Since its debut in 1994, the Fry-designed Godiva Chocolatier site, Godiva.com, has enjoyed steady success as one of the leading shopping destinations online. Numerous awards, enthusiastic customer praise, and ever-increasing sales have made this site an industry benchmark and reinforced Godiva’s reputation as the world’s premiere chocolatier.
When Godiva engaged Fry in 1994, online shopping as we know it today did not exist. So when Fry suggested that rather than using CD-ROMs to advertise products Godiva build a website, it was a risky proposition. But Godiva took the plunge and became one of the very first retailers to do so.
How does a popular shopping destination remain an ecommerce innovator? How do you continue to set the standard for best practices? How do you ensure those efforts drive revenue gains? And how do you maintain a brand image born early last century in the fabled streets of Belgium, the world capital of chocolate?
The redesigned site includes an expanded navigation that highlights the breadth of available products. Product pages have been enhanced to show more chocolate images, greater product detail, and visibility into the chocolate pieces inside each box. The "Share" feature on every page allows customers to forward Godiva favorites to friends, family, and associates through Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace, or via email. All of these enhancements are supported by a new, streamlined checkout process that allows customers to make purchases for themselves, and for others as gifts, quickly and easily. After a healthy 17 years of working together to build Godiva into the online leader it is today, Fry continues to be a valued partner in the evolution of this successful business. From front end to back, this fruitful partnership has stood the test of time.
Godiva.com has received countless awards over its 17-year history, and its growth as a viable business was legendary during the early years of ecommerce. The site continues to perform as a healthy, vital part of Godiva’s business, supports enormous surges of sales during secondary gifting holidays such as Mother’s Day, Valentine’s Day, and is integral to their corporate gifting sales during the end-of-year holidays.