Sports-themed content sits alongside shopping on the Vans website, which bills itself as a one-stop shop for skateboarding culture.
Founded in 1966 in California as a deck shoe company, Vans soon became popular with skateboarders, surfers and BMX riders. It’s now an international brand, selling to European markets as well as in the US.
Vans localises its website through a market selector to serve 18 European websites along with a ‘rest of Europe’ website.
From the UK landing page, shoppers can sign up for its newsletter and join the Vans club for an initial 10% discount. They can also click through to one of four social media websites, on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. Facebook, @VansEurope has 19.3mn followers for content highlighting products as well as sports videos, which now include snowboarding.
Visitors can find the products that are most relevant to them by using search filters that include product type, size, colour, pattern and price, as well as filtering by collaborations with other brands. From the product page, they can see ratings and reviews, a choice of images, delivery and returns information. Product information includes measurements and materials as well as a descriptive overview. Recommendations through a ‘shop the look’ feature highlight complementary items, while the product page also offers ‘you may also like’ recommendations.
Signed-in shoppers can save the products they like to a wishlist and track their previous orders. From its UK site, delivery and collection – from a collection point – are both free on orders of £45 and over. Returns are free within 30 days of receiving. Payment options include PayPal and Apple Pay.
Vans has a link to its sustainability plans from its landing page, while its website sets out its mission goals alongside products that include renewable, regenerative and recycled materials. It aims for this to apply to the four materials it uses that emit the most carbon in production by 2030. It also plans to reach 100% recycled and zero plastic packaging and to have circular design products by the same date.
This feature was authored by Chloe Rigby and originally appeared in the RetailX Brand Index 2023 report
The Brand Index 2023 is designed to enable brands of all sizes to see how they measure up to the performance of leading brands that sell in some of the world’s largest markets, as well as to understand and to learn from what works for market leaders. Download in full here.
