Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) strives to serve the public through the collection, conservation, exhibition and interpretation of significant works of art from a broad range of cultures and historical periods, and through the translation of these collections into meaningful educational, aesthetic, intellectual and cultural experiences. LACMA leverages many forms of technology to make these experiences accessible for the widest array of audiences possible.
Challenge: Inconsistent and Painful Ecommerce Experiences
LACMA is focused on providing a pleasurable experience for all of its visitors. The museum employed separate ecommerce systems to purchase tickets, memberships and merchandise from the LACMA website. This provided a less-than-pleasurable experience for visitors since each section was visibly different and disconnected from the other parts of the website. If a patron wanted to purchase a ticket, a membership and a souvenir, they literally had to make three separate purchases.
Customers wanted the ability to place one order instead of being forced to make multiple transactions. Unfortunately, the three online shopping carts were each connected to separate backend systems and no simple interface existed that could tie all of these components together.
Solution: Consolidate Multiple Ecommerce Systems into One
R.B. Zack & Associates analyzed the three existing shopping carts and all of the backend systems that enabled the purchasing processes. The team also evaluated alternative technologies. Then they developed a plan to deploy a single shopping cart that would leverage the best aspects of all of the existing carts and could efficiently integrate with all three backend systems.
This solution allowed LACMA to ease the purchasing process for its online customers. It also helped LACMA stay true to its mission of providing a consistent and pleasurable experience for all of its visitors.