K&L Wines

K&L Wine Merchants, one of the nation’s largest and most respected wine retailers, have an expertise that extends across varietals, years, regions, and every other aspect of wine-making and distribution. Already renowned for their extensive online catalog and comprehensive blog, K&L tapped WebLinc to develop new front-end designs and W3C web standards production, creating an entirely new user experience in both feel and function.

K&L’s original page was a text-heavy, encyclopedic site that exhibited a superior understanding of wines and the wine lifestyle, but lacked the aesthetic qualities that invite new customers and welcome back the regulars. It had all the substance, but none of the flair that a site of this brand’s caliber needs.

The goal for WebLinc’s design team was to create a beautiful site conjuring up the lush, organic feel of a vineyard or wine cellar, while preserving the vast information of this veritable wine library. The front-page design is rich in both rustic reds and modern pink and teal hues, images of verdant orchards, and bottles and casks. The page recreates the wine milieu through each and every design element. This new sleek design engages users, prompting them to delve deeper into the site keeping them in session longer and buying more. The proof is, literally, in the numbers. The average user’s time on the site has increased 14% since the redesign, with sales up more than 40% in the first year since the site’s launch.

Weblinc also implemented W3C web standards technologies to allow for greater flexibility of the site’s ever-evolving and constantly growing content. The “Shop By” navigation enables customers to shop through a number of different filters with no more than a click to read in-depth reviews from their lauded connoisseurs. Then, once the decision’s made, it’s just one more click to add to the cart. A smooth checkout process takes you straight through the final phase of the purchase.

Infinitely more scalable, aesthetic and easier to navigate, the new K&L wine site is more like a trip to Napa Valley than a trip to the liquor store.

Since it went live, Internet Retailer Magazine awarded the site to its “Hot 100 for 2008” list for “site design and usability.”

Visit the site:

www.klwines.com