Hallmark Baby Redesigns Mobile Interface, Sales Double

Hallmark Baby’s commitment to mobile technology is helping the upstart brand capture the highly lucrative millennial mom market.

The pure-play online retailer was founded in 2013 as a subsidiary of parent company Hallmark. Although it has been able to leverage the power of the Hallmark name, the retailer has faced the same challenges every new retailer must overcome. However, its commitment to building a digital-first engaging experience has helped the brand quickly gain market share and show incredible sales grow over its first three and a half years.

At Salesforce XChange Mark Strickland, director business strategy, Hallmark Baby presented on the retailer’s latest technological advancements and how its new mobile interface is helping the brand grow its millennial user base.

“The Hallmark name has positive brand attributes,” Strickland said. “We can’t go against them. But we can infuse those brand attributes in a new category. We have found that to be successful. The name gives us permission to be in this space because we are Hallmark.”

To keep its early momentum going, the lean Hallmark Baby team ― currently seven full time employees ― took a long hard look at the mobile shopping experience, removed barriers for consumers, and made it easier to make a purchase. Over 50% of the retailer’s revenue and 50% of its sessions comes from mobile so toying with the formula was a risky proposition.

“We took a lot of content out of our mobile site and saw all metrics go up,” Strickland said. “It seems kind of counterintuitive but it worked.”

By simplifying the browsing experience sales increased by 217% on mobile. In addition, the streamlined site saw a 258% bump in SEO performance and conversion rates increase by 3X after the redesign.

One of the key tenets of the Hallmark Baby experience is personalization. Whether it is its products, social media, or the digital path to purchase every step of the expereicne is personalized to the individual shopper. This tailored experience sets the brand apart from the big players in the baby apparel and accessories market.

“Personalization has always has been one of our primary segments,” Strickland said. “We can personalize items in as little as 24 hours and get them to the customer in four to five business days.”

In addition to its personalized merchandise, the retailer uses tailored recommendations on the site and markets to current and potential customers with personalized e-mails powered by next-gen analytics.

While Hallmark Baby has been doubling its sales every year since its inception, it is not standing pat. In fact, it is looking to accelerate its business growth by moving into physical retailing. The retailer will not be opening its own stores, but rather developing a wholesale distribution network to place its products in various retail outlets.