Hark & Zander: A better website together
Hark & Zander, an innovative natural skincare brand focusing on hemp-based ingredients, recognised the need for an eCommerce revamp, better design, and user experience.
The company also had the additional challenge of tight regulatory compliance due to their unique hemp ingredient, which mandated the company maintain a high standard. This standard was a contributing factor to less-than-stellar experiences with previous web agencies.
Hark & Zander turned to Local Market for their web development and email marketing expertise, specifically in Shopify websites and Klaviyo automation, both geared towards eCommerce conversions.
Shopify’s power as an eCommerce platform is well-documented, especially given the user-friendliness of its modern templates. Investing in a well-developed template, like those provided by Shopify, has long-term dividends because it ensures the sustainability and scalability of online storefronts.
The problem
Kirsty Harkness of Hark & Zander expressed dissatisfaction with prior attempts to rejuvenate their website. The website’s functionality was not as user-friendly for the customer as it could be, and despite several iterations, the website was not performing at the level an award-winning skincare brand deserved.
Local Market’s director, Jacob Stansfield, identified a significant issue early on.
“While the essential elements were in place, Hark & Zander needed a unified brand story across their digital space,” says Jacob. “A cohesive brand presence, spanning from the leading site to sub-pages, is paramount. We need visitors to continuously feel connected to the brand, no matter where they navigate. Addressing this brand coherence became a priority.”
While the old Hark & Zander website was based on a reasonably good template, it was more disconnected from the brand story than it should have been. A brand story adds consistency throughout the site, personality, credibility and connection between the customer and the brand—a seamless experience.
The solution
Local Market selected a modern, mobile-friendly template from Shopify and worked closely with Nim Creative to ensure synergy between the brand design and structure of the website. It is not unusual for an eCommerce website to have a good structure but fail to live up to expectations because it does not clearly depict the brand story. A brand story not only guides the developer’s work but also adds personality to a well-structured website.
“We collaborated with Nim Creative in branding and design to ensure that Hark & Zander’s online space delivered a fantastic customer experience and eloquently conveyed their brand story,” says Jacob.
1. Branding First: The alliance with Nim Creative solidified a continuous brand narrative for Hark & Zander, effectively synchronising brand identity with the website’s design and functionality.
2. User Experience: The Local Market team could see that the user journey on the site was hindered by excessive clicks, which made the purchasing process unnecessarily disruptive. In addition, it was important to select and integrate the right apps to significantly improve the user experience.
The overhauled site aimed to streamline this journey to make the shopping process more intuitive.
3. Regulatory Compliance:The product faced unique marketing challenges and regulations with its hemp-based ingredient. It was essential to ensure that everybody was on board to provide a seamless story and experience and that the website was compliant with platforms like Instagram and Google.
Marcjon Nimmo from Nim Creative emphasised the brand story’s sensitivity to the hemp ingredient, underscoring its organic advantages and dispelling misconceptions. This new brand identity accentuated Hark & Zander’s pioneering offerings while complying with the regulations that apply to hemp-centric products.
What worked well
Synergy Between Teams: Both Local Market and Nim Creative brought their strengths to the table.
Proactiveness: Instead of waiting for issues, both teams pre-emptively addressed potential concerns to ensure smooth progress.
Clear Communication: All parties remained engaged and active throughout the process, ensuring that the final product resonated with Hark & Zander’s vision and met all necessary regulations.
Client-Centric Approach: Jacob and Marcjon kept Hark & Zander’s needs at the forefront, resulting in a beautiful, functional website genuinely representative of the brand’s ethos and story.
In an e-commerce-driven business, when a website plays a crucial role in brand identity and customer engagement, collaborations like this are a testament to the power of combining expertise to achieve remarkable results.
