Defining a set of marketing guidelines that drive a measurable increase in sales is an incredible feat, never mind doing so for 2.5 billion smartphone users across the globe. As desktop declines in eCommerce, better conversion on mobile is a strategic imperative. However, mobile consumers shop differently and, as a result, experience unique challenges.

Consumer goods giant Unilever recognized this challenge: How can we deliver the same great user experience online, which our consumers have come to expect from us offline?

Unilever’s global e-commerce experience design director, Oliver Bradley, set out to tackle this challenge by developing a consistent and cohesive set of mobile-ready hero image guidelines for all brands, in all countries to follow with all retailers.

Published on Greenbook blog, Unilever conducted further eye tracking and qualitative research to test these concepts and turned to SKIM for the insights needed to standardize the mobile-hero image guidelines.

“We realized we could never do this journey alone,’ said Bradley. “Along with retailer feedback, we needed to test in a quantitative way what we’d been learning in a qualitative way. SKIM came from a recommendation through the CMI (consumer and market insights) team as the best partner to help. We’ve always had a fantastic relationship with SKIM and knew we could trust them to bring rigor to this eCommerce project.”

— Oliver Bradley, Unilever’s global e-commerce experience design director