SOREL Site Design

SOREL

Responsive Site Redesign

Role: Art Direction, Interaction & Visual Design

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What began decades ago with premium boots, crafted with an unparalleled balance of construction and protection, is now a brand dedicated to both functionality and fashion. SOREL challenges the status quo by creating unexpected footwear that pushes the boundaries of function-first fashion. 

The Evolution of Digital Commerce

Background

When I first joined Columbia Sportswear back in 2005, it was a team of two that drove and managed all websites for Columbia Sportswear brands (Columbia, SOREL, Mountain Hardwear, Montrail). 

Fast forward, we know the market landscape is shifting and it impacted the ways customers shop; Columbia Sportswear embarked on a new chapter of Direct to Consumer and the Global eCommerce team was born in 2009. As immense as this undertaking, so did the opportunity, it was very exciting to be part of this new venture and growth in the business. 

Our mission was to create best-in-class and on-brand digital experience to our customers. As the lead designer for SOREL in this e-commerce design team of four; I have developed, defined and directed the aesthetic and visual language on all design execution as well as the multiple site redesigns which led to me spearheading the effort of redesigning the site into responsive design in 2014.

Responsive Design

As a team, we partnered with an Ad agency on this massive effort to transition all four brand websites into responsive design. From the conceptual designs, I led the charge in refining and iterating the UX and UI of the new SOREL.com design direction to facilitate future business growth, enhance and improve the user’s shopping experience for all global sites across more than 50 countries.

Mobile-first Approach

Research shown that 84% of emails were opened on mobile devices. A major part of this responsive design initiative was to elevate and optimize our email design for mobile. Here is a small sampling of my homepage and email designs.

Results

Across the board, it was a huge success and accomplishment for the eCommerce team! For SOREL, we had historic numbers on our KPIs: an increase of over 300% on Daily Sales, Conversion Rate, Site Traffic (Especially on mobile).

Customer Engagement
In addition, visitors are spending more time on SOREL.com and having deeper engagements with the brand through social media. This was also reflected with the significant increase on our email open rate and click-through rate.