A refreshing change
Not only was Charles Tyrwhitt’s website looking tired and out of date when they came to us, but the site needed to do a better job of selling the accessories - ties, cufflinks, and handkerchiefs, that would make their shirts and suits feel special.
Putting people first
What could be simpler than buying a shirt? But with dozens of options to customise and personalise the shirt - from custom sleeve lengths, to monograms and cuffs - we found customers were easily confused.
So we began by immersing ourselves in the product range. We worked with stakeholders to come up with a ‘model’ that helped make sense of the range of shirts and the options on offer. This was the seed from which the new website grew.
The next step was to find out how customers made sense of the product.
We visited Charles Tyrwhitt’s stores and watched customers as they browsed, spoke to sales staff, and made their choices. We uncovered the differences between a quick replenishment shop, and a careful customisation. This helped us plot the ideal paths through customisation.
We saw how small details, like the way customers used the clothes hooks in changing rooms (with hooks for yes, no, maybe?) could be used to help manage wish lists and shopping baskets online.
And we moved from sketches to polished designs, refining, simplifying, and improving as we tested each iteration with customers.
Elegant simplicity
Our mission went beyond the navigation and functionality.
The product photography on the website (and in Charles Tyrwhitt’s catalogues) wasn’t showcasing the shirts properly. We briefed the product owners on changes to the photography just in time to catch the next season’s range.
Charles’ Tyrwhitt’s brand ethos of modern British style needed to come through loud and clear on its website. But we know that page download speed matters on ecommerce websites, and that the merchandise needs to be the star of any given screen.
So we created a simple, elegant style-guide and design that allowed Charles Tyrwhitt’s brand to speak and enhance the shopping experience without overpowering it.
The result: a huge increase in conversion
Great retail sites need to perform at every level - from brand through to basic usability. That’s what makes retail so challenging and what makes it so satisfying.
The result was a 27% increase in conversion, and industry recognition: winning Relaunch of the Year at the National eCommerce Awards. Two big wins for our client.
How did we do?
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