The Sony Store
A signature D2C shopping experience for Sony North America
In response to the changing consumer behavior brought on by the pandemic, Sony recognized the need for a Direct-to-Consumer channel. My team was entrusted with the design and development of a mobile-first signature experience tailored to the North American customer base. Our goal was to provide a seamless shopping journey that not only addressed specific customer preferences and needs but also fostered brand loyalty. By creating a product-immersive platform, we aimed to build a direct and long-lasting connection between Sony and its customers in the region.
The Challenge
01.
Design, develop, and launch a streamlined shopping experience across Sony North America's key digital channels: mobile and web.
02.
Get to market within an unprecedented 18-month timeline, leveraging the surge in digital adoption and the increasing demand for home electronics driven by the new remote lifestyle
03.
Drive Sony's growth strategy by balancing revenue-generating and brand awareness initiatives, positioning our platform as the brand’s primary acquisition channel
04.
Uphold Sony's long-standing brand values while meeting the needs of an ever-changing digital-first customer base
Project Snapshot
The Process
Throughout an intensive 18-month engagement, my team collaborated closely with Sony's leadership, both in North America and Tokyo, along with internal domain influencers and technology leads. Our primary objective was to conceptualize and design an optimal storefront experience that seamlessly supported sales, inventory management, and data processes.
UX Design played a pivotal role in driving the project forward, serving as the guiding force to align multiple teams and dependencies. As the Design Lead, my focus was crystal clear: deliver ahead of schedule, validate ideas early in the process, and provide visibility to key decision-makers. It was crucial to establish the right tools for collaboration and alignment, ensuring a smooth workflow throughout the project.
Discovery & research to define our vision
In the highly saturated online marketplace ecosystem, the entry of the Sony Store demanded a product strategy compelling enough to captivate users with short attention spans. Through research and discovery, we developed an e-commerce playbook as our guiding framework, harmonized with Sony's brand essence and business objectives.
We leveraged big data analysis, conducted customer interviews, and meticulously mapped out ideal customer journeys. This allowed us to identify the most crucial features and functions that our Minimum Viable Product (MVP) had to encompass. All insights from these activities ensured our strategy aligned with both customer expectations and Sony's goals.
The Sony Store unveiled
The brand-new Sony shopping experience made its grand debut, captivating not only Sony's loyal brand ambassadors but also attracting a fresh wave of tech enthusiasts and younger audiences. The experience catered to both groups, appealing to convenience, concise information, quick actions, and short attention spans. Simultaneously, it provided an immersive product journey, rich with stories about usage and technology, for those who preferred a deeper dive before making a purchase.
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Storefront Awareness
Customers didn’t know Sony had a digital storefront, so positioning this capability at a glance was a priority. Through compelling messaging, persistent and engaging call-to-action buttons, and a variety of convenient purchasing options, we effectively introduced and incentivized customers to take shop around, reducing site abandonment
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Immersive Product Discovery
Our website features strategically designed areas that seamlessly guide users towards use case articles and brand information, without compromising product search. This immersive experience empowers customers with a sense of choice, providing them the confidence to make informed purchasing decisions, which in turn fosters brand loyalty
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Optimized Checkout
Removing unnecessary steps and an optimized checkout process ensures customers stay focused on completing their purchases. With a user-friendly single-page view, we minimize the number of clicks and reaffirm transparency by clearly presenting costs, delivery times, and other essential details
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Loyalty Consolidation
The Sony store prioritizes customer control, offering a consistent shopping experience across all touchpoints. By meeting customers wherever they are on their shopping journey, we solidify their intent to purchase. Through quality marketing and comprehensive interactions, we make customers feel empowered and engaged
Consistent experience across all devices: Mobile, web and tablet
A responsive design system was put in place to ensure consistency across channels and the user’s ability to effectively and seamlessly manage their cart.
With quick-response integrations, purchase incentives, and personalized recommendations, our digital experience stood on par with industry leaders. Our MVP also served as a blueprint to inspire digital twins of Sony's offline offering, ensuring a seamless integration of all brand shopping experiences.
Project Outcomes
01.
End-to-end e-commerce experience, offering 2 distinct journeys that embody customer preferences: availability, convenience and simplicity
02.
Product-to-purchase optimization, allowing completion in 4 clicks
03.
Go-to-market successful rollout, directly contributing to revenue goals after launch
04.
Product strategy, design tenets, and customer data repository delivered to nurture Sony’s growth strategy beyond North America. The UX approach and design system were so well received, our client decided to implement it for Europe and LATAM
Key Takeaways
01.
Our team played a crucial role in Sony's transition from relying on third-party sales channels to adopting a new, direct-to-consumer, business model. Our responsibility and impact went far beyond delivering a UX approach. It required that we understood, aligned, and represented larger business goals while embracing the complexities of an organizational change process. The success of our product and its ability to meet objectives hinged on the strong collaboration we had with the Sony team throughout the process, both during the launch and beyond
02.
Building robust and reliable collaboration channels with technology teams, such as solution architects, API strategists, and QA, is vital for the success of the design process. It works both ways, as a shared vision ensures alignment between different tracks and facilitates independent decision-making when necessary. Simply put, when my team and your team have a clear understanding of each other's goals, it becomes easier to make informed decisions and suggest improvements that contribute to the overall success of the solution
03.
Working with a renowned brand like Sony is an invaluable opportunity, as every decision made has far-reaching implications throughout multiple product categories and regions. Working directly with the leadership team navigating and addressing these complexities gave me invaluable learnings on management at scale, solution design, and the development of an integrated long-term corporate strategy