Six years ago Joules was a niche equestrian retailer with just two shops.
Fast forward to 2011 and they are an international multi-channel retailer with 32 shops and a booming wholesale business resulting in more than 500 concessions and outlets worldwide. From my own experience Joules have gone from the sort of business I looked at and though “nice skirt, I might buy that” (and then went and did something else) to a company that commands my attention and I shop with regularly. I love them – from their brand to their customer service to their clothes, their shops and everything in between.
It wasn’t so long ago that I blogged about how inspired I was by the Joules brand. But what I hadn’t realised, was just how much energy they’ve put into their brand identity of late.
Take a look at this screenshot from 2008.
Now let’s be honest. Most small business owners would be pretty chuffed if they had an ecommerce site that looked as smart as this. But the point is that it didn’t engage. This was in the days when it was easy to put the Joules brand to the back of my mind. It wasn’t compelling. They may have had a nice product, but there was no customer journey, and the website didn’t engage me.
Joules have clearly put some serious investment into their business. And my goodness it’s paid off. Note that they haven’t changed their logo. But they have moved their brand identity forwards. By a country mile (like what I did there?).
I really think there comes a point where as a small business owner you have to decide whether you’re running a serious ecommerce business (not necessarily with 500 outlets worldwide, but a serious concern nonetheless that makes you a decent income) or whether you just want a shopfront that enables you to stock some of the products you’re excited about. The former will grab the attention of your visitors and keep a hold of them until they’re utterly seduced into buying. The latter will blandly display your wares like every other “me too” ecommerce website out there.
It has never been cheaper to start a business online. Businesses like Create enable you to start an ecommerce business from just £10 a month. But sadly that doesn’t mean that you have all the support you need to create a viable online business model.
There’s a lot that goes into an ecommerce business – from a fantastic website through to logistics, support and everything in between. From a marketing perspective you need to be thinking about building a community, communicating online and off with your prospective customers and steps that you can take to leverage business. But I’m digressing…
When it comes to powerful ecommerce, you need to be brave, you need to stand out. And that, dare I say it, means taking the plunge and investing in your business.
Following a pretty serious rebrand Joules now have a brand I believe in. Their strapline hasn’t changed since 2008, but with the typography, colours and my experience of their brand I believe the tagline in a way that I just didn’t buy into three years ago. I’m sure it hasn’t happened overnight, but it’s certainly an inspiration in my eyes.
Hurray for Joules!
Tagged as , engaging ecommerce design, joules, powerful ecommerce in Branding, Graphic Design, Inspirations, Powerful Ecommerce, Web Design, Websites
