Project Overview
Understanding trends developing in the online market, CEWE responded by developing the CEWE PHOTOBOOK mobile app and redeveloping its now fully-responsive photoworld.com website.
Both of these key initiatives have seen CEWE Photoworld exceed its 2014 sales target, to achieve outstanding 56% growth year-on-year. Underpinning this, CEWE Photoworld revenue from mobile traffic is up 253% (Dec 14’ Vs Dec ’13) and the average order value from mobile traffic is up 31% (same period).
The CEWE PHOTOBOOK app and CEWE Photoworld website both make ordering an easier and more enjoyable experience for the customer - hence their outstanding success.
Organisation
Team
The CEWE app was developed by a core project team consisting of eight people. It was led by project leader Dr. Ralf Wieting, head of application development at CEWE Stiftung& Co KGaA in Oldenburg, Germany. The app was developed in CEWE’s state-of-the-art lab in Oldenburg.
The CEWE Photoworld team consists of 5 people, all based here in Warwick, in the UK.
Project Brief
CEWE offers a unique range of personalised photo gifts, prints and photo books and understands that shopping for a personal keepsake can be an overwhelming experience, especially when there are so many products to choose from. Furthermore, with smartphone software constantly evolving and producing better quality high resolution images, an increasing number of people are capturing their precious moments on their phone. These precious moments, however, are often captured on their devices and then either uploaded onto the user’s social media channels or unintentionally forgotten about.
CEWE’s response was a two-fold approach: to improve the CEWE Photoworld website and to launch the CEWE PHOTOBOOK app.
The new CEWE Photoworld website, launched October 2014, delivered against various objectives. It offers an excellent user experience with a clean and simple structure for intuitive navigation. It was also redesigned with a modern look and feel through flat design and beautiful big imagery. Most significantly the website is fully responsive to offer optimal user experience across all devices, so the customer views a fantastic looking website with all the same content, regardless of whether they are using a desktop PC or the latest smart phone.
The app is a one-of-a-kind free download compatible with iPhones, androids and tablets. Using the app, consumers can upload photos straight from their photo album on their phone and create a photo book, calendar, mobile/tablet case, prints and even postcards – all with just the swipe of a finger.
Project Need
No other app provides such generous scope for designing and producing photo products. Unlike any other on the market, the CEWE PHOTOBOOK app enables users to create a photo book in a wide range of layouts, styles and backgrounds. Users can add text and choose from a variety of sizes to suit all budgets, from pocket to XL.
What makes this app unique is the speed and ease of which a personalised photo book can be created. Consumers no longer need to spend time downloading software or transferring their photos to their computer before creating a photo book. Recent improvements include developing the options within the photo book category, and broadening the entire photo product range that's available. Using the app, photo books and prints can be created and ordered anywhere, anytime - it’s great for people who are always on the go.
The CEWE Photoworld website is leading the industry, offering a uniquely fully responsive design. The content of the website has also been enriched with a regular blog that contains insightful and engaging posts and it also has a dedicated ‘Inspiration’ section. Here, users can find handy tips and tricks for some of CEWE’s products, gift ideas and a ‘just for fun’ section. Access to this content enhances the customers' shopping experience.
On the website, users can download the full creator software to design their chosen product, or they can quickly create a wide range of products using the online uploader and editor tools.
User Experience
Following extensive testing and customer feedback, CEWE’s app has been created with user-friendliness in mind; its clean, intuitive design makes the app extremely easy to use.
Once downloaded, the customer chooses their preferred vendor and then selects the photo book category. Having chosen the size of photo book they would like to create, the user enters a title which will appear on the cover and spine.
Just like if the customer was using the creator software on a computer, they have the freedom to select the cover style and the paper type, choosing from CEWE’s unrivalled range of 5 different options. The user can then either choose for CEWE to create their book for them, using the assistant feature, or they can choose to have complete creative control. With the latter, they can add images, text and backgrounds to each page of their book, plus resize, crop or rotate images in order to achieve the desired look. When it comes to user journey, the app couldn’t be more straightforward.
The CEWE Photoworld website uses Trustpilot to gage customer experience and has a score of 8.9 out of 10. From over 9,000 reviews, over 90% have awarded 4 or 5 stars out of 5. CEWE has been selected as a Trustpilot case study and in November was chosen to be one of 3 Trustpilot ‘customers of the month’.
Both app and website display CEWE’s continued focus on offering customers a superb end-to-end service.
Project Marketing
To drive more users down the app route for more products, the app has been given more prominence on the website. Regular posts on social media channels are driving app installs and promotional banners advertising the app feature on weekly emails sent to the customer database. To supplement this, the CEWE Photoworld website has a strong SEO performance and the site structure has been optimised in order to grow its search visibility.
In October 2014, as a brand awareness exercise, CEWE implemented a link building activity and commissioned an Instagram creative piece – the interesting content links through to the site and has been featured across women’s lifestyle sites, tech news sites, and national news sites. It has achieved nearly 5000 Facebook likes and shares, and over 3000 tweets to date.
Most significantly, a dynamic download button features on the website’s 'software download' page as part of its responsive design. This recognises what device a customer is using when visiting the website and re-directs them accordingly. For example, those visiting on a mobile or tablet are directed to their app store. The dynamic download functionality has resulted in at least 30% of downloads in 2014.
Project Privacy
Customer information is requested whenever the customer chooses to use CEWE Photoworld services. The primary goal in collecting customer information is to provide them with a personalised, relevant and user-friendly experience. Customer information is used to communicate with the customer to inform them of service improvements, feature announcements and promotional offers. However, the customer may always opt out by unsubscribing. Customer information is also used to improve customer satisfaction – for example, by presenting the customer with personalised information regarding their account or in case there are any issues with the customer’s order. It also collects information during the shopping experience to make purchasing an easier experience for the customer. For example, if the customer gives CEWE Ltd the permission to keep their billing information, they won’t have to fill out the shipping and billing address each and every time they make an online purchase.
Customer information on the app is password-protected, however customers are advised to change their passwords every three months for extra security. CEWE Ltd employs SSL – a specialised encryption and security technology to protect customers’ information.
Only CEWE Ltd employees or employees of partner companies that provide services to CEWE Ltd may see a customer’s photos while they are being developed, scanned or printed. In case of problems with a customer’s account, photos or personal account information may be seen by CEWE Ltd employees or employees of partner companies.
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