Redesign Eastpak’s E-Commerce Experience for Gen Z to Boost Brand Presence and Conversion
Fashion Retail
E-commerce
Brand Experience
Gen Z
Journey Mapping
Conversion Rate
Team
Project Manager
Brand Consultants
CX Consultants
UX Designer
Skills
UX Audit
Journey Mapping
UX Strategy
UX Design
Project Context
Eastpak, a bag and luggage brand under VF Corporation, is best known for its rugged durability and iconic 30-year warranty—rooted in its origins producing military-grade gear. As part of VF Corp’s brand transformation strategy, Eastpak is evolving its identity to an image of street-smart and style-conscious.
Project Goals
This project aimed to uncover the digital shopping behaviors and emotional drivers of Gen Z consumers through social listening and a UX audit of Eastpak’s existing e-commerce site. The goal was to identify friction points and emotional drop-offs across the journey and redesign key touchpoints to better align Gen Z’s expectations, for a POC to VF Corporation stakeholders to inform future brand and platform strategy.
Business Goals
Expand Market Presence among Gen Z
Position Eastpak as a culturally relevant and trend-forward brand that reflects Gen Z's lifestyle and values.
Increase Gen Z Conversion Rates
Modernize the purchase journey to reduce abandonment and friction during product discovery, validation, and checkout.
Strengthen Direct-to-Consumer Content
Modernize the purchase journey to reduce abandonment and friction during product discovery, validation, and checkout.
Discover
Uncover Gen Z’s Digital Gaps in Current Experience with Brand and CX Consultants
Identify the target user and understand their digital shopping behaviors
Gen Z Consumer Persona
To align Eastpak’s e-commerce strategy with the expectations of Gen Z consumers, I collaborated with brand and consumer experience consultants to identify the target user group and analyze how Gen Z approaches digital apparel shopping. Through social listening of Eastpak-related content and Gen Z behaviors, I developed the persona: Shannon—a college student navigating lifestyle and self-expressive shopping style, budget constraints, and content-driven decision-making.
Gen Z’s shopping experience start with social, not search.
They don't shop alone—they shop with my friends.
Style is a part of personal identity.
They want to know if this fits “me”.
Affordability matters—but so does the brand meaning.
Gen Z’s experience doesn't end at checkout.
Audit the e-commerce experience through Shannon to identify opportunities
Journey Mapping
To uncover key frictions in Eastpak’s e-commerce experience, I conducted a UX audit through the lens of Shannon. By mapping Shannon’s end-to-end Eastpak e-comerce shopping journey, from awareness to post-purchase, I revealed critical gaps in the current digital experience.
These insights guided our redesign roadmap, enabling targeted improvements that directly addressed Gen Z behaviors, expectations, and trust signals.
The Experience Before
Redesign Strategies
🧭 Reconnect the Brand’s Voice on the Website
Shannon sees Eastpak on social media but doesn’t feel the brand presence carries over to the website. She expects brands to show up consistently content-driven across the platforms.
🎨 Support Self-expressive Shopping Style
She struggles to find products that reflect her style and lifestyle. Generic imagery and unclear product details content leave her questioning if the brand understands who she is.
👯♀️ Build Social Trust& Purchase Confidence
Shannon relies on real reviews and peer feedback before making a purchase, but Eastpak’s site lacks reviews section and makes sharing clunky. For Gen Z, social validation is a core part of decision-making.
💸 Improve Payment Accessibility
She’s price-conscious. Missing payment flexibility increase friction in her checkout flow.
💬 Loop with Brand Engagement
After buying, she wants to share her experience but doesn’t know where to start. Gen Z sees post-purchase as a moment to create content and deepen their connection with a brand.
Proposed Redesign
🧭 Scroll Brand Content Like Gen Z
We introduced a TikTok-style scrolling feed of short product videos on mobile, helping Gen Z users like Shannon visualize real-world usage and build emotional connections with the brand.
🎨 Shop By Who You Are
We restructured the mega-menu to let Shannon shop by lifestyle, rather than just product categories. This identity-driven navigation aligns with Gen Z’s self-expressive shopping style.
Refined Iconography
To make product exploration more intuitive, we introduced a refined set of product icons that clearly communicate form factors and key features.
👯♀ Yay or Nay? Peer Feedback Made Easy
We added seamless sharing tools directly on the product detail page so Shannon can easily ask her friends for opinions. This taps into Gen Z’s need for peer validation and builds social trust into the shopping experience.
Decide Without Distraction
On the desktop, a stationary right half of the screen, paired with a left scrolling half, minimizing the need to scroll or toggle. This mirrors Gen Z’s multitasking habits and supports quick, informed decision-making.
Less Burden of Choice
To reduce decision fatigue from excessive color options, we grouped solids and patterns into visually distinct sections.
🎨 “What Does It Fit”
We added a “What Does It Fit?” guide and lifestyle imagery depicting various usage scenarios to help Shannon understand how each backpack supports her real needs. reducing uncertainty.
💸 More payment options , less shopping abandonment
Having more payment options, including installments, we made Eastpak’s products more accessible to budget-conscious shoppers like Shannon.
💬 ️Reviews You Can Trust
We introduced the review section and include Verified Buyer badges and feedback categories like fit, quality, and comfort. This gave Shannon confidence in peer reviews and helped her make more informed purchases.
It also lets Shannon submit her own product reviews post-purchase. This amplifies her voice in the brand community and reinforces Eastpak’s authenticity for future shoppers.
All the Info, No Clutter
Everything customer may need to feel assured about their purchase is right here on the Product Detail Page.
💬 As Seen On... Gen Z
We integrated curated Reels allowing customers and influencers to be part of Eastpak’s creative realm. It allow Gen Z make content-driven decision and increase brand engagement.
Impact & Results
While our team did not lead the final development, our UX strategy and proof of concept (POC) successfully influenced Eastpak’s digital direction. The POC was presented to Eastpak stakeholders and adopted as the foundation for their internal website redesign. Our work served as a blueprint for enhancing brand relevance, aligning brand experience with Gen Z expectations, and modernizing the e-commerce funnel.
User Outcomes
More Confident Purchases
Personalized menu tabs, recommendation, and real-time updates help users make informed dining choices based on their dietary needs, preferences, and schedule.
Less Decision Fatigue
Clear product hierarchy, improved reviews, and simplified style filters reduced browsing overload and supported faster product evaluation.
Stronger Brand Connection
Personalized product storytelling and visible sustainability cues created a stronger emotional tie between the brand and Gen Z users’ identities.
Brand Outcomes
Increased conversion rate by 39%
By aligning the user experience with Gen Z needs, Eastpak’s new design reduced drop-offs in key funnel moments like product comparison and checkout, resulted 39% increasing in conversion rate.
Improved Brand Perception
The refreshed website language and socially integrated features helped reposition Eastpak as a style-forward, culturally relevant brand among younger consumers.
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