CWI works with Arezzo in e-commerce Alexandre Birman

CWI is responsible for the software engineering of the largest fashion women’s shoe retail brand in Latin America, Arezzo. In 2020, after the historic merger with Grupo Reserva, the company entered the clothing industry, initiating the expansion process into new areas of operation with the purpose of leading this sector as well and dressing customers from head to toe.

For five decades, the company has brought together concept, high quality and contemporary design that encompasses the plurality of generations. According to data released on its website, the company got historic Ebitda recording a net profit of R$103,9 million in the last quarter of 2021, representing a growth of 32,8% compared to the same period in 2020.

The group formed by dozens of brands, thousands of employees and millions of customers, relied on CWI’s Marketing department for a new project of the Aledrandre Birman brand’s e-commerce. Technical expertise was a strong ally when it came to developing an efficient and appropriate plan to achieve the set objectives, resulting in a high-level delivery.

Continue reading to learn about the partnership between CWI and Arezzo and what was accomplished!

UX/UI Design and E-commerce

Our journey with Arezzo started due to the expansion the company has been undergoing over the years. With the acquisition of different brands and creation of new e-commerce, Arezzo&Co identified the need to decouple the backend from the frontend and start using a more robust frontend architecture, reducing the time to market. Throughout the journey, we took the opportunity to review the UX/UI with the aim of making the consumer’s experience as pleasant as possible.

The first to be transformed was the one from the Alexande Birman brand, which carries the name of the CEO/CCO of Arezzo&Co and founder of several other brands in the group. CWI Marketing specializes in assisting digital products in various ways with a total focus on usability. Through planning and strategy, it works on the conception of products (websites, UX/UI, landing pages, blogs, e-commerce), advertisements, applications, videos, among others. Essential expertise to meet Arezzo’s needs and develop not only a functional website but, above all, one capable of providing a complete experience to users.

Illustration of smartphone screen designs.

A monitor displays the Alexandre Birman website.

Get to know the project and learn more about the stages of execution

One of the deliveries made by CWI Marketing team consisted of documenting and archiving the current website to assess its flow. Planning this aspect was crucial to facilitate the design stages, ensuring that the projection of the user experience optimized the results.

Heuristic Analysis

The purpose of using this methodology was to evaluate the interfaces to list the problems and propose resolutions.

The usability inspection served to advocate for the redesign of the websites and evaluate the consistency of the standards being created.

And most importantly, to consider every detail so that it could offer the best possible experience, leaving users satisfied and consequently returning to use it.

Benchmarking

The benchmarking stage was essential to improve processes and better understand the client e-commerce flows, such as the purchasing process, and to identify users’ pain points and desires.

Using data obtained from Google Analytics, we sought to understand the conversion funnel of the pages to start the new prototypes.

Go live of the new website

In early March 2022, we had the go live of the new Alexandre Birman brand website, a highly anticipated moment for all teams involved.

Being the first, the delivery became the basis for standardizing the other e-commerce platforms of Arezzo&Co, which will also undergo a design overhaul after the launch.

Monitor displays screen from the Alexandre Birman website.

Two smartphones display the Alexandre Birman website.

Results achieved so far

Given the initial kick-off, the CWI Marketing and engineering teams sought a deep understanding of the client’s problem and needs. From this perspective, they designed the appropriate strategy for the business. Thus, a relationship of transparency, credibility, and trust was built, allowing room for improvement suggestions.

Through the changes made in the architectures of web applications, it was possible to decrease the time to market (TTM) of the Alexandre Birman brand e-commerce. Reducing the TTM is a method considered crucial for the success of online stores, as it makes them more agile and capable of dealing with market transformations, eliminating repetitive tasks and accelerating the development of products and services.

Additionally, the concepts of User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI) were applied aiming to facilitate all the shopping experience processes for Alexandre Birman’s customers.

The result was a new e-commerce platform that is even more elegant, functional, with intelligent and intuitive layout. The quality of the deliveries was fundamental for the team to continue working on new fronts for Arezzo, through project management and performance services that can be applied to various digital products.

About Arezzo and Alexandre Birman

The story of Arezzo began in 1972, initially targeting the male audience. However, the brand soon transitioned to the female universe with the launch of the Anabela sandal, its great success that has been winning over women of all ages for decades.

In the 1990’s, there was an expansion of physical stores, strategies focused on the franchise channel, closure of industrial operations and focus on retail and outsourcing in the Vale dos Sinos. Additionally, efforts were directed towards Research and Development (R&D), Marketing, Communication and the rapid conception of models and trends.

The 2000’s were marked as the “Corporate Era”, when there was a merger of two of its brands, Schutz and Arezzo, giving rise to Arezzo&Co, with the purpose of managing market-leading brands. After the change, both brands gained respect and recognition in the sector and in the same year, they received a R$76.3 million investment from the private equity fund Tarpon. This initiative served to expand products and accessories, forming a portfolio of brands under a single financial management.

One of them is Alexandre Birman, focused on the luxury segment. The brand emerged from the enchantment with the art of making shoes – from understanding construction to the use of exquisite materials and a critical eye towards aesthetics. Birman, the founder of the brand, launched his namesake label in 2008 with the intention of captivating modern and sophisticated women who value exclusive and luxurious designs for the feet. Noble and exotic raw materials make up the DNA of the brand, which features artisanal production.

As a global brand, it is the choice of celebrities and style icons – and is present on the shelves of the world’s best multi-brand stores. Its exclusive shoes have been worn by personalities such as Gal Gadot, Sandra Bullock, Jennifer Lawrence, Julia Roberts, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, Sandra Oh, Claire Foy, Kate Hudson, Demi Moore, Anna Paquin, Jessica Alba and Katy Perry.

Therefore, in 2011, Arezzo&Co became a publicity traded company and began trading its shares on the stock exchange under the ticker symbol ARZZ3. It started conquering new markets and audiences, which led it not only to invest in its own brands, as it had been doing until then, but also to acquire new ones to continue expanding its presence in the fashion industry.

Its digital transformation began in 2018 and led to significant achievements, such as the exclusive acquisition of the commercialization and operation rights of the Vans brand in Brazil. After 49 years of history, today, Arezzo operates in all Brazilian states, with over 900 stores in operations, in addition to expansion projects for the international market. Its journey is recognized through various awards received from renowned institutions.