Blending Culture and Commerce: A Digital Transformation in Book Retail

Overview

Renaud Bray, a leading specialty book and cultural retailer, set out to modernize its digital storefront while preserving the brand’s rich in-store cultural identity. The objective was to create an immersive online shopping experience that combines commerce, storytelling, and community—while making it easier for marketing and editorial teams to manage promotions, events, and content.

The solution was delivered using Kentico Xperience 13, enabling a flexible, scalable, and visually engaging platform that reflects the retailer’s cultural mission across devices.

Business Objectives

• Showcase a diverse catalog of books, gifts, games, and cultural products

• Improve online sales performance and reduce friction in the shopping journey

• Empower marketing teams to manage promotions, collections, and events via CMS

• Deliver a responsive, accessible, and inclusive experience across devices

• Maintain brand consistency between physical stores and the digital experience

Key Features & Deliverables

• Modular Kentico Xperience 13 page templates:

  • Homepage

  • Category Landing Pages

  • Product Detail Pages

  • Cultural Events Pages

  • Blog & Community Story Pages

• Lifestyle-driven, culture-focused visual design and hero imagery

• Structured content sections for collections, bestsellers, gifts, kids, and events

• Mobile-first responsive design for browsing and purchasing on all devices

• CMS workflows allowing non-technical teams to manage promotions and events

• Analytics integration to track conversions, campaigns, and user engagement

Challenges

Translating Culture to Digital

Bringing the warmth and storytelling of the in-store experience into a clear and effective online shopping journey.

Managing Diverse Products & Promotions

Balancing a broad product range with frequently changing promotions while keeping navigation intuitive.

Editorial Agility

Allowing marketing and editorial teams to publish updates, events, and community stories independently.

Performance & Accessibility

Ensuring fast load times, strong mobile usability, and accessibility for a wide and diverse audience.

Solution Approach

• Implemented Kentico Xperience 13 with structured content types and reusable widgets

• Designed an audience-centric homepage highlighting collections, events, and stories

• Built responsive, performance-optimized templates with lazy-loaded media

• Configured editorial workflows with scheduling and approval controls

• Embedded analytics dashboards to monitor product performance and campaign impact

Results Delivered

• 28% increase in online sales

• 25% improvement in mobile conversion rates

• 25% faster publishing cycles for promotions and campaigns

• Increased engagement with cultural and community-driven content

• Improved visibility and performance of featured product collections

Conclusion

The digital transformation of Renaud Bray’s online storefront successfully merged culture and commerce into a seamless, high-performing experience. Built on Kentico Xperience 13, the platform empowers internal teams, enhances mobile shopping, and strengthens the retailer’s mission of connecting books, culture, and community in the digital space.