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Spotlight, traditionally known as a destination for materials , home interior decor and haberdashery has identified craft supplies as a large growth industry. Spotlight has therefore  commissioned and launched a  new website that attempts to harness a community experience for its users. The site has interesting blog posts that have been started by skilled writers, catalogues, a video tab (without any videos yet at time of writing) and lots of useful information to provide ideas and a good starting point.

If well promoted and well resourced the site could become a real community hub for users, so lets hope Spotlight has allocated an ongoing budget to maintain, listen and feed back to this community if they want it to develop. The site even has a "Shop at home" button which was very exciting to see until clicking on it and discovering that it is just leads to an online order form for current catalogues, no shopping cart. Peter Noble from Citrus the agency that developed the site has confirmed that products online for Spotlight  will happen as it has been discussed. Backend systems are being implemented to allow this to occur at which point the front end can be developed to create the user experience sometime in the future.

 

The key driver  of the new site is to create Australia’s ultimate online destination for crafters to find ultimate inspiration to fuel their creativity. It will be interesting to know if savvy web users will think the site is the ultimate destination and time will tell.

 

The site has a lot of content in it, and could be considered a good start if there are plans to develop the communities, content and obviously online offerings available for sale or pick up in store in the future. If not, it will fail to meet world standard best practice that has become the norm in countries such as Europe and the UK as well as the high standards and expectations that web users are becoming accustomed to!

 

Here is the offical media release

Citrus crafts online brand destination for Spotlight

Australia’s largest craft retailer Spotlight is launching an online brand destination featuring an interactive community that will enable its millions of active VIP members to share content, collaborate and fuel creative inspiration.

 

The digital brand platform developed by digital agency Citrus represents a significant move into digital as Spotlight looks to become the dominant online DIY resource for crafters.

 

Spotlight is Australia's largest chain of fabric, craft and home interiors stores, with more than 100 outlets throughout Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. Spotlight also owns the Anaconda brand and has a large property portfolio including the shopping centre sites where its stores are located.

 

Leveraging a resurgence in crafting and DIY, the Community encourages customers to collaborate, share, and inspire each other to drive deeper consumer engagement with the Spotlight brand.

 

A key feature is a personalised ‘Inspiration Room’, designed to sift through the site’s virtual encyclopaedia of creative ideas and bring only the most relevant and useful content to each member depending on their personal interests and inspirations. For example, a member frequently uploading ideas for dress-making will receive related patterns and tips upon logging in.

 

While the site is open for non-members to view content, only Spotlight VIP loyalty scheme members can sign in and post videos, photos, blogs, join groups, create friend networks and share content.

 

Citrus CEO Peter Noble said the key driver was to create Australia’s ultimate online destination for crafters to find ultimate inspiration to fuel their creativity.

 

“Our research on Spotlight customers revealed that DIY is a social experience and above all they are looking for creativity and inspiration. DIY-ers are passionate about showing off their creations and sharing ideas, and the site allows customers to share tips and collaborate through a range of online tools,” said Noble.

 

“Spotlight is the market leader in DIY and the new website will give customers a host of reasons to interact with the brand more frequently. It’s great to see an established retail brand embracing a digital platform to talk more regularly to its loyal customer base and allow them to share their creative passions with each other.”

 

The online destination will be supported by in-store kiosks where customers can join the community straight away. The campaign is also supported by eDM, in-store creative and through Spotlight’s portfolio of magazines.

What are your thoughts? Comment at the bottom of this article!