38% increase in pages per session with UX focused design
An improved eCommerce customer journey for Blakley Electrics
Blakley Electrics are a leading manufacturer and distributor of high performance power and lighting products. They have worked with industrial clients for more than 65 years, includin Military, Nuclear and Rail clients.
CLIENT
Blakley Electrics
SERVICES
SEO, Web Design, Development
INDUSTRY
E-commerce, Retail, Manufacturing
LOCATION
Kent
Project Brief
Blakley Electrics had been working with their previous website for around 6 years. They had thousands of products, and knew that it was time for a refresh so that they could make sure that their catalogue could be browsed properly. They wanted to make sure that their existing customers could re-order easily, and that new customers would be able to navigate through everything without confusion.
- Improve the user journey
- Modernise the look and feel of the site
- Ensure products are easy to find
- A customer-only area to facilitate re-ordering
The Challenge
The number of products that Blakley was working with made a smooth customer journey difficult. With thousands of things that somebody could be looking for, we needed to make sure that the flow of the site was at the centre of our design.
Don’t limit your challenges. Challenge your limits
The Solution
The Zinc Digital Creative Team put together a design that combined the objectives from the client. We created a refreshed design that put Blakley’s branding at the centre, a brand new navigation that worked to support a smooth customer journey, and an additional industry focus within the page structures, to ensure that the first impression of the site gave clear direction. We then custom-built an eCommerce theme and structure that suited the complex product catalogue and refreshed the design to put Blakley’s branding at the forefront.
- Modern look & feel
- Custom ecommerce system
- Customer-only area
- Bespoke search functionality
Brand-focused Design
The old Blakley site didn’t have a strong brand identity, which is something we wanted to change. We used the brand colours of black, white and red, then added a yellow highlight colour for balance. We wanted to include more person-based photography, to break up the product-heavy design that was unavoidable with an eCommerce design of this kind.
Custom theme and structure
With thousands of products, hundreds of data sheets, alongside industry pages, case studies, blogs, and more, we knew we needed a structure that was solid. We used WooCommerce for our product catalogue, which enabled us to organise into categories that made sense. Each page had an information page above the product pages, so that customers could read about the product types before diving into a list of products. We then implemented a mega-menu on the homepage that put everything in one place. Upon hover, a customer can see all categories at a glance, with subcategories to browse. What’s more, we added a Resource Hub as a centralised location for the documentation and data sheets for the products.
Bespoke Search Functionality
We knew that with the amount of information on the site, the search functionality would be key for a positive experience. Usually, a search will only look in one place; for example, the products. For Blakley, we knew that their customers needed more, so we created a custom advanced search. It delivers results from their product catalogue, case studies and resources, and then allows the searcher to apply attribute filters to find exactly what they are looking for.
The Results
The Zinc Team have been delighted to see the Blakley site flourish since its launch in August 2022. We’ve noticed a great improvement in the customer experience, which we can see through statistics such as the bounce rate and time on site. This tells us that customers are browsing, spending time on site, and purchasing. The eCommerce functionality has tracked hundreds of sales, and 37% more goal completions than the previous period. We also supported Blakley with an SEO migration, and saw no keyword drops, and a 8% increase in SEO traffic.
38%
increase in pages per session
34%
decrease in bounce rate
48%
increase in page views
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