shop by

“shop by” is a brand of the South Korean company NHNgodo developing and providing e-commerce solutions. In March 2019, NHNgodo launched “shop by” as a new service line-up designed to help individual customers and retailers to start an online business and enter the online shopping industry. “shop by” provides an environment with a functionality that is reduced to the essential and minimal in terms of online commerce and which is easy enough to understand also for entry-level clients, offering them the necessary infrastructure and core basic tools to start their own individual online business quickly and easily. The special challenge in designing the brand image was that the clients, that is, future online shop owners, were to be branded under “shop by”. Therefore, an important prerequisite of the brand design was that it should allow co-branding with the clients’ personal names or their own brand. The platform’s brand name itself, “shop by” already indicates this openness towards clients. The final shop brand name thus consists of the platform brand name followed by the individual shop or brand name tagged onto it. The lettering “shop by” accordingly features clear and simple. This word mark is supplemented by a red symbol that is derived from a chat box icon and which symbolises consistent and continuing dialogue with the client. Both together make up the primary logo as used by the company itself. At the same time, the symbol – reduced to its outlines – allows high flexibility of use. The chat box always frames the name of the seller during co-branding; but it can also contain photos, product and service names, and even serve as a visual framework for, or as a linking element in, campaigns. Furthermore, in terms of colour and size, the stylised brand symbol offers ample freedom in design, yet also possesses clarity and conciseness to ensure a high recognition value of its own. The attention of the industry was caught with a grand opening party at which the “shop by” brand was launched in the presence of targeted influencers and potential customers such as affiliate partners.