Guardian Bookshop Sees Online Sales Jump

March 11, 2015 - PRLog -- The Guardian re-launched its Bookshop website (http://bookshop.theguardian.com/) in October 2014 as a completely mobile responsive e-commerce site, built by digital agency, Lab (http://lab.co.uk/).

Built in Magento, with a single-page checkout, the website includes reviews and recommendations, and special offers on books published by the Guardian.

With objectives to boost sales volume and revenue, average order value, improve conversion rates and reduce checkout abandonment, the first four month’s trading saw the new-look website achieve an 81% increase in online sales, while average online order value increased by 15%. Overall conversion rate was up 25% year-on-year, while mobile conversion rate was up 98% and checkout abandonment down by 50%.

Sara Montgomery, Head of Guardian Books, said, "Our research shows that Guardian readers buy three times as many books as the average UK population, so we wanted to ensure our online bookshop reflected the Guardian's digital-first approach and provided a great user experience for our customers."

She added, "The results over the first few months have exceeded our expectations and the new platform, alongside a newly focused CRM strategy, has really driven up sales. Our ambition is to become one of the leading online independent book retailers in the UK, and this has taken us one step closer to achieving that goal."

Tom Head, director at Lab, said, “Working with the Guardian on their online bookshop has been fantastic. Everyone is extremely happy with the results. Our team of designers and developers delivered a website within a tight deadline that not only looks amazing, but performs really well. The stats speak for themselves!”

ENDS

About Lab

Lab is an award-winning digital agency, working with brands who want to offer their customers a personalised experience online. Recently named one of the Top 50 digital agencies outside London by The Drum, Lab specialises in website design and development, Sitecore, Magento, Drupal, digital marketing and consultancy, to produce high-performance customer-focused websites and digital marketing campaigns that drive businesses forward and sales up. Clients include The Guardian, Whirlpool, Oakhouse Foods, Aon, Live Nation, the Department of Health, SmartFocus, Reed Learning, and Karndean Designflooring. When it comes to digital, Lab believes everyone deserves A Better Experience™. Catch up with Lab at http://lab.co.uk

Contact

Huw Waters | Head of Marketing | Lab

0207 183 6668 (tel:0207%20183%206668) | media@lab.co.uk