Hasta La Ideas

Bureau for Visual Affairs‘ new site for fashion retailer Whistles breaks a few rules but quadrupled takings on its first day

When there are so many assumptions about Best Practice on the web, it’s nice to see a site that both challenges received wisdom and makes a success in doing it.

Most retailers deluge their online customers with product, Bureau’s solution for Whistles asked a little more of users but seems to have worked as sales increased fourfold on its first day. The site uses an expansive homepage that includes video footage – customers have to move around the page to discover the latest styles but, once they’ve found something they like, it only takes two clicks to put it in the shoping basket.

“Ignoring so called ‘Best Practice’ gave us angles to explore, which enabled us to develop the site to a different goal — and allowed us to shorten the click depth of the buying process whilst connecting the aspirational and the transactional part of the website seamlessly,” says Bureau’s Simon Piehl. Whistles can create new homepage content on a weekly or even daily basis. There are plans to invite guest editors, from celebrities to designers, to curate one-off homepages in future.

Whistles’ Jane Shepherdson said “We chose Bureau because they studied our brief, and came up with innovative solutions instead of telling us what we couldn’t do. They were excited by the prospect of throwing out the rule book, and have delivered something that represents our brand. It is both highly creative and commercially functional.”

Disclosure: Bureau for Visual Affairs also designed the CR site