or new products with interesting descriptions.

Tool: Google Forms, Respondents: 10

Q. Does the website motivate you to visit the shop? If so, what are the reasons?

Not really, it doesn’t show pictures of the shop.

I wish the shop offer easy choice such as best seller, seasonal item etc.

Not much, because there are not so many the pictures of the shop.

Made me curious

No, there was no special things that attracted me

Tool: Google Forms, Respondents: 10

What's Next?

After presenting the findings and suggestions from my research, the owner considers them and distributes the printed files to the full-time employees and the outsourced designer. Based on the data, the outsourced designer works on editing Square and adding more content to the website. The website redesign is still ongoing and will be updated. The data not only influences the website redesign itself but also their business, as the shop increases the variety of products, which is the strength of this gift shop that stands out from competitors as found in my research.

GIFTS AND THINGS

Stakeholder Interview

Physical Shop

Website Performance

User Survey

User Personas

What's Next?