Wind-UX
Incredible Pets
Client Name: JKS Ventures, Inc.
Services: UX Design and Website Redesign
Industry: Pet Retail, Supplies and Services
Target Audience: Pet owners in the California area
Project Type: Website Redesign
Date: February 2024
E-commerce Pet Store Redesign
Brief Overview
Incredible Pets had an outdated website with poor navigation and a confusing checkout process that didn’t highlight their growing brand.
The Challenge
Incredible Pets' existing website presented several obstacles for online shoppers:
Project Goal
To develop a fully responsive and mobile-first website that provides a consistent and user-friendly experience across all devices, particularly smartphones and tablets.
User Pain Points
Users struggled to find specific products, had difficulty navigating the site on mobile devices, and abandoned their carts due to a complex checkout.
Business Goal
Increase online sales by 25% for the next quarter, improve customer satisfaction scores, and reduce cart drop off rates.
Old site: Homepage
The Process (Solution)
Heuristic Evaluation done for old website
Findings from heuristic evaluation
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Outdated Design: The website's appearance felt dated and didn't reflect the company's growing brand identity.
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Navigation Issues: Poor navigation made it difficult for users to find specific pet products.
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Mobile Unfriendliness: The website wasn't optimized for mobile devices, hindering user experience on smartphones and tablets.
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Confusing Checkout Process: A complex checkout flow discouraged users from completing their purchases, leading to high cart abandonment rates.
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Limited Service Visibility: The website didn't adequately showcase the expanding selection of pet care services offered at Incredible Pets' physical stores.
User Research & Analysis:
To gain a comprehensive understanding of user needs and pain points with the existing Incredible Pets website, a mixed-methods approach was employed, combining qualitative and quantitative research methods.
1.UX Audit: A heuristic evaluation, incorporating analysis of user behavior data (using Hotjar) and competitive analysis, was conducted to identify key usability issues.
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Navigation & Product Finding:
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Search Functionality: Users frequently relied on the search bar, but expressed frustration with inconsistent and irrelevant search results.
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Mobile Navigation: Mobile users reported significant difficulty navigating the site on smaller screens, citing issues with menu navigation and product image sizing.
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Checkout Transparency: Users were often unaware of the final cost breakdown (including logistical charges and taxes) until late in the checkout process, leading to mistrust and cart abandonment.
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Service Awareness: Users were largely unaware of the additional services offered by Incredible Pets, such as dog washes and nutritional consultations.
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2. User Surveys: Online surveys were sent to a wider audience to collect quantitative data on user demographics, preferences, and pain points
.
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Mobile Usage: 56% of respondents indicated they primarily used mobile devices for online shopping.
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Product Information: Several users mentioned that product descriptions were too generic and lacked sufficient detail about ingredients and other important product attributes.
3. Competitive Analysis: The websites of key competitors were analyzed to identify best practices and areas for differentiation in site navigation, product presentation, and checkout flows.
Competitive analysis done for 3 main competitors websites, Arkipet, Petfood express and Apple pet food.
Information Architecture
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The website's information architecture was completely restructured to accommodate the expanded product catalog and new service offerings. This involved:
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Expanded Navigation: Creating clear and intuitive navigation menus to facilitate product discovery.
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Service Integration: Integrating information about dog washes, nutritional consultations, vet services, pet dental cleaning, and customized ID tags into the website's
structure.
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Improved Product Categorization: Developing a more logical and user-friendly product categorization system.
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Wireframing and Prototyping
Low-fidelity wireframes were created to visualize the basic layout and functionality of key pages, including the homepage, product pages, service pages, and the checkout flow. These wireframes served as a blueprint for the subsequent design stages.
These prototypes were then refined into
Both mid-fidelity and high-fidelity prototypes were created, allowing for iterative testing and refinement based on user feedback.
User flow and site map for the new website including services and extended inventory.
Low-Fi Prototype
High-Fi Prototype
The Results
Within two months of launch, the redesigned website achieved significant improvements, directly contributing to Incredible Pets' business goals:
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Increased Online Sales: The integration of established design elements from packaging and marketing materials onto the website solidified brand presence and contributed to increased online sales by 62% in the first 3 months.
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Improved Checkout Completion: A redesigned user flow for searching educational content and products streamlined the path to purchase, leading to a demonstrable increase in users reaching the checkout stage. Increased users reaching checkout by 22%.
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Increased Lifetime Value (LFV) per User: The enhanced user experience and streamlined checkout process resulted in a 58% increase in lifetime value per user, indicating stronger customer loyalty and repeat purchases.
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Increased Average Order Value: Strategic product placement and improved cross-selling opportunities contributed to a 38% increase in average order value.
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Improved Conversion Rate: The redesigned user flow and enhanced website usability resulted in a 44% increase in the conversion rate, demonstrating a significantly improved ability to turn website visitors into paying customers.