Brief

"Create a website that captures the magic and personality of our boutique childrens' stores"

The Daisy & Tom brand sold a large range of premium quality children’s wear, books, toys and nursery equipment in its department stores. Its brand centred on offering an imaginative, magical children’s experience which was driven by a combination of in-store theatre - such as carousels and helter skelters - and their wide product range, creating a floor-to-ceiling Aladdin’s cave of the very best in everything for young children from around the world.

In Spring 2005 Daisy & Tom decided to change their home delivery service to put real people at the heart of every experience with customers. This involved replacing their transactional website with a home delivery service handled personally over the phone by local store teams.

To facilitate the smooth transition, Daisy & Tom needed an agency who would meet the challenge of creating a website that reflected the magic of the stores and replacing their product catalogue with an experiential product showcase.

Strategy & execution

Our solution consisted of two elements. Firstly, to develop a completely new website which focused on emphasising the magic, charm and premium quality of the brand. Secondly, a supporting communication sent to existing online and Mail Order customers which announced the changes. This took the form of a beautifully designed letter which featured an incentive for customers to visit their local store.

Our website solution was inspired by the premium retailing traditions of the world’s great department stores, such as Liberty and Harvey Nichols, which use window displays to present products as art objects or exotic amusements. The Daisy & Tom website was redesigned to look like the online shop window for the high street stores, creating an online experience that heightens anticipation of the in-store magic.

Throughout the site our intention was to deliver the message on two levels - shopping at a Daisy & Tom store is a magical experience for children and a premium shopping experience for parents.

Our design combined children’s Victoriana with childhood fantasy elements to provide the backdrop to the presentation of sophisticated contemporary brands. Elaborate fairground carousels, cute garden fairies, decorative frames, rocking horses, handcrafted typography, and of course the charming Daisy & Tom characters were combined to create a magical and enticing online environment.

A simple layout, embellished with handcrafted detail and typographic flourishes combined with playful interactive devices designed to engage and provide insights into the world of Daisy & Tom. As the visitor moved his or her mouse over the web page, a teddy bear threw stars to the wind, a rocking horse moved gently, a plane flew though a perfect sky, fairies danced and a little boy jumped into a puddle of water.

The transformation from “full product catalogue” to “premium product showcase” involved highlighting Daisy & Tom’s dedication to searching out the very best for its customers. Products shown online were restricted to a few examples which symbolised the brand's premium aspects. These product examples were rotated as visitors navigated through the various categories - toys, baby equipment, clothing, shoes and books. This animated showcase referenced a fashion magazine in the way products were presented.

All features were supported by a sophisticated content management system to ensure responsiveness in a fast-paced retail environment.

Daisy & Tom were renowned for their special in store events and promotions, with each store responsible for its own activities. We devised a solution, built around high-profile display windows, which enabled head office to promote key Daisy & Tom events while providing each store with a mechanism to publicise its local activities and promotions within its own bespoke web pages.

And last but not least, a simple gift ideas section was developed to enable Daisy & Tom to pull together interesting collections of products in order to inspire and assist customers shopping for special occasions.

Results

The result was a well-managed transition away from the online and Mail Order business to a premium in-store managed home delivery service.

This transition left Daisy & Tom with a website that reflected and enhanced its brand values, conveyed the in-store magic, showcased its products and inspired customers from around the world.