Teknosa Digital Marketplace Transformation Project

With its omnichannel presence and a wide range of products from mobile devices to home appliances, Teknosa serves millions of customers through its physical stores and online platform, aiming to deliver a seamless and innovative shopping experience.

Client: Teknosa

Year: 2021

Products: Web & Mobile App Design, Kiosk Screens, In-store Customer Cash Screens

What I Did: Design Audit, UX/UI & User Research, Information Architecture, Consulting, Key UX/UI Design, UAT & Usability Tests

As the leading electronics retailer in Turkey, Teknosa embraces the philosophy of "Technology for Everyone." With over 200 stores and a strong presence across various online platforms, Teknosa is the country’s largest consumer electronics retailer. The shift in customer demands and the challenges brought by the new normal prompted retailers to take bold actions. Teknosa viewed this as an opportunity to enhance the customer experience amid changing dynamics. Until 2019, Teknosa operated with a store-focused retailing model. At the end of that year, it initiated a comprehensive transformation journey and with that, we officially partnered with the brand and began the design process.

The challenge that was put forward by Teknosa was: "We will become Turkey's First Technology-Focused Online Marketplace Brand Website". The brand aimed a digital transformation adding marketplace capabilities to its online channels.

Research & Design Process I engaged in consultations with the Teknosa team and SEO agency to gain a deep understanding of the project goals. Additionally, I communicated with developers to understand their capabilities and technical constraints.

Based on their takeaways, the project began with a comprehensive UX/UI audit of the existing Teknosa website and mobile application. In addition to these, designing the in-store kiosk interfaces, cashier screens, and customer-facing displays from scratch was crucial to ensuring a seamless and consistent omnichannel experience. This project took place during a significant transformation period, where Teknosa evolved from a traditional retailer to a “Phygital” model, aiming to offer a unique customer experience both online and in-store.

I conducted a thorough analysis of both direct and indirect competitors' websites as well as marketplace examples to assess their feature sets, information architecture, best UX/UI practices, and visual style. I got valuable insights on the best practices to adopt and areas to avoid. This audit became a roadmap for our design concept.

The previous website was limited by technical constraints and lacked many essential features typical of a modern e-commerce experience. The new design resolved these issues and introduced several new capabilities to support the marketplace structure. As part of the marketplace transformation, several new features and platform enhancements were introduced, many of which aligned with our UX/UI redesign efforts such as:

Social Commerce: The “Bi’link ile Paylaş Kazan” feature, allowing users to earn commissions by sharing products, enhancing both engagement and traffic.

Live Commerce: Monthly live streams were initiated to promote products and drive conversion.

Improved Search Experience: Smarter and faster search functionalities were added across the web and mobile platforms.

Product Finder: An AI-powered tool offering personalized product recommendations based on user needs.

Accessibility Enhancements: A voice mapping system was implemented to assist visually impaired users.

Self-Service Capabilities: Users can now initiate online cancellations and returns online.

Online Service Requests: A feature enabling users to request technical service and track progress, launched in 2023, is likely an extension of the foundational work done in 2022.

Full Platform Redesign: We completely redesigned the online and mobile platforms — web, mobile application, is-store kiosk screens, cashier and customer displays.

It was a very disciplined project for me, despite the heavy workload — from analysis, daily work sessions to the final design. Understanding the project requirement and fully immersing myself in the journey of inexperienced customers was crucial in order to empathize with their decision-making process.

The impact of this transformation was beyond our expectations: 📌 Teknosa achieved a 68% increase in e-commerce Gross Merchandise Value (GMV)**, surpassing 10 billion TL, and recorded significant growth in online platform traffic and conversion rates. 📌 Overall net sales also increased significantly compared to the previous year. 📌 Our UX/UI work supported the marketplace transition and the subsequent growth in online offerings. 📌 Crowned our performance with prestigious awards (MMA Smarties, The Stevie International Business Awards, The International Business Excellence Awards..)

As the Experience Design Director, I was responsible for the overall UX/UI design process — from research and information architecture to wireframes of all core pages and and usability testing. Over a year period, I moderated UX workshops together with my teammates and served as one of the lead presenters of the project to all stakeholders and development teams. During the two-month pre-launch period, I was involved in weekly UAT (User Acceptance Testing) sessions together with the brand team, ensuring that all design elements were properly implemented and aligned with the intended experience before going live.