CHALLENGE

SOL, the Denver-based high-end lingerie retailer, known for unparalleled bra-fitting expertise and exquisite European lingerie, recognized that revenue growth and geographic expansion in 2016 could only be achieved through a new visual design, and more scalable website. They had outgrown their Magento Community Edition store and were ready to upgrade to a more robust platform that would support rapid growth.

SOL also wanted to better engage with their current customers, convey their branding and in-store experience digitally, and grow their market share.

SOLUTION

As a Magento Strategic Solution Partner, Guidance had already been tapped to join an elite pilot program to beta-test Magento 2. Guidance immediately recognized that the new platform’s innovation, agility and scalability would greatly benefit SOL.

SOL agreed and chose Guidance to design and implement the Magento 2 website. Guidance is aMagento 2 Trained Solution Partner.

Guidance partnered with SOL’s leadership to identify organizational and technological needs and deployed a targeted and brand-unified eCommerce strategy that supported business goals and seamlessly translated SOL’s philosophy and custom fitting methods to digital.

To help better tell the brand story, and digitally communicate SOL’s personalized, in-store experience with customers everywhere, our Creative Services’ team traveled to Denver for an immersive store visit. They interviewed the founders and staff and even had personal fittings to understand the essence of the brand. Everything they learned contributed to a mood board for their photo shoot, the intuitive navigation, lush visual look, and editorial tone of the new site.Guidance provided copy and content strategy that encouraged customer conversion and built an emotional connection with SOL customers.

The Guidance development team leveraged Magento 2’s best-in-class features to provide a solid foundation for conversion lift, improved site search, and increased productivity. The new admin interface empowers SOL by shortening their time to market and making site maintenance easier. A new fully customizable checkout process helps improve SOL’s conversion rates.And, enhanced and predictive site search make results relevant and accurate, improving SOL’s customer experience.

Guidance, in collaboration with Retail Dimensions,integrated the Magento 2 site with SOL’s point-of-sale retail management software, Retail Pro, for a seamless multi-channel order management integration.

In addition to design and implementation, SOL chose Guidance for managed services and marketing solutions.SOL is now uniquely positioned to seamlessly integrate new versions of the Magento 2 platform in 2016.

INNOVATION

Guidance customized the Magento 2 CMS to deliver a rich, engaging and personalized customer experience for SOL’s customers. In addition to a traditional eCommerce experience with a product listing page, a product detail page and a checkout, the new SOL website is rich with editorial content that creates and encourages loyalty. SOL customers return not just to shop but also to research product, seek fitting information, and participate in the social experience:

• Each SOL bra-fitting expert is featured in her own personalized profile. There, SOL customers learn about her favorite SOL brand, her top fitting room tip, and read the rave reviews she has received from SOL customers.
• Every designer carried by SOL, is featured with his or her own category page. There, SOL customers review SOL anecdotes about the brand and their designs.
• SOL-utions” are offered on a content page that solves common fit and wardrobe issues with product recommendations and magazine-style content.