It’s not easy to take a very well-established brick and mortar brand to the web. Communicating durability, reliability and trust online, a medium that’s fast and new by its nature, is tricky. But that’s what Samsonite needed to do. The worldwide leader in travel solutions, wanted to build its online brand experience, and, at the same time, create a user experience that would boost revenue.

Samsonite wanted a truly integrated brand and marketing experience–a site that looked like Samsonite and still allowed them to promote their products effectively. They turned to Amazon Webstore. “Amazon is the undisputed leader in the eCommerce space,” says Samsonite Vice President and General Manager of Retail, Rob Cooper. “We wanted to tap their expertise and raise our site’s back-end eCommerce processes to a ‘best-in-class’ level. We were able to do that with Webstore.”

Like many companies, Samsonite wasn’t just Samsonite. They also needed improved web venues for their Black Label and American Tourister brands. The new Shop.Samsonite.com consolidated all three brands, so that consumers can shop them together and have one combined check out. The new site also offers a modern and flexible format that’s easier for customers to navigate. It features larger product images, has more space for important product features, and offers more filters for consumers to narrow their search.

Samsonite launched their new site in mid-November of 2009–just in time for the holidays. The ultimate goal for the project was that the new online experience would have a halo effect across all channels. One year later, Samsonite has seen a significant decrease in its IT and Fulfillment workload and a healthy increase in sales during its first year. “We immediately saw an increase in our online conversion rate,” says Samsonite Vice President and General Manager of Retail, Rob Cooper. “And our offline sales improved too. Overall, the new site has been a tremendous asset to our business.”