WebLinc's tech savvy frees Free People to develop a deeply intimate site.
The Urban Outfitters' Free People brand designs, develops, and distributes a cohesive assortment of women's apparel and accessories. Their products are carried in more than 3,000 boutiques and department stores nationwide.
Urban's vision for a Free People site combined the same freewheeling design sense with its merchandising genius, finely honed in the wildly successful Urban Outfitter's stores - supported by WebLinc's unique ability to put technology to the service of retail intimacy.
The outcome is a freepeople.com site that taps into its core demographic's desire for discovery, inspiration, and intimacy in the shopping experience. It encourages a level of interactivity that's like virtual rummaging, and replicates the thrill of discovery that dedicated shoppers live for.
Free People devotees can flip through atmospheric images that take them on a journey of imagination, or scan an entire department of jewel-like coin purses. Like the look of the pink sweater packed amongst half a dozen in the funky old suitcase? Click it for a suite of six images from every angle, plus swatches for color and pattern.
An index by type of item permits more goal-directed shopping. Easy, friendly features let young women share, post and discuss their favorites as easily as if they were together in the mall. And if you want to give a friend something from her list, you can ship it to her at "School" or "Mom's" - without learning the actual addresses: a key security feature.
On the back end, the Free People staff populates the site with drag-and-drop ease, placing photos and copy as simply as sticky notes. Admin features include a tie-in to the inventory system that queues up new products automatically. Swatches that anchor suites of photos are selected dynamically, giving a new look each time the page loads.
Freepeople.com is one of several sites WebLinc has developed for the Urban Outfitters family.