E-commerce Web & Brand Redesign resulting in 5.8k New Visitors and 24% increased Conversion Rate
About Midnight Sun
Midnight Sun is a brick & mortar store located in Historic 5 Points in Jacksonville, Florida with an growing online presence. They have been traveling and importing goods from small, cottage industry businesses and craftsmen throughout Asia for over two decades. They offer hundreds of products specializing in clothing, sterling and gemstone jewelery, textiles, furniture and handicrafts.
Project Overview
To accomdate increasing online shopping demand, Midnight Sun was interested in improving their online store experience and updating their digital branding.
Objective
Improve the exisiting Shopify site by streamlining product search and browsing experiences and updating their visual design. Include new photography across the site to introduce new branding elements.
Research
I looked into the analytics on the Shopify portal to gain insights in possible areas of improvement. The clearest realization I had was the number of online store session has been increasing, while the online store conversion rate was decreasing. This discrepency in total online sessions to sessions resulting in orders could be a result of various issues.
I worked closely with the owner of the store to identify differences in online sales versus in person sales. A few areas we decided to address in the web redesign were:
- Increase focus on the most popular product categories
- Redesign the menu and search
- Simplify the checkout process
UX Design
The process of Identifying user experience issues involves a thorough analysis of the current site to pinpoint pain points such as confusing navigation, slow loading times, complicated checkout processes, and poor web/mobile optimization. By employing methods like user testing and analytics reviews, I gathered valuable feedback and data to understand where users struggle.
UI Design
For the visual design and branding process for Midnight Sun, an e-commerce store specializing in handmade jewelry, clothes and metaphysical goods, I chose tones and textures that evoke a sense of warmth and craftsmanship.
This cohesive visual identity will distinguish Midnight Sun in the market but also forge an emotional bond with customers who value the beauty of handcrafted items and the spirituality they represent.
Features
Landing Page
The landing page for any website is arguably the most important thing to get right. It is the customer’s first impression of Midnight Sun and its offerings. I updated the design to a more simplified graphic style to shift the focus to the look and feel of the store versus diving into individual products right away. I highlighted the most popular product categories: jewelery clothing, and apothecary.
before & after:
Menu
I broke the menu down into clearer categories and redesigned the header layout for easier findability for search. The hierarchy of the previous menu was preventing some customers from exploring lesser known product categories like “Ritual + Sanctuary”, so I removed some of the menu nesting. I also removed the images from the menu categories after gathering feedback with a few simple tests. All of the participants preferred the text only menu version.
before & after:
Products
The previous design forced the users to go to another menu page after selecting an option from the menu in the header. I removed this in between step and added a detailed filter system to so the customer is able to find exactly what they’re looking for.
before & after:
Results
The Midnight Sun redesign was successful through increasing new visitors by 5,800+ new visitors and increasing conversion rates by 24%. I continue to work with the team at Midnight Sun to improve their impact both online and physical.
Check out the site ︎︎︎ here
Please reach out for further details ︎︎︎ rachel.collins75@gmail.com
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