Murmur Creative was introduced to Eleanor Wilkinson, Zupan’s Markets Director of Marketing, in the Spring of 2016. She was looking for an agency that could capture Zupan’s unique instore shopping experience while making online ordering super easy for users. Zupan’s is sort of an institution around these parts, and although we’ve all been admirers of the Portland grocer for years, we never dreamed we’d have the opportunity to work with them. So when they signed on the dotted line, we were over the moon and ready to go to work.
“When you walk into a Zupan’s for the first time, your senses are ignited by the colors, the flowers, the fresh food,” said Murmur Strategy Director, Chris Bolton. “It became our job to bring that same experience online.”
From the beginning, we knew this was the kind of challenge we would need to put our full team behind. It required countless hours of research, progressive design, and custom photography, plus a passion for food, beer, and wine didn’t hurt us either.
We worked hard to pin down and refine the site’s look and feel, and then, of course, its functionality. Murmur designer and developers really put in some long hours on this one, and it was well, well worth the attention because the end result was a beautiful, innovative new site.
“It was fun and exciting to be able to craft a consistent and much more intuitive and usable website experience for the user,” Designer Tijani Stewart said of the process. “I feel — through the use of great type hierarchy, fantastic visual imagery a well-thought-out user experience — we were able to elevate their digital presence to the high standards of their store and brand in general. The success of the website has been a wonderful achievement.”
The final site features beautiful Murmur photography, custom online ordering functionality, clean department hierarchy, original recipes, catering options, and so much more.
“The different pickup, delivery, shipping, and email options, based on item types in the cart, the prep times for those items, zip codes, day and time, and having those things be editable by the client were my favorite challenges,” Sr. Developer Tristan MacInnis said. He added that his favorite visual feature is “the homepage video that sneaks up on you.”
Indeed, the centerpiece of the website is the slow moving background video on the home page, conceived by Murmur Strategy Director Chris Bolton and executed by Relish Divison. It’s designed to appear as a photo but suddenly comes to life as a dish appears at the table or a hand comes onscreen to steal an olive.
Murmur’s Account Director, Mary Nichols, is Zupan’s self-confessed “biggest fan” and this project really reflected her love for the Markets.
“I love that every Zupan’s staff member I’ve met is very knowledgeable about their department,” she said. “If I don’t know what type of cheese to pick up for a party, the cheesemonger will help me look like an expert to my friends. If I want to bring a special bottle of wine as a gift, I know I will find it and, with the help of Zupan’s staff, be able to relay the wine’s story to its recipient. I’m their biggest fan.”
Immediately after launch, Zupan’s Website saw big gains:
Users up 20%
Search Traffic Up 15.29%
Bounce Rate Down 29%
Average Session Duration up 19%