Brother Europe asked Absurd to design the ecommerce experience that would support a new direct-to-consumer model across a complex European digital estate.
The business challenge was nuanced. Brother’s websites already supported 32 European territories, and the move into direct-to-consumer sales had to sit alongside an established dealer referral model rather than replace it.
Project overview
Absurd was tasked with redesigning core commerce journeys inside Brother’s existing Sitecore platform.
That included:
- product listing pages
- product detail pages
- a new checkout flow
- redesigned navigation
- new merchandising opportunities
- personalisation guidance across the journey
Research and strategy
The work began with research into existing customer behaviour and the likely impact of introducing a new retail channel. Absurd needed to understand which journeys could change safely and which ones required a more careful balance between online purchase and dealer referral.
That research shaped where merchandising, personalisation, and navigation improvements would have the greatest effect without disrupting the parts of the experience that customers already relied on.
Design system and delivery
To support rollout at scale, Absurd created a new design system in Figma so templates and components could be applied more consistently across markets. Navigation was improved through the introduction of a meganav, and the buying journeys were redesigned around clearer movement between product exploration, dealer finding, and direct purchase.
The design system also covered the logic for personalisation and cross-sell opportunities, giving the team a more useful framework for evolving the experience over time.
Outcome
Brother gained a new ecommerce revenue channel while maintaining the existing dealer model. The improved navigation and merchandising experience also created a stronger foundation for engagement and personalisation as customer behaviour continues to evolve.
The platform is now being rolled out across Europe alongside a Sitecore upgrade, which underlines the value of designing for scale rather than for one-off release moments.