Kokuyo Camlin - Commerce meets community on a digital platform for artists

Overview

Kokuyo Camlin has inspired generations of Indians with its iconic brands Camlin and Camel. Its footprint is vast—12,000+ stores sell a range of 2000+ products in every city across the country. However, the brand needed to evolve with the advent of the digital era, enlisting Bombay DC to create its e-commerce site.

Working together, we built a first-of-its-kind artist platform that blends a vibrant community space with an e-commerce store. Drawing from our deep understanding of the artist ecosystem, we aimed to create an online presence for Kokuyo Camlin, set up a direct-to-customer sales channel and build an art community where artists can share their artwork, find inspiration, and engage with each other.

The result is a one-stop destination for buying, learning, and sharing all things art.

Outcomes

11.8K
Artworks on display
1.9L+
Artists onboarded to our community
1.5L
Verified community members
8.5L+
Visitors in 4 months
130+
Published tips and techniques
153%
YoY increase in active users on the website
60%
Increase in the average time spent on the website

“Bombay DC has been our agency of choice. Our collaboration with them began with a research project, evolving into a series of successful digital campaigns, including the development of our website.”

Rishi Kakar, Chief of Marketing & Strategy

Camel homepage

Camlin homepage

Key takeaways

Building an artist community
Creating an online art store
Beyond design: Engaging the community
A robust tech stack

Building an artist community

At the start of this journey, we set out to define the value propositions of the new digital experience. Our research revealed that artists weren’t looking for fast delivery or great discounts. Instead, they were longing for a community. That’s where the website found its purpose - to become an artist-centric digital experience that combines community, content, and e-commerce.

The platform documents the brand’s comprehensive range of products and integrates e-commerce with its community-focused features, offering artists an exclusive space to showcase their work and connect with peers.

India's first online art community welcomes all artists. Artists can follow their peers and be inspired like never before.

StayVista — The artist’s profile showcases their work, and can be shared as an art portfolio.

Creating an online art store

Digitising an offline experience

For over 9 decades, most consumers were used to buying Camel products in stores. For a familiar buying experience, it was important that the imagery and content on the site match up to the physical experience.

With 1600+ products under the Camel and Camlin sub-brands, dedicated environments were created for art supplies and stationery. The products were then strategically organised into categories and ranges based on user purchase behaviour, translating an offline buying experience into the digital realm.

Showcasing over 2000 products—the entire Kokuyo Camlin range in one place.

Customised adapts of categorisations were used for different products to ensure efficient product organisation.

Swatches of colours are used to filter products efficiently.

Life-like product photography for an in-store-like shopping experience.

Catering to a diverse user base

Our research revealed both Camel and Camlin have a varied range of customers, giving us an in-depth understanding of the art supplies and stationery space. Art supplies are used by professionals, hobbyists, and young artists, while students, office-goers, and design professionals use stationery. The website architecture is optimised based on what each category of user expects and what they seek in the real world. Every photo, word, interaction, and nuance of the platform is strategically crafted to make it a unique user-centric experience.

The Hobby section provides simple tutorials paired with product recommendations for recreational artists.

The Kids section embodies wonder and joy to encourage childhood imagination.

Art knows no age: The vibrant ‘Early Learning’ section was created for our tiny tots, sparking curiosity and imagination for all their creative adventures.

Expert content from an expert brand

The brand is renowned for its expertise in art and high-quality products, which is why it made sense to share its extensive knowledge with budding artists. This was done by bunching products with related tools and supplies via tailored product recommendations and providing professional tips and technique videos about their correct usage, ensuring that consumers can fully maximise the potential of their products.

Detailed product information like ingredients, composition, and features brings the store experience to users’ screens.

Beyond design: Engaging the community

We didn’t stop short of creating a platform for artists. We actively ideate and manage experiences to engage the community through various art activities in the dedicated ‘Community’ and ‘Techniques’ sections. From instructional videos in the 'Techniques' section to art contests, workshops, and empanelling art ambassadors in the future, we provide resources and opportunities to nurture India’s largest artist community. By staying connected, artists can discover fresh opportunities to inspire and be inspired.

We curate workshops conducted by art instructors every week, allowing artists to refine their skills.

Our art contests offer growth opportunities and boost engagement, driving traffic and repeat visits.

Artists can also browse through a growing catalogue of 100+ published tips and techniques; curated, conceptualised, and shot in-house.

A robust tech stack

The backbone of this experience is its technology. The custom content management system built in-house can adapt the design according to each product category while keeping the customer-facing website super light.

We rendered pixel-perfect design, and employed server and client-side caching of files along with a CDN, helping the website load within 3 seconds despite the rich imagery. Over 2000 pages worth of SEO-optimised content has upped the Click-Through Rate (CTR) on Google search by +58%. In addition to various functionalities that enhance the user experience, micro animations are sprinkled throughout the site, making the experience unique, fun, and interactive at every level.