Wilsonart
Supporting an industry-leading brand with a powerful and adaptable customer service platform.
' ' In the creation of a new website that encapsulated Wilsonart’s unique positioning in the market, Need a Web have exceeded expectations. Finding the balance between a powerful brand impression and easy access to technical information, Need a Web aligned closely with us to truly understand the objectives and what success looked like. With few web users being as fastidious around design than our primary audience of architects, we’ve been delighted with the resoundingly positive reaction to this website since launch and look forward to continually evolving it to maintain that position.' '
- Dean Bonthorne - Head of Marketing, Wilsonart Australia
Delivering a digital experience to support designers and end-users by helping them make the right decision when considering their decorative surfaces, both at home and in the workplace
Wilsonart is a leading global brand in the innovation and manufacture of laminates and other working surfaces in residential, retail, hospital, educational and other commercial environments.
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The website servicing Australia and New Zealand was, after many years of use, no longer able to support customers in the way that Wilsonart needed it to – so a new website was conceived that would help customers consider the range of surface options and filter their options based on colours, textures, applications, and components.
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The previous website was aimed primarily at trade suppliers but, with the plan to modernise the website, it was decided that the scope would be widened, and the website made more inclusive of interior designers and retail end-users. This included different ways to find and navigate content and the ability for users to directly order sample swatches that would be delivered to their homes or workplaces.
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The new Wilsonart website delivers a modern and contemporary look and feel which can facilitate quick navigation to all available product types for advanced users, or a more casual experience that starts with the browsing of available colours for consumers. All users benefit from the integrated e-Commerce functionality behind the product sample ordering functionality that delivers exciting possibilities for Wilsonart and their customers and reduces the need for display site visits in a post-COVID world.
Project Goals
Wilsonart Australia and New Zealand came to Need a Web with a clear objective for the new website, to create a simple and layered experience for all users that allowed them to browse available products and gather the product information they require quickly and easily.
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This simple objective was converted into an extensive list of business requirements including:
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A modern look and feel based on existing branding;
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Easy navigation allowing users to browse by colour, application or product type;
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Filtering options to allow users to narrow the scope of their research when needed;
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Impactful content areas showing how Wilsonart products can complete spaces in any environment;
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The industry-exclusive ability for designers to save products into custom project folders
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Integrate an internal CRM to ensure a high level of customer service is provided; and
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Develop the website as a simple but powerful multi-site platform that could be managed internally and allowed the easy update of product availability by region.
Our Solution
Need a Web started with wireframe and design concepts based on the existing branding to build a modern website that supported the local Wilsonart team, embraced the global nature of the Wilsonart brand and delivered on their promised customer experiences.
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A custom multi-site WordPress build with integrated e-Commerce functionality was developed that would allow Wilsonart to feature their range of products and product variations. Functionality such as wishlists and sample order was also delivered so that users could now discover more about the brand, then build an entire décor and have the sample swatches delivered directly to them from the single website platform.
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Through integration with Wilsonart’s CRM, we are able to pass customer lead information into their customer database facilitating better ongoing contact and relationships between the customer and Wilsonart’s team of colour and product experts.
Making product data approachable and understandable
The Wilsonart website has been built to satisfy multiple user groups – from retail consumers who are making selections for the home, they are building, to professional interior designers looking to create profound commercial spaces and installers who are handling and fitting the products.
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As each of these user groups requires a solution tailored to their specific needs, we built a website that is easy to navigate and provides many avenues to deep technical information.
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Users can start their journey by browsing the complete range of available décors, allowing them to explore by colour. Helpful filters allow users to narrow colours to solids, neutrals, woodgrains or patterns.
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Alternatively, users can start their journey looking at a product type, such as HPL Laminate or the Markerboard range, which allow users to see how different products can be used in different spaces. These pages also include the décors available in the specific product type, filtering and simplifying the user’s selection options.
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Once a colour is selected the product detail is supplied in two levels, swatch details give users an idea of panel sizes, thicknesses, and product type while the deeper level details page for each colour includes downloadable technical specifications, materials information, warranties and maintenance information.
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By building the experience in stages less experienced customers can dive into the depth of information they need to work with design partners while product specialists have access to the most up to date and important information for each product readily at hand.
Integrating WordPress, WooCommerce and Pipedrive for better customer management
Wilsonart as a company has long prided themselves on a stellar customer service experience. Manufacturing experts work closely with designers to meet customer demands and set design trends that customers love – this experience needed to continue in their website and sample ordering platform.
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Need a Web is very experienced working with WordPress as a development platform and integrated WooCommerce as the e-Commerce solution to support product display and sample ordering. While there is no cost for ordering a sample, the e-Commerce toolset of WooCommerce facilitated speedy development of a product display, ordering and delivery framework that was then heavily customised to match the design of the rest of the website.
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Users ordering samples can easily move through the ordering process and receive confirmation of orders and product shipping to keep them informed at all stages of the journey.
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To process sample requests the newly developed website needed to integrate with Pipedrive, Wilsonart’s in-house CRM. Through a custom integration, order details are passed into the Pipedrive system where they can be viewed and processed by internal product teams. Importantly, this integration works in both directions, so the web team can understand the status of any sample order by viewing it in the customised order dashboard on the website knowing that updates in the CRM have been synchronised.
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Being able to move data quickly and securely helps Wilsonart deliver a high standard of customer service and provides internal visibility to all orders to both customer-facing and back-of-house staff.
Custom Wishlists help capture a developing interior design
Wishlists were an important feature to include in the build for Wilsonart based on extensive customer feedback. Our solution takes them a step further with customers able to create multiple wishlists, give them different names and organise them into a customer account dashboard.
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Once created, these wishlists can be set to public or private and even be shared with others, allowing users to build an entire interior design and then share the details with partners, designers and other parties so that everyone has access to the exact information they need.
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By organising the colours into wishlists also allows users to make sure they are sending the right information. As each colour contains material and technical information it creates peace of mind that everything that needs to be shared can be passed on to everyone who needs to know.
Results
The website soft-launched on February 1, 2021. Within the first 6 weeks of launching, Wilsonart has seen an increase in user activity, which has translated into a significant boost in sample orders and product queries. In comparison to the 6 weeks pre-relaunch we have seen:
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2,000 additional page views
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The bounce rate has dropped by 22%
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Users are spending more time on the website with the average visit time increasing by a full minute
Increased number of sample orders off the new website platform
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Overall, the refreshed Wilsonart website provides a strong foundation for the brand in both Australia and New Zealand with the ability to further customise the user experience through the use of a multi-site. Users are now met with a brand focussed and highly visual website that delivers an insight into the way Wilsonart products can be used but also provides a depth of information about the products and their technical information.
