Designing for better DCX in retail with AWS Lambda
Having excellent Digital Customer Experience (DCX) is vital for any online presence and that’s even more the case for online retailing. As a manufacturer of innovative building materials, Re-board was keen to improve the user experience for their customers and to create new features and systems. The challenge for us was to demonstrate how the cloud would create the foundation for that change and how AWS Lambda would be a key component of the solution.
Re-board Technology is the manufacturer of Re-board®, an innovative, sustainable, rigid and resilient paperboard. Based in Sweden, they work with global print partners and distributors to provide high impact design solutions for display advertising, point-of-sale marketing, exhibitions and fairs.
The Challenge
Re-board’s challenge was primarily concerned with improving the user experience for their customers and involved the creation of new features and systems.
The client’s product is a unique and sustainable building material that has a wide range of uses and applications. However, potential customers are often unaware of these diverse possibilities, and the traditional, paper-based ordering system meant it was hard to communicate these advantages or demonstrate them to the customers with material such as images and video.
For similar reasons, it was also important that customers should have easy access to free, downloadable templates for the cut-outs of the materials, and a monthly subscription-based library for videos and templates.
The Solution
A comprehensive solution was designed using a range of AWS services with AWS Lambda at its core, employing cached content on Edge locations for faster access of the static files and cached server responses. It comprised of the following main technical elements:
- A website using serverless technology
- AWS CloudFront for global distribution
- Video streaming with AWS Elemental
- Amazon Cognito for managing users
- Stripe for payments.
- Amazon S3 for storage of compiled JavaScript files and static assets
AWS Lambda
AWS Lambda is a compute service that lets you run code without provisioning or managing servers and can be used to extend applications with custom logic, or to create new back-end services that work with existing applications. AWS edge services deliver data processing, analysis, and storage close to your endpoints, allowing you to deploy APIs and tools to locations outside AWS data centres.
As such, AWS Lambda was a central part of the designed solution, including Lambda@Edge for rendering Re-board’s client, which guarantees maximum efficiency of the employed AWS Lambda functions. Similar such functions were also employed for authorizing user requests via Amazon Cognito.
Architecture diagram
Results and Benefits
The solution delivered several clear benefits for Re-board and its customers. Firstly, the website now provides a feature that makes it quick and easy for customers to download templates. This improves the user experience and provides a great way for customers to take advantage of the possibilities for customisation that the manufacture system allows.
The website also now has a video library full of tutorials, tips and tricks that also encourages clients to make the most of the material, and to visualise the design before and after they make a purchase. Along with other features, these enhancements have resulted in increased engagement with customers for Re-board and a higher number of page visits.
Moreover, the new content management system means it’s now easier for Re-board to keep the site current and engaging by creating a steady flow of new templates, blog posts, showcases and events. This is extremely significant in helping Re-board to maintain contact with their customers and ensure that page visits are maintained at the same high level.
About PCG
Public Cloud Group (PCG) supports companies in their digital transformation through the use of public cloud solutions.
With a product portfolio designed to accompany organizations of all sizes in their cloud journey and competence that is a synonym for highly qualified staff that clients and partners like to work with, PCG is positioned as a reliable and trustworthy partner for the hyperscalers, relevant and with repeatedly validated competence and credibility.
We have the highest partnership status with the three relevant hyperscalers: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google, and Microsoft. As experienced providers, we advise our customers independently with cloud implementation, application development, and managed services.
