E-commerce Strategy for Lifestyle Furniture Store

Challenge:

Design a world-class eCommerce experience that drives growth and supports Ashley Furniture's ambitious goal of reaching $16.5B in revenue within the next 5 years. Specifically, reimagine the U.S. digital presence and strategically expand international eCommerce capabilities to meet the company's high standards and accelerate revenue growth.

Ashley Furniture was further plagued with additional complexities that require a comprehensive design solution that addresses technical, design, and branding issues to create a seamless and practical e-commerce experience.

Additional Complexities:

• Inconsistent Cross-Device Experience:

  • 85% of traffic comes from mobile devices, but conversion rates remain low

  • Website not optimized for mobile, hindering user engagement and sales

• Design System Development:

  • A robust design system is required to ensure design consistency and efficiency.

  • Need to establish a scalable design framework for future growth

• Technology Migration:

  • The transition from Salesforce to CommerceTools requires careful planning and execution.

  • Need to ensure seamless integration and minimal disruption to existing operations.

My Role and Deliverables:

I was an Experience Consultant and Design Stream Lead on this project. My team included 11 designers distributed among UX, Visual Design, Content, and Design System folks. I was responsible for end-to-end delivery for the design stream and collaborated with cross-functional teams. I also presented all the deliverables to the client executive team, including the C-suite. Below is a list of some deliverables for this engagement.

Deliverables:

• Orchestrating Research and Workshops

• Defining Goals and Focus

• Market Landscape

• Competitive and Comparitive Benchmarking

• Experience Strategy

• Design Explorations

• Prototypes

• Process Maps

• Design System

APPROACH:

This project went beyond a “traditional redesign or facelift” and involved a significant technological overhaul. Ashley Furniture aimed to migrate from Salesforce to CommerceTools, requiring a deep understanding of the technical implications and opportunities. To ensure a shared understanding of the project's objectives and scope, the team and I began with an Experience Elaboration Workshop. This collaborative exercise united key stakeholders to define the project's goals, success criteria, and guiding principles.

Altitudes Exercise:

The workshop started with the "Altitudes Exercise," a strategic thinking tool that helps teams visualize and prioritize their goals. By exploring different altitudes, we were able to:

1. Business transformation (100,000 ft): A Northstar vision transforming the business and experience layer.

2. Reimagining the holistic shopping experience (50,000 ft): Consider new tools and systems to rethink the holistic shopping experience.

3. Imagine a shopping experience layer (15,000 ft): Leverage design research to inform new features and requirements without significantly changing existing systems.

4. Aggregate existing features and functionality (5,000 ft): incrementally enhanced shopping experience based on defined state technology constraints and requirements.

Through this exercise, we gained a shared understanding of the project's scope, priorities, and success criteria.

MVP GOALS and focus:

Enable a new best-in-class global eCommerce platform that is focused on the US and scales to international markets, beginning with Canada

Focus:

• Modernize eCommerce in the United States and accelerate revenue growth in Canada.

• Build baseline global eCommerce architecture to support future expansion to other international markets.

• Create a sustainable, self-service marketing and commerce platform for licensees.

• Support implementation of component-based, iterative solution development process

• Validate business value for eCommerce modernization in Canada

• Ensure organizational readiness to support the new eCommerce platform

As the next step in the discovery phase, I began evaluating the current website experiences, reviewing industry expert reports, and conducting market research to provide a comprehensive recommendation on what and how to improve.

Taking a holistic approach - Methodology:

I uncovered opportunities to improve the user experience and enhance Ashley Furniture's existing value proposition. Conducting preliminary research activities helped me inform a POV on quick wins and future considerations for optimization and enhancement. I followed the methodology below.

Consumer & eCommerce Trends

I looked for patterns in change across culture, technology, and business to help predict and solve new customer needs relevant to Ashley Furniture.

Existing Site & 2020 Redesign Review

I leveraged the existing Baymard report provided by the client and performed an audit of the 2020 redesign on various sections of the experience to prioritize opportunities for improvement.

Below are some examples of the expert evaluation of the 2020 redesigns.

Below is the detailed list of categorized quick wins

Comparative and Competitive Analysis

I conducted audits of 9 competitor sites and best-in-class digital experiences that shape customer expectations to inform recommendations that would impact customer satisfaction.

Trendspotting

Beyond a traditional comparative and competitive market study, I conducted an in-depth analysis to identify recent trends and emerging technologies that could elevate Ashley Furniture's eCommerce experience.

It assisted in identifying recent trends and emerging technologies in eCommerce, such as:

• Animations and Live streams

• Immersive storytelling, AR & AI

• Seamless Virtual and Remote Omnichannel experiences

• Personalization Quizes

Experience Strategy:

Ashley Furniture must move from a busy, confusing, and cluttered experience to one that allows users to intuitively explore, envision, and shop on their own terms. To do this, it must first lead with a best-in-class mobile experience, creating memorable and repeatable moments through an eCommerce platform that optimizes and drives conversion.

Strategic Recommendation

Ashley Furniture must align on guiding principles and strategic direction that provides the broader team with a focused approach and overarching north star for the future product experience.

design vision

The Strategic POV informs the design vision, which was meticulously crafted after learning from consumer insights, expert audits, and competitive trends.

Prototyping for Multi-Device Experience

With the design vision and language approved by client stakeholders and executives, our team expanded the design concept to accommodate various form factors, ensuring a seamless and consistent experience across devices. We extrapolated the design vision for:

Desktop Experience: Optimized for larger screens, focusing on:

• Immersive storytelling

• Detailed product information

• Easy navigation and filtering

Tablet Experience: Tailored for touch-based interactions, emphasizing:

• Intuitive gestures and interactions

• Clear product showcases

• Streamlined navigation

Mobile Experience: Designed for smaller screens and on-the-go use, prioritizing:

• Concise content and minimalism

• Easy navigation and minimal taps

• Fast loading times and performance

Throughout the design process, we ensured that the design language and vision remained consistent across all form factors, maintaining a cohesive brand experience.

Learnings for the future

This project gave me valuable insights into strategizing a world-class eCommerce experience.

1. Technology Migration Requires Clear Goals:
   Before starting a technology migration project, define objectives and success metrics to ensure alignment with business goals.

2. Collaborative Workshop Approach:
   Experience Elaboration Workshops facilitate shared understanding among stakeholders, ensuring a successful project outcome.

3. Trendspotting Beyond Competitors:
   Stay ahead of the curve by identifying emerging trends and technologies to elevate the customer experience.

4. Design for Multi-Device Experience:
   Ensure consistency and cohesion across form factors (desktop, tablet, mobile) to provide a seamless brand experience.

5. Design Systems Enable Consistency:
   Develop robust design systems to guide design decisions and ensure consistency across the project.

6. Customer-Centric Approach:
   Prioritize customer needs and behaviors when designing eCommerce experiences.

7. Alignment Across Teams:
   Foster collaboration and effective communication among teams to ensure a successful project outcome.

8. Future-Proofing:
   Anticipate future customer needs and stay ahead of the competition by incorporating emerging trends and technologies.

These learnings can be applied to future eCommerce projects, ensuring a customer-centric approach, technological innovation, and successful project outcomes.