DEPT® has supported the fashion label Dorothee Schumacher since 2010, regularly launching updated versions of its online shop. In the fast-moving world of fashion, it’s essential to be a decisive step ahead.
After years of successful cooperation, it was an honour to develop the platform further. The goal of the 2022 relaunch was a state-of-the-art solution, the development of a contemporary brand experience, and the internationalisation of the shop platform.
The challenge of modernisation
An extensive digital relaunch with new technical requirements necessitated a relaunch of Dorothee Schumacher’s online shop.
They required modern omnichannel functions, the possibility of personalising and automating the experience, and more creative freedom for visual merchandising around presenting products, campaigns, and collections internationally.
Platform goals
The main focus was migrating the online shop to Optimizely, a scalable platform that enables seamless integration of third-party systems. All while maintaining high performance and the flexibility to meet current and future requirements.
Another component of the relaunch was the possibility of personalising the product experience and the content. An intuitive and efficient process for the merchandising team and shop management should be implemented to simplify the rollout of new features. During the relaunch, the digital brand experience was also to be translated into a design concept that corresponds to the look and feel of the luxury brand Dorothee Schumacher.
The Optimizely solution
From a technological point of view, the e-commerce relaunch was implemented on the Optimizely digital experience platform, with Optimizely Commerce Cloud Basis and Optimizely Content Cloud as the new content management system.
Optimizely enables a focus on the complete customer journey, including all modern omnichannel and commerce features and cloud-based data intelligence. It represents a comprehensive modern and stable technology stack.
Four design principles
For the product design of the new experience, DEPT® defined four design principles together with the customer, which served as a basis for always keeping an eye on the goals of the brand and user experience:
Femininity: The experience should allow the user to decide how they want to experience the world of Dorothee Schumacher. The branded content and the address are feminine, bold, self-confident, and individual.
Flexibility: With the help of flexible content modules, the visual merchandising team can always creatively and flexibly design the online shop independently with different content. The user experience remains visually coherent and brand-appropriate on every device.
Flow: The inspiration phase and shopping experience should merge seamlessly from the user’s point of view. There should be no dead ends in the experience. Users are constantly offered new ways in an intuitive flow.
Focus: The design offers a clear, descriptive image of the brand in every respect, as well as an easy-to-understand navigation structure. Clear content can be captured quickly and easily, and the path to the products in the purchasing process is effortless.
The result is a contemporary online shop design that hits the sweet spot between a luxurious brand experience with an editorial character – including outstanding storytelling and a high-performance, modern user experience.
The online shop was awarded silver in the Website & Microsite category of the Annual Multimedia Award 2023.
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Account Director & Head of Business Development
Victor Marcus Lunde
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