Crafting an immersive digital experience, designed for our times
About Christopher Ward
Christopher Ward is an innovative watch brand founded in 2004. From the start of their journey, the founders were committed to crafting beautiful, high-quality timepieces and making them widely accessible.
The British designed, Swiss made watches are sold directly from Christopher Ward’s website – removing the need for third-party retailers or big-budget marketing campaigns. This streamlined approach gives the brand agility and flexibility, which helped them quickly shake up the industry and make their mark.
In 2014, Christopher Ward merged with Swiss watchmaking company Synergies Horlogères, fusing British design and entrepreneurialism with the precise functional Swiss mindset. What followed was the creation of its own in-house mechanical watch movement, Calibre SH21. This marked a significant development in the watch industry. It was the first commercially viable mechanical movement from a British watch brand in more than half a century.
Services
- NAgnostic discovery
- NCustom UX & UI design
- NWebsite development & implementation
- NCustomizable products
- NPre-order functionality
- NInternational expansion
Commerce Platform
Results
104%increase in Bel Canto sales
49%drop in cart abandonment
59%increase in page speed
Salesforce Commerce Cloud
The Brief
Christopher Ward was looking for a digital commerce partner to help guide and implement its website replatform and deliver an enhanced digital experience for their customers.
The website typically had 45,000 to 100,000 weekly visits across the UK and US. This amount of traffic makes speed and reliability two vital aspects to ensure each customer visit is as intuitive and enjoyable as possible.
No matter the device (mobile, tablet, desktop) or operating system customers use, the brand wanted to deliver an experience in which the brand story is consistent, seamless, and immersive for each customer.
As part of the selection process, Christopher Ward spoke with a host of previous clients and references. The conversations assured them that Tryzens would be the best partner to deliver a world-class digital shopping experience.
The Solution
Christopher Ward and Tryzens worked closely to assess a range of digital commerce platforms. Salesforce Commerce Cloud was recognized as the best option to fulfil the brand’s requirements because of its agility, content creation, and expansion capabilities.
Tryzens also collaborated with Christopher Ward’s UX consultant to deliver a world-class frontend user experience. The immersive digital store is easy to navigate, intuitive, and showcases rich content designed to assist customers in their path to purchase.
Clear descriptors, photos, and video assets make it simpler for customers to browse and engage with the website. The new Bespoke Watches page is prominently positioned for customers to learn about designing their own customized timepiece using Christopher Ward’s dedicated watchmaking service. To initiate the service, customers simply fill out a form with the required information or can email the team with specific questions.
The replatform was followed by further development. Tryzens created a pre-order solution for the C1 Bel Canto Azurro Blue and Verde Green following the sell-out of their initial release. It gives those who missed out on the limited edition launch early access to commission a Bel Canto and notifies them when the Azurro Blue and Verde Green are available for general sale.
The pre-order solution limits the quantity of pre-orders to one per person to ensure broad availability across its customer base. It also gives peace of mind to both Christopher Ward as well as its customers, providing transparency around the commission and the splitting of cost in two installments, with a deposit being taken upfront before manufacturing and the balance being paid upon shipment.
Key Integrations
“The ambitions we have for Christopher Ward requires us, as the world’s leading online-only premium watch brand, to deliver a world-class brand and shopping experience for our customers. Our new site is a huge step towards the achievement of those ambitions.”
“Christopher Ward’s partnership with Tryzens and the implementation of Salesforce Commerce Cloud have not only enhanced our digital presence but also significantly improved customer experience. The results speak for themselves with an increase in average order value, reduction in the cart abandonment rate, and a solid boost in Bel Canto product revenue. We’ve set a new standard for seamless, immersive online shopping in the industry.”
Site Features
The Results
Christopher Ward has benefited from broad uplift in key metrics that align with an enhanced digital experience. In the year following the replatform, there was an overall boost in the ecommerce conversion rate and a 14% increase in average order value.
In terms of website friction, there was a significant uplift in site speed, including a 52% reduction in average page load time. This acceleration in site speed is even more considerable as the new site showcases a richer array of content.
Site speed has also contributed to the reduction of friction in the buying journey. There has been a 49% reduction in the cart abandonment rate and a 32% drop in the checkout abandonment rate.
Following the implementation of our pre-order solution for the Bel Canto watch series, there was strong uptake as tens of thousands of people registered an interest in the watches, with a significant number going on to make a purchase. This is reflected in the 104% increase in Bel Canto product revenue in the latest release when compared to the previous release.
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