New destination DTC website helps popular toy brand grow direct sales 

We helped a popular collectible toy brand transform its DTC site to become the ‘go-to’ destination for fans and grow direct sales.

  • Updated website design to better reflect brand look and feel
  • Implementation of Akeneo PIM for improved on-site experience
  • Optimised the UX at every touchpoint for a delightful online experience
Soft toy bear in glasses reading a book

 

After a collectible toy brand gained popularity on social media, the business realised it needed better control of its brand image online, and also wanted to capitalise on its global popularity to generate more direct sales.

The company wanted a new direct-to-consumer (DTC) ecommerce experience that reflected its sense of fun. The site would need to provide an immersive experience for fans and support the brand’s immediate commercial and operational objectives and future international growth plans.

Inviqa was brought in at the very beginning of the brand’s digital transformation journey to support the introduction of a new ecommerce platform that could manage multiple localised websites and help bring the toys’ unique style to life through the new site’s design.
 

How we helped

Inviqa supported the brand with a business and technical strategy for its localised ecommerce sites, implementation of ecommerce and PIM solutions and front-end design for the sites to bring the brand to life online.

To kick off the journey and better understand the business and its aspirations we conducted several workshops with the client. Part of this discovery work was getting to the heart of the brand and what made it – and its toys – unique. We then recommended appropriate ways to bring the brand to life through the website’s design and functionality. 

With a strong established brand that was famous for its use of rich, colourful imagery, we used this as the inspiration for the updated website design. Using the toys as our guide, product imagery became the hero of the website design, with a clean, white background that allowed the toys to shine. This was all embedded into an in-depth online design system which could be rolled out across the new website.
 

Woman at whiteboard pointing to printout as part of workshop
Laptop showing website wireframe

But the imagery and design could only do so much of the lifting, the website user experience and product information would need to be just as delightful for it to become the first port of call for the brand’s fans. 

A robust technology stack was required that could support a content-rich, scalable website. The BigCommerce enterprise ecommerce platform was chosen as it provides the desired functionality, ability to scale, and operational efficiencies the client was after. And to leverage the increased business efficiencies and better on-page experience provided by a product information management (PIM) solution, we recommended the Akeneo PIM platform and supported the client’s in-house team through the implementation process.

We then set about building out further functionality that would help the website be unique to the toy brand. 

A custom parallax image scroller on the home page provides a perfect vehicle for the brand’s rich imagery, immersing website visitors into the toy’s world from the moment they land on the page and directing them to key collections. 
 

We introduced functionality that allowed all toy variants and product options to be displayed on a product page – including options for the personalisation of the collectibles – while a profanity checker validates customer inputs for product and gift card personalisation to help protect the brand.

Site navigation was improved to support toy discoverability and drive sales, with a new mega menu that makes it easy to find and navigate to the right category. An improved search experience also enables customers to quickly find the toy they’re after or discover a new favourite.  

Finally, we spent time making the shopping cart gift-product friendly and creating a smoother check-out experience. Within the checkout process, customers can now easily add a gift card and/or gift box to their order and choose whether they receive their toys in a single or individual bags if purchasing more than one.
 

Lego figure in a unicorn costume

The results

The new website was successfully launched in the US, EU and UK markets in early 2024 and is now the go-to destination for the brand’s fans with an immersive experience geared towards discoverability.

The new design truly reflects the unique brand while the improved onsite experience creates a more personalised experience for fans and makes it easier to discover the perfect toy – whether for themselves or as a gift.

In the first two months post-launch the brand saw a

  • 27.8% increase in order numbers and
  • 29.5% increase in revenue

compared to the same period in the previous year.

The client’s in-house team has access to a robust design library, making it easy to create and deploy new pages that embody the brand and delight fans - all without the need for a developer.

As it is early days in the digital transformation, we continue to support the client to bring new features to the website and improve its functionality behind the scenes.
 

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DTC ecommerce report

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