One of the biggest challenges with the new online shopping solution was creating a clear design and simple navigation, not just to simplify the buying process but also to inspire the customer to shop at the different chain stores under the same digital roof.
As each chain store in the Nilson Group has robust and well-established brands, it was vital to let them preserve their visual identity and allow them to provide unique and adapted content. Combined with an overall identical navigation and structure, this gives the customer an overall user experience that reinforces the digital totality. This provides the customer with the option to shop in some of the chain stores or to explore the entire range of goods through FEETFIRST in the same way as in physical FEETFIRST stores.
The large and broad product range that FEETFIRST offers also brings with it the challenge of helping the customer find the right shoe. This imposed major requirements for searching, navigation, filtering and sorting. Moreover, an option to provide inspiring recommendations, enhance promotions and other relevant information in both category and product entries and editorial material was also needed. EPiServer Find, with options for functions such as “search as you type” and ”did you mean?” constitute a vital part of the online shopping platform.
Another major challenge was linking online stores and physical stores, with more than 300 stores in Sweden, Norway and Finland. For example, customers had to be able to collect and return their goods free of charge at the stores. Other examples of functions that transcend the boundaries between the different sales channels include finding the stock status of a specific shoe, but also finding stock information for a specific store.
