Do it Best/True Value: E-commerce Transformation
Client Description
Do it Best is a member-owned cooperative based in the U.S. that supplies hardware, lumber, and building materials. It supports thousands of locally owned stores across the country and in more than 50 other countries, growing its network through the acquisition of True Value.
Project Overview
Do it Best generates revenue through wholesale sales to its members and direct-to-consumer e-commerce sales. The cooperative includes over 2,000 members and approximately 3,000 retail locations across the U.S., with wholesale revenue around $5 billion and estimated member retail revenue of $14 billion.
The redesign needed to balance two audiences: B2C customers, who browse online and buy in-store, and B2B member retailers, often smaller, family-owned stores, who depend on Do it Best’s digital infrastructure to power their own consumer sales.
Impact At-A-Glance
Post-relaunch, online revenue grew 67%
Orders rose 60%
Average order value increased 4.6%, fueled by same-day pickup
Project Type
E-commerce Transformation
Role
Designer, Researcher, Design Lead
Company
Publicis Sapient
Problem Statement
Do it Best needed to modernize its e-commerce platform to stay competitive as ‘Buy Online, Pick up In-Store’ and digital sales rapidly grew. The challenge was creating a consistent, industry-leading experience across DoitBest.com and member sites while allowing local differentiation, all on an accelerated 8-month timeline.
Project Goal
Build a centralized, single-vendor platform with best-in-class tools for customer experience, marketing, and data. The solution aimed to capture more of the growing ‘Buy Online, Pick up In-Store’ market, deliver a seamless omnichannel experience, and provide members with a scalable, flexible foundation.
Discovery
I co-led the Experience team through a 6-week shape and incubate discovery phase to define the design direction and implementation plan for Do it Best’s new e-commerce platform. This work established the foundation for a customer-first experience and aligned stakeholders on a clear vision forward.
KICKOFF WORKSHOP | The cross-functional team hosted a 2-day in-person discovery workshop to align stakeholders and establish project priorities.
PERSONAS | Shoppers access Do it Best through the main site or member sites—two personas and journeys were mapped to capture these distinct paths.
HEURISTIC EVALUATION | Evaluated the site through heuristic principles to identify pain points and opportunities for improvement.
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS | Performed a competitive analysis to identify strengths, gaps, and differentiators guiding strategy.
SITE MAP | Developed a sitemap to define site structure and streamline navigation.
VISUAL DIRECTION | Created a moodboard to define visual direction and style.
DESIGN TOOLKIT | Created a toolkit to standardize UI elements and streamline development.
Toolkit extension
Wrote detailed component usage guidelines and requirements for designers, developers, and authors.
Wireframes
Wireframes guided the six-month design and build phase, with two design pods— one in the U.S. and one in India — collaborating to translate insights into a user-centered digital experience and align design with development.
Produced mid-fidelity wireframes to test and refine the design system.
As a co-op, the challenge was to create a unified customer experience across DoitBest.com and member sites while supporting individual branding. To address this, we needed a header design that enabled customizable navigation and content.
Flexible header solution that accommodates both DoitBest.com and member sites.
Navigation
Homepage
PLP
Mobile
PDP
Dealer Search and Results
The Impact
The MVP was soft-launched to a limited group, followed by six weeks of refinements. The hard launch revealed low conversion rates, with users dropping off at “Add to Cart” and Checkout identified as a high-issue page. In response, the team installed Hotjar for behavior tracking and re-engineered the Checkout flow to remove previous technical limitations.
Within the first two months of relaunch, the new digital experience delivered a 67% increase in online revenue, a 60% rise in orders (including a 56% lift in ship-to-store), and a 4.6% increase in average order value driven by same-day pickup.