Rexel Native Mobile App
Rexel France already had a robust B2B e-commerce experience but the mobile users were accessing the platform through the web browser view. While Rexel’s sites were designed for all breakpoints, processes needed to be smoother and clean for mobile.
The challenge was in determining which behaviors, information and visual patterns Rexel customers already relied on and we wanted to translate them into an experience designed for mobile use.
Understanding the Existing Behavior
We wanted to preserve the familiar behaviors like searching by product or reference number, browsing categories, checking availability, selecting delivery or pickup and adding to cart. We wanted to avoid any unnecessary relearning for existing customers.
Some behaviors we adapted for mobile were barcode scanning, progressive disclosure of technical information, touch friendly fulfillment controls and persistent navigation to high-use actions.
The tasks we prioritized that were more valuable away from a desk were quickly finding and scanning a product, checking stock, recognizing previously purchased items, accessing technical documents and adding known products to an order.
We used the existing Rexel experience as a behavioral foundation. Repeated patterns like search, product identification, references, fulfillment options, cart actions and the visual language, our goal was to give existing customers anchor points as they transitioned from web to native mobile.
Designing For The User’s Context
Rexel is B2B e-commerce. Someone buying electrical supplies may need to identify a specific product over leisurely browsing till something looks appealing.
The live product catalog demonstrates how technically similar products are by differentiating manufacturer references, electrical specifications, installation characteristics and more.
Moving to native mobile gave us an opportunity to see that search remained a primary behavior but barcode scanning allowed users to move directly from physical product to the digital counterpart. This reduced the need to manually enter long product names or reference numbers.
Make Reordering Easier
We surfaced purchase history directly within product discovery to help returning customers recognize products they’d previously ordered. We made the interface provide a visual cue when they needed to evaluate reordering.
Can I get what I need, where I need it and when I need it?
It’s valuable to show the amount in stock, but that could mean spread across all stores. We wanted to give users a decision making tool so it isn’t always commerce controlled. Giving customers the opportunity to compare delivery vs. pickup based on location, availability, and timing helped them choose the option that worked best for what they needed in that moment.
Brand + Behavioral Consistency
Brand consistency extends beyond color and typography. Maintaining product terminology, references, fulfillment models, information hierarchy and interaction patterns helped preserve trust while the interface itself became distinctly mobile.
Web view has established the ecosystem while Native mobile lets customers optimize around scanning instead of typing, touch interaction, persistent task navigation instead of expansive navigation, progressive disclosure instead of simultaneous information, Location aware fulfillment, purchase history recognition, and quick repeat purchasing history.
Our goal was to preserve what customers already understood about Rexel while redesigning the experience around what becomes possible and necessary when the user is a mobile first user.
Finding Products Faster
Recognition over Recall
For Already Bought
For Already Bought
Recognition over Recall
Shopping Offline
Mobile customers aren’t always shopping from the store or a desktop. Often times
Often times customers are shopping somewhere with poor cell/internet reception. We aimed to keep the key parts of the experience to remain useful offline allowing users to continue browsing through the offline catalog and build their cart to merge when reception returns.
More than a smaller screen
The final experience was designed around the moments customers needed Rexel away from their desks. We preserved familiar product information. Purchasing behaviors and brand patterns while introducing mobile specific capabilities like barcode scanning, offline shopping and location aware availability.
The result was an experience that felt equal parts familiar to existing customers and fast when finding products, product availability and placing orders wherever their work took them.
