Case Study
Luxury Livestream
Shopping App
Role:
UIUX Design
Type:
Mobile App
Competitor Research
Wireframe
User Research
Competitor Analysis
B2C
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Bluebell Group is a distributor of luxury, premium and lifestyle brands throughout Asia since 1954. It is the distributor that carries major luxury brands like Moschino, LeSportsacs, Manolo Blahnik and more.
I was tasked to design their new shopping and membership app for Malaysia. The goal was to digitize all their brands under one roof. This involved conducting basic research, competitor analysis, creating low to high-fidelity mockups, and design. This app was an ongoing iterative process as this is their first digital product as a collective.
Phase #1: Discover
Initial Discovery, Research & Findings
Problems:
During Covid-19, Bluebell realise the need to enhance their online shopping experience, get in time with technology and also standby in case of a another pandemic lockdown.
Goals:
To design the entire mobile app experience, from customer onboard to checkout, live stream features, membership access tiers. Create an easy shopping experience for the luxury market.
I conducted a two-week in-depth primary research consisting of surveys, interviews, competitor research and secondary research with existing articles and reports.
As the mother company is in Hong Kong, and they are located in Singapore, and Taiwan, We had to consider the possibility of adopting it to these market, and user behaviors, as it could potentially be brought to those countries. I researched user preferences for top online shopping experiences and performed a comparative assessment against luxury mobile platforms and explored what could be adopted to this soft launch pilot app.
#1.1 Surveys Research
Gather user insights for a luxury shopping app to help design app that meets user needs.
Exploring App Usage Among Luxury Shoppers: Insights from a Survey of High-Purchasing Power Individuals
Some questions to discover were "What apps does affluent people use?" or "What are their behaviours for shopping?"
Before we started designing the app, we did a survey with our friends Ages 25-55 who has higher purchasing power or are frequent luxury brand chasers (sample size [n]=20) about their most-used apps. We asked them to mention apps in a variety of categories such as social, shopping, live stream, and entertainment.
Shopee and Taobao were the most mention apps for shopping. Interestingly, Vestiarie Collective was mention for pre-loved luxury. Sephora was also mentioned for beauty category.
Shopee and Taobao were the most mention apps for shopping. Interestingly, Vestiarie Collective was mention for pre-loved luxury. Sephora was also mentioned for beauty category.
#1.2 Competitor & Industry Standard Analysis
Collected analysis of industry apps
We compiled a competitor analysis with an in-depth comparison of luxury shopping and live stream apps across Chinese and Western markets, exploring key differences in design, functionality, and user experience to understand regional preferences and trends.
Western Mobile App:
Apps compared were: Vitkac, Vestiarie Collective, Farfetch
Western apps excel in clean, minimalist designs that prioritize ease of use and a seamless experience. They feature bold imagery, clear typography, and intuitive product filtering, catering to users who value efficiency and brand storytelling. These apps emphasize a polished, modern look that aligns with their luxury offerings. They streamline the shopping journey with quick checkouts, personalized recommendations, and advanced search functions, making it easy for users to find products they love while strengthening their connection to the brand through compelling visuals and storytelling.
Design & Aesthetics: These apps prioritize sleek, modern design with a focus on visual appeal. They often incorporate high-quality imagery, minimalist layouts, and sophisticated color schemes.
User Experience: Western apps emphasize a seamless, intuitive user experience, often featuring personalized recommendations, curated collections, and easy navigation.
Brand Storytelling: A strong emphasis is placed on brand identity and storytelling, with each app creating a distinct brand narrative to engage users.
Curated Shopping: These apps often focus on a curated shopping experience, offering selected high-end and luxury products rather than a wide variety.
Western apps excel in clean, minimalist designs that prioritize ease of use and a seamless experience. They feature bold imagery, clear typography, and intuitive product filtering, catering to users who value efficiency and brand storytelling. These apps emphasize a polished, modern look that aligns with their luxury offerings. They streamline the shopping journey with quick checkouts, personalized recommendations, and advanced search functions, making it easy for users to find products they love while strengthening their connection to the brand through compelling visuals and storytelling.
Design & Aesthetics: These apps prioritize sleek, modern design with a focus on visual appeal. They often incorporate high-quality imagery, minimalist layouts, and sophisticated color schemes.
User Experience: Western apps emphasize a seamless, intuitive user experience, often featuring personalized recommendations, curated collections, and easy navigation.
Brand Storytelling: A strong emphasis is placed on brand identity and storytelling, with each app creating a distinct brand narrative to engage users.
Curated Shopping: These apps often focus on a curated shopping experience, offering selected high-end and luxury products rather than a wide variety.
Overvations and findings of luxury mobile apps
Overvations and findings of live stream apps
China Mobile App:
Apps compared were: Secoo, Tmall, Taobao
Research showed that Chinese users are ahead in innovation, favoring compact, information-dense interfaces. Mobile shopping and payment adoption in China happened rapidly, driven by low entry barriers. Users prefer quick product comparisons. Popular Chinese apps, known for their dynamic interfaces, offer immersive experiences with a focus on social commerce and engagement. These apps often use gamification, live-streaming, and user reviews to create interactive environments. The vibrant, information-rich design includes personalized recommendations, flash sales, and in-app promotions, blending entertainment and convenience.
Functionality & Features: Chinese apps like Secoo and Taobao emphasize a wide range of functionalities, including robust search filters, detailed product information, and integrated live-streaming features for real-time shopping experiences.
Extensive Product Range: These platforms offer an extensive selection of products, catering to diverse user needs with everything from luxury goods to everyday items.
User Engagement: There’s a strong focus on user engagement through live streams, flash sales, and interactive features, driving high user activity and transaction volume.
Market Adaptation: Chinese apps are highly adaptive to market trends, often incorporating the latest technologies and consumer preferences at a rapid pace.
Research showed that Chinese users are ahead in innovation, favoring compact, information-dense interfaces. Mobile shopping and payment adoption in China happened rapidly, driven by low entry barriers. Users prefer quick product comparisons. Popular Chinese apps, known for their dynamic interfaces, offer immersive experiences with a focus on social commerce and engagement. These apps often use gamification, live-streaming, and user reviews to create interactive environments. The vibrant, information-rich design includes personalized recommendations, flash sales, and in-app promotions, blending entertainment and convenience.
Functionality & Features: Chinese apps like Secoo and Taobao emphasize a wide range of functionalities, including robust search filters, detailed product information, and integrated live-streaming features for real-time shopping experiences.
Extensive Product Range: These platforms offer an extensive selection of products, catering to diverse user needs with everything from luxury goods to everyday items.
User Engagement: There’s a strong focus on user engagement through live streams, flash sales, and interactive features, driving high user activity and transaction volume.
Market Adaptation: Chinese apps are highly adaptive to market trends, often incorporating the latest technologies and consumer preferences at a rapid pace.
Malaysian Commonly Used Apps
Apps compared were: Shopee, Lazada
Blended Approach: Shopee combines elements from both Western and Chinese apps, offering a versatile platform that caters to a broad audience.
Competitive Pricing: A key feature of Shopee is its focus on competitive pricing and discounts, appealing to price-sensitive consumers.
Wide Product Variety: Similar to Chinese apps, Shopee offers a vast range of products offering everyday essentials, making it a one-stop-shop for users.
Live-streaming Integration: Shopee incorporates live-streaming features to enhance the shopping experience, allowing users to interact with sellers and view products in real-time.
User-Friendly Design: While not as polished as Western apps, Shopee maintains a user-friendly interface that’s easy to navigate, with straightforward features and a focus on functionality.
Blended Approach: Shopee combines elements from both Western and Chinese apps, offering a versatile platform that caters to a broad audience.
Competitive Pricing: A key feature of Shopee is its focus on competitive pricing and discounts, appealing to price-sensitive consumers.
Wide Product Variety: Similar to Chinese apps, Shopee offers a vast range of products offering everyday essentials, making it a one-stop-shop for users.
Live-streaming Integration: Shopee incorporates live-streaming features to enhance the shopping experience, allowing users to interact with sellers and view products in real-time.
User-Friendly Design: While not as polished as Western apps, Shopee maintains a user-friendly interface that’s easy to navigate, with straightforward features and a focus on functionality.
Phase #2: Define
Narrow down, feature priority
Feature Priority
Based on the insights, we identified and prioritized features that would have the most significant impact on the user experience. This allowed us to focus on delivering the most valuable and relevant functionalities.
Alignment with Stakeholder's Goals & Vision
We aligned our feature priorities and design approach with stakeholders to ensure that the proposed solutions met their expectations and business goals. This collaborative effort helped us refine the information architecture and mobile app flow for a cohesive and effective design.
Drafting of features and app flow
Phase #3 Design & Develop
Design with Ongoing Iterations
We explored various concepts and designs by leveraging available data to develop the user journey and wireframes. As the primary designer, I did multiple design iterations, present and discussed each version with the team, incorporating feedback, and making necessary revisions.
Key Focus Areas & Objectives
in app purchase
Enable seamless transactions directly within the app, allowing users to buy luxury items distributed by Blubell
Live Stream Shopping
Provide an interactive shopping experience through live streams, where users can view and purchase luxury products in real-time.
Calender event
Keep users informed of upcoming live streams with a calendar feature, including reminders and notifications.
Membership
Offer exclusive benefits and rewards through a membership system, such as special offers, early access, and personalized experiences.
Some snapshots
Evolution of shop category display after multiple rounds of iterations
I designed key features to boost engagement with live streaming. The home screen has a direct link to the current live stream, while a calendar feature shows upcoming streams with details. Users can click 'attend' to get notifications for streams they’re interested in. These elements guide users to live streaming content within the app.
Membership ecosystem to retain and attract old and new users
In each store, allows brands to tell their own stories with different collections where each section can have their own unique theme.
Luxury buyers often seek out the story behind the brand and collection, so it’s important to highlight these clearly.
Luxury buyers often seek out the story behind the brand and collection, so it’s important to highlight these clearly.
Internal testing of selection buttons
Dark and light theme
Summary outcome
It's ongoing...
The design and development of the app are ongoing, with continuous iterations and updates being made as the world has moved past the COVID-19 pandemic.
This iterative approach ensures that the app remains aligned with evolving user needs and market trends, ultimately aiming to enhance user engagement and satisfaction.
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