Originally offering beauty products including nail, hair and skin care items, Folica Inc. launched its redesigned site with a singular focus on hair.
“We made the decision to focus on hair as the category where we could make the most difference for consumers,” says Carl Gish, CEO, Folica, No. 253 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide. “There are lots of sites where they sell everything, but not one thing well. What we heard from consumers is that they wanted one place to focus on hair.”
The new site offers thousands of hair products ranging from ceramic flat irons to styling creams. Consumers can search products by categories such as tools, hair care, hair color, hair loss, and spa and body. In addition, they can search for products specific to their needs and problems via pull-down menus on the center of the page. Shoppers can choose items by their hair type, by such goals as smoother hair or deep conditioning, or by problem areas such as split ends or covering gray hairs.
For the redesigned site, the company switched technology platforms to open source software from Opentaps and developed the back-end coding work in-house with site design help from Alexander Interactive. The redesigned site emphasizes content such as Top 10 lists that are compiled by number and quality of reviews as well as number of product sales. Customers also can see Top 10 hair dryers, flat irons, curling brushes and shampoos.
“One of the things that we’ve seen is consumers really want to know what other people are buying and find it useful to see lists of those products, and the top 10 products makes it easier for them,” says Gish.
The company also added a quick shop feature that appears as consumers hover a mouse on products on category pages. “It’s to make it easier for people that know what they want to buy,” says Gish. The company is aiming to reach $45 million in online sales by the end of the year, he says.
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