WebLinc announced that Hobo, a designer of women’s handbags and fashion accessories, has re-launched its site on the WebLinc platform. The new site, www.HoboBags.com, uses responsive design to optimize the user experience for shoppers on smartphones, tablets or desktop computers. It also includes a number of back-end features to better position the brand and its products as well as propel future growth.
“For years we’ve been constrained by our ecommerce platform provider; their inability to make changes on the fly and the lack of a mobile-friendly site cost us missed sales on numerous occasions,” said David Brewer, co-founder and CEO at Hobo. “With the Web – and particularly mobile – becoming a critical channel, we did extensive research before moving forward with our new site and chose to partner with WebLinc because of its proven track record with fashion-forward retailers. The features WebLinc has built into other sites really got us excited for what they could do for the Hobo brand, and we’re quickly seeing that we made the right decision.”
The impacts of the new site launch on the WebLinc platform were immediate and considerable: overall sales increased 59 percent, site traffic increased 39 percent and transactions increased 82 percent over the same period last year. In addition, Hobo has experienced a significant spike in average order value, and traffic from social media has more than doubled since launch.
By implementing responsive web design with WebLinc, Hobo also increased sales from mobile devices by 76 percent over the same period a year earlier.
One of the most impactful new features helping to drive this growth is an easy-to-use content management interface that allows Hobo to manage its site with customers in mind. Hobo is now able to efficiently organize product data and present products to customers without forcing them to abandon their desired shopping paths. Customers who know exactly which item they want to purchase can now find their item and complete checkout more quickly, while customers who prefer to browse curated categories can do so easily.
Other features that improve marketing, merchandising and site management include transactional and cart abandonment messages, product reviews, smart categories and a customer segmentation module. By being able to segment and analyze visitor behavior, Hobo is able to make more informed decisions on its advertising, SEO and social media activities. In addition, the user-friendly interface on the back end of Hobo’s new platform has enabled the company to integrate its customer service and ecommerce teams so both can work together to support customers in real time.
“Hobo has an impressive story, from its founder Toni Ray creating handcrafted accessories on her dining room table, to becoming the designer brand that it is today,” said Darren Hill, WebLinc’s founder and CEO. “It’s a story we can easily relate to through our own experiences, and through helping a number of other high-growth brands reach their online potential at an important inflection point in their business. Our partnership with Hobo is a natural one and we look forward to watching – and helping – them grow even faster.”