bare market: Website Strategy
The Client
bare market is a low-waste shop located in Danforth Avenue that sells refillable, bulk, locally and sustainably sourced food, produce, body care, DIY ingredients, home care, etc. Delivery services are also available within the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and Canada-wide. Opening just a few weeks before the COVID-19 lockdown in early 2020, bare market had to suspend business in the physical store and build the online platform and shift the business online immediately, but continues to maintain their online store today in 2023.
Project Overview
Through the Interactive Media Management program at Centennial College myself and five other teammates were given the opportunity to work with the client, bare market.
We were tasked with creating a user experience strategy that transforms online website traffic into sales.
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My team conducted a thorough research analysis including a competitive and SWOT analysis, followed by user surveys to apply a user centered approach. We then created personas and user flows that directly impacted our strategy when reconstructing and designing the website prototype along with an interactive quiz .
Process:
Competitive Analysis
SWOT Analysis
User Surveys
Personas
Current State Analysis
User Flows
Interactive Quiz
Wireframes
Prototype
Style Guide
Strategy Handoff Docx
Tools:
Figma
Adobe XD
Procreate
Canva
OneDrive
Problem
bare market struggles with converting online traffic into actual sales, specifically from customers beyond their neighbourhood but still within the GTA.
Solution
Utilize research-based methodologies and conduct user research to create a website strategy that provides a more engaging online shopping experience.
Result
Reconstructed and designed a website that connects more closely with the in-store experience and provided next steps on how to implement the strategy.
Research Analysis
Our first step as a team was to meet with bare market to create a project scope specifying the clients goals and the deliverables being completed by the project deadline. With a clear idea of the project plan we began by conducting a competitor and SWOT analysis inform our strategy with what works well and what can be improved within the low-waste store online market.
Competitive Market
The team analyzed the online websites of 6 competitors to bare market. Competitors were both within and outside the GTA to gain a thorough understanding of various online delivery processes. Areas for improvement are written in red to maintain organization and clarity when referencing the analysis.
What We Looked For
We carefully selected twenty different categories to analysis when going through competitors websites; These categories ranged from visual design and product pairing, to navigation and filter listings.
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Combining the research from competitors with further research on the market, we completed analysis of the strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that impact bare market.
Competitor Analysis
SWOT Analysis
User Centered Approach
With the goal of transfering online traffic into sales we knew our strategy relied on understanding the types of users who currently accessed bare market's website, and who also users who had the potential to. Once we constructed real users with personas through user surveys and interviews, we conducted a current state analysis following the actions research suggested the personas would take, allowing us to develop user flows of the website.
Primary Users
Secondary Users
Business 2 Business
Users who typically shop online. We selected new customers both locally and outside the GTA, as well as existing customers.
Users who typically shop in-store. We focused on local users who have access to the store location in downtown Toronto.
bare market sells products to businesses in-store but not online yet. We created a persona for the user who is a business owner to inform our design strategy for the future implementation of a B2B online function.
Personas
Current State Analysis
User Flow Case
Putting Together Strategy
With the user in mind and research supporting us, we began establishing a website strategy to reconstruct the current content structure, visual design, information architecture, and filters. We then developed an interactive element intended to educate users on environmental impacts and low-waste solutions in line with bare markets values while keeping them engaged. We finished the project off with a high-fidelity prototype to clearly communicate our proposed strategy with the client.
Interactive Element
Prototype
