Challenge
Clarks approached Always49 to support them on a focused project aimed at understanding how customers shop for children’s shoes. The company recognised that although they had a strong retail legacy, they needed to better understand the digital user journey—particularly around how parents make decisions when buying footwear for their children. Our role began with user research and experience mapping to uncover key behavioural insights and pain points in the purchasing process. The goal was to make the journey more intuitive, reduce friction, and ultimately improve conversion.
Following this, we were retained to enhance and optimise several key areas of the Clarks website: the homepage, navigation, header, search functionality, department pages, and product listing pages. These core elements were critical in shaping the customer journey and influencing purchasing decisions.
The Solution
By refining the layout, improving discoverability, and aligning content more closely with user intent, we were able to unlock real improvements across Clarks’ core digital touchpoints. We took a data-informed approach to assess where users were dropping off or getting stuck, and used those insights to make meaningful changes to the homepage, navigation, product listing pages, and more. These enhancements didn’t just improve aesthetics—they directly impacted performance. As a result, we saw a 7.5% reduction in bounce rates and an increase of over 15% in traffic to high-value trading categories, demonstrating the tangible value of well-executed UX strategy.
But the success of this work went beyond just metrics. One of the key challenges Clarks faced was nurturing a relatively new digital team who were still finding their footing within a traditional retail organisation. We worked closely with that team, helping them establish clearer processes, build confidence in their decision-making, and articulate the importance of user-centred design to the wider business. Through ongoing collaboration and shared wins, we helped elevate UX from a niche consideration to a core part of Clarks' digital strategy.
As part of our final phase of work, we led the design and implementation of a comprehensive digital design system. The need for consistency across Clarks’ global platforms was becoming increasingly urgent, with content and promotional materials often varying by region and lacking cohesion. We developed a unified visual language that covered everything from component behaviour to banner styling, ensuring a consistent user experience no matter where a customer was interacting with the brand.
This design system didn’t just bring visual harmony—it created efficiency. By offering reusable components and clearly defined design guidelines, we enabled the Clarks digital team to deliver updates more quickly and confidently across markets. With this solid foundation, Clarks is now equipped to scale their digital presence globally, ensuring every new feature or campaign launch reflects the same high standard of usability, brand integrity, and customer focus.
Conclusion
Our partnership with Clarks demonstrated how a blend of strategic UX, hands-on collaboration, and systemised design thinking can create lasting impact. By solving immediate usability challenges and laying the groundwork for scalable, future-ready design, we didn’t just improve the customer experience—we empowered Clarks' internal teams to carry that momentum forward. As they continue to evolve their global digital offering, Clarks now has the clarity, tools, and confidence to deliver experiences that are not only efficient and consistent but also deeply aligned with their customers' needs.