Case Study: Launching New Consumer Electronics Ecommerce Brand Gotraka on Shopify Plus

Where it all began for this new DTC consumer electronics brand

After realising how damaging the production and life cycle of tech products can be to the environment, entrepreneur Amar Tanna set out on a brand new business venture to try and tackle the e-waste crisis: Gotraka.

The ultimate goal for the Gotraka team, who have decades of experience in the consumer electronics industry, is to create an ecommerce marketplace for repurposed second-hand tech which will:

• support consumers to make more informed purchase decisions;
• minimise the number of returns required and thereby reduce e-waste and carbon emissions;
• make the buying process more efficient for shoppers; and
• eventually become a circular system to reduce the mining of new resources.

To further mitigate their environment impact, Gotraka’s vision is to:

• reuse, repurpose or recycle all packaging;
• leverage carbon neutral delivery companies; and
• use sustainable energy sources where possible.

A 360° agency was required to bring this consumer electronics business to life from the ground up, starting with branding, an MVP (minimum viable product) ecommerce website and a marketing strategy for launch.

After a careful selection process, Swanky was chosen to transform Gotraka from an idea into an operational ecommerce brand.

How Swanky helped: Incubating and launching a sustainable consumer electronics ecommerce brand

Ecommerce platform consultancy

The Gotraka team approached Swanky with a clear understanding of the benefits that the Shopify platform could provide their new DTC business. With our long standing experience and expertise in ecommerce solutionising, we were able to validate Shopify Plus as the best fit for Gotraka.

With its unmatched reliability, high-performance checkout and excellent time-to-value proposition, Shopify Plus is the obvious platform choice for an ambitious brand with aspirational growth targets.

The most scalable solution on the market, it is capable of powering disruptive startups and established global enterprises alike. Leading brands in the global consumer electronics space, including Sony and Polaroid, trust Shopify Plus to accelerate their growth.

As well as a powerful set of native features, Shopify’s ecosystem of apps and pre-built integrations is the largest in the industry. This provides a host of integrable technologies that facilitate both excellent customer experiences and streamlined business operations.

Research and discovery

The research and discovery (R&D) phase of a Swanky project is where our teams immerse themselves in the brand they’re working with, familiarising themselves with business goals, branding, products, target audience, current tech integrations and much more.

In this case, this was an important chance to learn more about the vision for Gotraka, the intended target audience, any USPs, and the product offering. It was also an opportunity to clarify the messaging around Gotraka’s positioning as a sustainable alternative in the tech space, as well as a chance to start thinking about tone of voice.

Nichola Birch, Swanky’s Product Manager, explains more about what was explored on our discovery day with the client, particularly around product discoverability:

“We knew that Gotraka would have a large product catalogue of hundreds of thousands of SKUs, so it was important for our designers and developers to understand the architecture of this.

“We also discussed how customers might discover the product they want within such a large product range. Many customers in tech will head straight to the search bar to find their products. This leaves room to make the site’s navigation more about aiding product discoverability, rather than listing every product you offer. It helps to increase customers’ confidence that they’re in the right place by telling them ‘yes, we do sell what you are looking for’, but also shows customers other product lines which they might not find otherwise.” 

At the end of the R&D phase, we presented our insights to the Gotraka team and made a series of recommendations around aspects such as tech stack, site map and navigation.

Branding and design

Following R&D, it was time for our design team to bring the Gotraka brand to life visually.

Below we discuss four of our core considerations.

1. Creating a brand for multiple demographics

As a new-to-market brand, Gotraka didn’t have any audience data to help inform our decision making.

It was important at this initial stage, therefore, to create a brand that has wide appeal, without alienating any generations.

We wanted Gotraka and its offering to be applicable to multiple demographics, embracing values that resonated with a range of different audiences (including values like sustainability, simplicity and family).

2. Communicating Gotraka’s aspiration

With an ambitious future vision, the development of the Gotraka brand is very much a journey. This is something we felt was important to communicate through branding and design, as Mark Halliwell, Lead UX Designer at Swanky, explains.

“The Gotraka team are a group of eco-conscious people, starting somewhere, striving for better. They understand that there’s a long way to go to achieve their vision, and they’re transparent about what they’re doing now versus what they want to do in the future.

“It’s also a journey for consumers. It’s about learning and education – making small changes and better choices.

“Gotraka’s aspiration is huge,” adds Matt Giles. “This was an exercise in simplicity – whether that’s through font use or animation. How can we convey their epic journey and vision really simply, but with maximum impact?”

3. Building trust

Another key consideration for our design team was building trust with consumers. We needed to create confidence in the Gotraka brand and its products from an initial glance, which is hugely important for a new company – especially one that will be competing with very established brands including Amazon, Currys and Ebuyer.

4. Taking people on informed journey

A core pillar of the Gotraka vision is empowering consumers to make the right purchase. Therefore, our designers wanted to take users on an informed purchase journey through the UI design.

For example, high-quality filtering options are available to help users find the most appropriate product for their needs quickly and easily, whilst an uncluttered mega menu allows shoppers to quickly digest the volume of products on offer and identify any relevant collections.

With these four considerations in mind, below we explore the core elements that make up Gotraka’s brand guidelines:

Logo

When designing Gotraka’s logo, the aim was to create an instantly recognisable symbol that spoke to the brand’s key values – things like sustainability and simplicity.

It was also important that the logo had mass market appeal, for reasons we discussed above.

“We opted for a wordmark with a simple, timeless sans serif font, rather than a serif that would age quickly,” explains Matt Giles.

“The ‘o’ signifies the brand’s focus on repurposing tech. It’s a nod to Gotraka’s aspiration as well, representing the circular economy that the team are working towards.”

Colour palette

The colour palette was also carefully chosen to communicate Gotraka’s values and appeal to multiple demographics.

Five different tones of green make up the core colours, holding the most brand equity. White, grey and black also feature as primary colours.

In terms of secondary colours, blue tones are used to represent refurbished products, whilst orange tones signify sale products.

This combination of colours aligns with the core theme of environment, with connotations of trust, efficiency, value and approachableness.

“The colours used are bold, but not aggressive, – we were conscious that we wanted to make an impact, without being combative,” describes Matt.

“We also didn’t want to overdrive value, hence the choice of orange rather than red for sale-related design elements.”

Typography

The primary typeface, which is used for headers across the site, is bold, modern and versatile.

Meanwhile, the secondary typeface, used for body text, is carefully designed with readability in mind. This is particularly important given the expansive range of users who could be interacting with the Gotraka website.

You can see both typefaces in use in this snapshot from the About page:

Animation

We collaborated with Curious Crab, a video and content production agency, to create an animation for Gotraka’s About page.

The animation reinforces Gotraka’s USPs and acts as a user-friendly ‘entry point’ into the brand.

The transitions from one segment to the next have a cyclical movement to them, which is then revealed to be the circle (or the “o”) from the Gotraka logo. This represents the ongoing cycle of helping someone find the right product and then refurbishing old tech that is no longer required or wanted. It also links back to the idea of Gotraka being on a journey itself – wanting to do better for the environment as it gradually works towards providing circular solutions.

“Animations are fantastic for communicating multiple messages,” explains Georgia Thomson, Swanky’s UX/UI Designer who created the illustrations for the animation.

“In this case, Gotraka can express its brand values and typical processes/actions in a single stroke. The imagery and selective colour palette allow viewers to focus on what Gotraka is for, including the brand’s sustainable approach, carbon-neutrality and accessibility, instead of overwhelming them with heavy detail.”

Packaging

Going beyond ecommerce branding and design, we also designed the packaging for Gotraka’s delivery parcels.

The design features Gotraka’s logo, as well as triangles arranged neatly around the edge of this (reflecting those used on the website). The use of triangle shapes creates a sense of consistency and reinforces Gotraka’s brand identity across mediums.

We also incorporated a QR code in the packaging design that gives customers a quick and easy method to leave a review.

Building Gotraka’s ecommerce infrastructure

With branding established, we began building a bespoke Shopify Plus website for Gotraka. We took a MVP approach with the build, focusing on creating a solid ecommerce infrastructure with the key features necessary for Gotraka to start selling DTC. This approach will enable the team to validate their initial ideas and start learning about the Gotraka audience, before adding new features to the website in future development phases.

We were able to consult on an optimal tech stack for Gotraka’s initial needs, which included Okendo for capturing and displaying product reviews and TrustPilot for collecting and showcasing business reviews.

Social proof such as reviews can have a powerful impact when it comes to converting browsers into buyers. Seeing that our peers rate a company and their products highly can boost our trust in a brand and encourage us to click that all-important buy button. This is crucial for new businesses like Gotraka. Consumers won’t be familiar with the brand, so it’s vital to start capturing and leveraging reviews from the offset.

We also recommended Klaviyo for automatic email communication with customers and email subscribers. Keeping in touch with customers with tailored messaging is a tried and tested strategy for building rich customer relationships, encouraging repeat business and increasing customer lifetime value.

Gotraka launched with a large volume of products, pushing the usual limits of Shopify’s native functionality. We therefore recommended the smart site search engine Searchanise to power extensive user-friendly navigation, search functionality and filters within collections.

Brand messaging and content strategy

Our marketing team has built Gotraka a content strategy from the ground up, starting with the creation of brand messaging guidelines.

Once we had refined the value proposition, key features and key benefits of the Gotraka brand, we began developing the brand’s tone of voice (TOV), based on our understanding of the market and how we felt Gotraka should be portrayed.

We identified four underpinning characteristics:

1. Trustworthy. Establishing brand credibility and instilling buyer confidence.

2. Engaging. Signposting consumers and encouraging them to align with Gotraka’s mission, without ‘pointing the finger’.

3. Educational. Sharing information about the severity of the e-waste problem and different avenues for making a difference, without being considered ‘preachy’.

4. Responsible. Communicating to customers that small choices and changes made now can collectively benefit future generations. Reinforcing the brand’s hope for the future and how that compares to what they are currently doing.

Next, we moved on to build out four messaging pillars – purpose, identity, values and brand experience – which formed the basis for Gotraka’s brand guidelines. These can be used by designers, copywriters and marketers to ensure consistent messaging across the brand’s ecommerce website and marketing channels.

To complement these brand guidelines, we developed primary and secondary persona profiles based on comprehensive market research.

We also conducted a competitor analysis to help identify content gaps we could fill.

We were then well prepared to craft compelling on-site copy for Gotraka’s Shopify Plus store, as well as begin planning and creating content for their blog.

It’s important to note that content strategy is an ongoing process, as Swanky’s Digital Content Manager Anna Giles explains below:

“Whilst content strategy is a key foundation for any online retailer, in this instance it’s one which will very much continue to evolve. It’s important to be data-driven and responsive in your approach, especially for a new-to-market brand. As more is learned about Gotraka’s customer base and the type of messaging and content that resonates with them most, the strategy can be adapted for maximum effect.”

On-site, our resident content experts created copy for the homepage, about page, calls to action, banners and more. They also consulted on how to improve SEO through optimised meta data and product descriptions.

“We are targeting a mix of short-tail and long-tail keywords, with content that sits at the intersection of popular search terms and Gotraka’s brand expertise,” explains Anna.

For the blog, they produced an editorial calendar, with a four-pronged approach to content themes:

1. Sustainability and e-waste. Content that educates consumers on the current environmental crisis, explains what Gotraka are doing to combat the problem and highlights how customers can help (including initiatives and charities that customers can support).

2. Product spotlights. Content that focuses on products available through Gotraka and aids product discovery. This is an important educational and awareness focus, and again helps to ensure that consumers find the right product for their needs.

3. Gifting. Gift guides to help connect gift-givers with products as seamlessly as possible. Whilst some of Gotraka’s audience will be highly tech-literate, others will be looking for inspiration and guidance on choosing suitable gifts for loved ones.

4. Brand affinity. Content that engages consumers in the Gotraka brand and builds loyalty.

Anna adds: “We’re drawing on the Gotraka team’s experience and expertise with tech products, matching this with the search intent of visitors. Ultimately, the Gotraka blog should be a go-to destination where consumers can find helpful, engaging answers to their questions and solutions for their pain points – not a place that ‘hard sells’ their products.”

You can read more about the value of a well-crafted ecommerce blog on our round-up of content marketing benefits.

Go-to-market digital marketing

Whilst our New Builds team worked on the development of Gotraka’s ecommerce site, our Growth Accelerator team were simultaneously developing a go-to-market digital marketing campaign, including paid ads and email marketing.

Paid social

As Gotraka is a completely new brand, it was important to begin raising awareness before its ecommerce site launched.

“We achieved this by advertising to targeted brand personas, utilising Meta’s third party data to reach people who we thought would be interested in Gotraka’s USPs, including gamers, professionals and those interested in sustainability,” explains Eden Ingoe, Digital Marketing Executive at Swanky.

“Following launch, we’ve taken a full funnel approach that nurtures the customer journey from awareness to conversion. A particular focus has been leveraging paid ads to drive traffic to the Gotraka website.”

The Growth Accelerator team have been using data-driven insights to optimise their campaigns and develop messaging that resonates with each audience.

PPC

In terms of the strategy behind Gotraka’s Google Ads campaigns, we built the initial Search campaigns around the brand products that Gotraka offer, in order to serve ads to prospective customers who are in-market and ready to purchase.

We implemented this strategy of targeting prospective customers who are further down the funnel to focus on returning a strong ROI as quickly as possible. Plus, we know that when launching a new website, driving qualified traffic is vital in building behavioural data to optimise campaigns and key landing pages.

Email marketing, personalisation and CRM

Currently, Gotraka’s email campaign is based around the editorial calendar we have developed. The emails being sent reflect the themes covered on the blog, pointing readers through to the latest articles. This is a great way to reinforce Gotraka’s authority in the tech space and highlight the value of the brand’s blog.

Once subscriber volume permits, email personalisation strategies can be used to nurture brand loyalty.

With this in mind, we have implemented an online lead capture form which asks users to select the types of tech they’re most interested in. This zero-party data will eventually be used to segment the email list and allow for targeted communication.

A true 360° project for this new consumer electronics ecommerce brand

We have worked with the Gotraka team to create the ecommerce infrastructure and brand that will enable them to work towards their goal of creating the go-to circular marketplace for consumer electronics.

Despite facing a range of challenges along the way, the project has been rich with learnings and insights. Kate Prior, Senior Digital Strategist at Swanky, expands on this:

“Building the Gotraka brand from scratch hasn’t been without its challenges, but there have been countless opportunities to learn, adapt and expand our knowledge. 

“This truly has been a 360° project, made possible by so many wonderful pairs of hands and brains in the Swanky team. It has been a true privilege to watch every single person take this challenge on.”

Explore the full Gotraka website.

Leverage our expertise as a leading full service ecommerce agency

Whether you’re looking to launch a brand new DTC ecommerce business on Shopify Plus like Gotraka, or optimise your existing online store with a tailored growth program, Swanky has the experience and expertise to make your vision a reality.

As one of the world’s most experienced full service international Shopify Plus teams, you can trust Swanky to solve your most complex requirements with our unique combination of creativity, technical expertise, data-driven strategy and commercial acumen.

Please get in touch today to discuss your ecommerce project.