Trade-in online – Shanna Watson

Situation

When I joined GAME, customers could only trade in products in-store. The business wanted to introduce online trade-in, creating a new digital sales and trade-in opportunity, ahead of Black Friday.

The challenge was to turn the business requirements into a simple customer journey while working within the portal’s capabilities, existing technical constraints and a tight commercial deadline.

This also formed part of a wider programme to improve GAME’s online experience, including SEO landing pages, product discovery, pricing and checkout.

Task

I owned the design and front-end implementation of the trade-in landing pages and customer journey.

My responsibility was to make the proposition easy to understand, reduce friction and potential drop-offs, and ensure the experience was accessible, responsive and ready to launch.

I also needed to align the business requirements, with what customers needed and what the technology could support.

Action

I used competitor analysis, Google Analytics and business input to understand customer behaviour, identify potential pain points and shape the experience. I also used A/B testing through Webtrends to evaluate conversion opportunities.

The original brief defined the functionality, but I could see that the journey needed more attention.

The developer had followed the Business Analyst’s specification, so I brought the evidence back to them, explained where customers could encounter unnecessary friction and proposed a clearer flow.

By showing the rationale through competitor analysis and likely customer pain points, I secured agreement to improve the journey rather than simply implement the original brief.

I structured the experience around three clear steps:

Get a price online
Pack your items
Send your items

This gave customers a straightforward route, from valuing their products to sending them in, with clear actions at each stage.

I then worked directly with the developer to take the design through implementation. We introduced Bootstrap as the front-end framework, and I themed the interface and wrote the supporting CSS.

I challenged the existing markup where necessary and worked with the developer to improve the semantic HTML structure, logical reading order and keyboard navigation. I tested keyboard interaction, checked layouts across devices and responsive breakpoints, and used accessibility testing tools to identify and resolve defects.

My contribution extended beyond the trade-in launch. I also developed SEO landing pages for Sony PlayStation, Nintendo and Xbox, and designed and built a new basket overlay. Working with developers and architects, I continued to improve product discovery, related-product recommendations, PayPal Credit and insurance add-ons, complex pricing options, navigation and the wider brand experience.

I supported the propositions team with launches and seasonal campaigns, helping maintain consistency between the customer experience and commercial priorities.

Throughout this work, I used journey data and year-on-year comparisons to assess performance and identify where further improvements were needed.

Action

The original brief defined the functionality, but I could see that the journey needed more attention.
The developer had followed the Business Analyst’s specification, so I brought the evidence back to them, explained where customers could encounter unnecessary friction and proposed a clearer flow.
By showing the rationale through competitor analysis and likely customer pain points, I secured agreement to improve the journey rather than simply implement the original brief.

I structured the experience around three clear steps:

Get a price online
Pack your items
Send your items

This gave customers a straightforward route, from valuing their products to sending them in, with clear actions at each stage.

I then worked directly with the developer to take the design through implementation. We introduced Bootstrap as the front-end framework, and I themed the interface and wrote the supporting CSS.

I supported the propositions team with launches and seasonal campaigns, helping maintain consistency between the customer experience and commercial priorities.

Throughout this work, I used journey data and year-on-year comparisons to assess performance and identify where further improvements were needed.

Result

The online trade-in experience launched in time for the Black Friday trading period, giving customers a new way to trade in products without visiting a store. We streamlined the platform, resolved defects and improved the usability and technical quality of the experience before launch.

During my tenure, the trade-in page and the SEO landing pages I developed for PlayStation, Nintendo and Xbox showed measurable year-on-year improvements in their respective journeys. The new basket overlay, related-product recommendations and payment and insurance propositions also contributed to the wider e-commerce improvements.

That season, GAME generated £100 million in online revenue for the first time. This was the result of several propositions and the combined efforts of the wider team, not the trade-in portal alone.

My work contributed to that broader success by enabling online trade-in and improving key parts of the customer journey and purchasing experience.