Popshelf, a new retail concept from Dollar General, was designed to cater to customers seeking a unique shopping experience with a focus on affordable, stylish products for home, beauty, and wellness. The challenge was to create a digital presence that aligned with Popshelf's brand identity, offered a seamless mobile experience, and provided customers with a convenient, enjoyable online shopping journey. The website had to be developed within a tight eight-month timeline, ensuring it was fully operational by the time Popshelf’s physical stores opened.
• Establish a strong digital presence that resonated with Popshelf's target audience.
• Implement new digital brand guidelines that were cohesive with the Popshelf in-store experience.
• Focus on mobile optimization to capture the growing mobile shopper base.
• Create a website with an engaging, fun, and stress-free shopping experience.
• Ensure the web application was fully functional and live within eight months, coinciding with the store's grand opening.
The Challenge
The primary challenge was designing a website that captured Popshelf's unique brand essence while keeping the user experience (UX) simple, enjoyable, and intuitive.
Popshelf’s store environment was envisioned as bright, welcoming, and playful, which needed to be translated into a digital experience. Furthermore, the website had to prioritize mobile shopping, offering a seamless experience for customers browsing on phones or tablets.With the launch date set for the opening of the physical stores, the web application had to be designed, developed, tested, and deployed in just eight months—a tight timeline for a new website with such a specific set of requirements.
The Solution
To meet these demands, a collaborative design process was implemented, working closely with Popshelf’s marketing, development, and branding teams.
The solution was broken down into several key areas:
The website was successfully launched on time, ensuring that Popshelf was ready to go live with its first physical store opening.
Key outcomes of the project included:
• Successful Mobile Integration: The website experienced a significant amount of mobile traffic, with a smooth and intuitive mobile shopping experience that reflected the needs of Popshelf’s customers.
• Engaging User Experience: The simplified navigation and playful design contributed to a fun, stress-free shopping environment. Early customer feedback praised the ease of use and the visual appeal of the site.
• Sales and Engagement: The website helped drive both online and in-store traffic, contributing to the successful opening of Popshelf’s first locations.
The project’s success not only helped drive initial online sales but also played an essential role in building the foundation for Popshelf’s growing retail footprint. One of the first steps was to develop and implement a set of digital brand guidelines that reflected the vision of Popshelf while aligning with Dollar General’s broader brand identity.
This included:
• Color Palette and Typography: Popshelf’s vibrant and playful tone was reflected in the use of bright, approachable colors and friendly, modern typography. The guidelines ensured consistency across both the website and physical store.
• Imagery and Icons: To maintain a sense of fun and discovery, high-quality, lifestyle-oriented images and custom icons were created to evoke a sense of excitement while shopping.
• Brand Voice: The website copy was crafted to maintain a conversational, light-hearted tone, encouraging users to explore products without feeling overwhelmed.
Given the rise of mobile shopping, a mobile-first approach was crucial. The website was designed with responsiveness in mind, ensuring that it would function flawlessly on a variety of devices—particularly smartphones. The design was clean and intuitive, with easy-to-navigate menus and a straightforward shopping cart system.
Key features included:
• Simplified Navigation: A streamlined navigation bar, with easy access to key categories and promotions, ensured users could find what they were looking for with minimal effort.
• Mobile-Optimized Checkout: A one-page checkout process was implemented to reduce friction and make it easy for users to complete purchases on mobile devices.
• Fast Load Times: The website was optimized for speed, ensuring a smooth shopping experience even on slower mobile networks.
The website needed to deliver a user-friendly, stress-free shopping experience. Features were carefully designed to cater to Popshelf's audience, many of whom were shopping for value-driven, everyday items.
Key design elements included:
• Simple, Categorized Product Listings: Clear product categories and easy-to-filter search results allowed users to quickly find items.
• Product Discovery: A prominent "Shop by Category" feature was added to help users quickly navigate between different product types, from beauty to home décor.
• Promotions and Discounts: Special promotions and discounts were prominently displayed, creating a sense of urgency and excitement. Pop-up notifications and banner alerts highlighted sales and new arrivals.
• Personalization: Product recommendations based on browsing behavior were incorporated to help users discover additional items that met their interests.
Popshelf’s digital presence needed to reflect the brand’s fun, stress-free in-store experience. A key part of this was ensuring the shopping experience was not only fast but enjoyable.
Features like:
• Interactive Design: Subtle animations and transitions were used to create a sense of dynamism and keep users engaged.
• Clear Calls to Action: Well-defined, colorful buttons guided users through the purchasing process with minimal effort, emphasizing “Add to Cart” and “Checkout” as focal points.
• Promotions and Discounts: Special promotions and discounts were prominently displayed, creating a sense of urgency and excitement. Pop-up notifications and banner alerts highlighted sales and new arrivals.
• Easy Navigation: A minimalistic, visually appealing menu structure allowed users to easily explore different sections of the site.
Given the eight-month timeline, the project was executed in agile phases, with regular testing and iteration to ensure the website met business goals and user needs.
The process involved:
• Stakeholder Workshops: Frequent workshops were held to align with Popshelf’s business objectives and ensure all brand, functionality, and UX requirements were captured early on.
• Development Sprints: A series of sprint cycles ensured that the web app was continuously tested and refined.
• Beta Testing and Feedback: A beta version of the site was launched to a small user group for real-world testing, gathering invaluable feedback to refine the final product.
Upon launch, the website was live and fully operational, offering customers the ability to browse, select, and purchase products online. Post-launch support focused on monitoring user behavior, troubleshooting issues, and further optimizing the site based on user feedback.
The Results
The website was successfully launched on time, ensuring that Popshelf was ready to go live with its first physical store opening.
Key outcomes of the project included:
• Successful Mobile Integration: The website experienced a significant amount of mobile traffic, with a smooth and intuitive mobile shopping experience that reflected the needs of Popshelf’s customers.
• Engaging User Experience: The simplified navigation and playful design contributed to a fun, stress-free shopping environment. Early customer feedback praised the ease of use and the visual appeal of the site.
• Sales and Engagement: The website helped drive both online and in-store traffic, contributing to the successful opening of Popshelf’s first locations.
The Conclusion
The design of the Popshelf website was a critical step in establishing the brand’s digital presence.
By aligning with new digital brand guidelines, prioritizing mobile optimization, and ensuring a fun, intuitive shopping experience, the website successfully supported the brand’s mission to create a budget-friendly, stress-free retail experience for its customers.
The project’s success not only helped drive initial online sales but also played an essential role in building the foundation for Popshelf’s growing retail footprint.
