Rompetori — Website Redesign for an Event Portal

Goals: The aim was to commercialize the rompetori.info site and streamline the purchase process for both event advertisers and buyers of advertising space

Smartbutlers’ role: Business model concepting — in practice designing the revenue logic and productization. Technical specification of the application, visual design, and coding.

Results: The site’s user interface was redesigned both visually and in terms of usability. The site was also “monetized,” meaning purchasable services were added. On the new site a customer can buy advertising space and paid premium event listings.

A clear revenue logic laid out the roadmap for the site’s development

Our work began with concepting the site’s business model — in practice designing the revenue logic and productization. In joint planning sessions with the client we defined the products, pricing, and calculated sales forecasts. After that we produced a written description of the new site’s structure and features.

Once the site structure was clear, we began visualizing the user interface. With mockups we presented the client with options for the site’s appearance and layout. These covered colors, fonts, elements, and composition. The look of the old site needed to be visible in the new site as well, to make the update easy for existing users to adopt. Accordingly, Rompetori’s familiar red remained the dominant color. This was combined with a new approachable typeface and modernized UI elements. Brand-consistent icons and a refreshed logo complete the whole.

Tailored purchase flows for events and ads

Next we created a staging site. At this stage we went through scenarios for different site use cases so they could be accounted for as fully as possible in the implementation. After the staging site the production site was built. The site was implemented on the WordPress CMS, on top of which we built a fully customized event search and management system, as well as ad management and ad logic.

Custom purchase processes for events and ads were also built on top of WooCommerce. As a result, for example, buying advertising space is automated so a registered customer can do it independently. Advertisements were also given targeting options; a customer can advertise on general ad placements or only on the event pages of a specific locality.

This tailored solution required extensive software development. While WordPress and WooCommerce provided the foundation, all key functionalities — such as event search and management as well as ad management and targeting — were implemented from scratch to meet Rompetori’s unique needs.

On the new site a customer can purchase advertising space and paid Premium event listings. Free event listings were also retained, because the site’s foundation is a plentiful number of event postings. In short: the more events, the more visitors.

The client’s practical understanding of the potential target audience made the visual and overall site design easier. However, it’s nearly impossible to anticipate every usage scenario in advance. Therefore, once the rompetori.info site was ready and launched, we continued active development based on customer feedback gathered during the first weeks of use.

Finland — The promised land of flea markets

And finally, a small shout-out in favor of all of Finland’s flea markets, domestic travel, and especially reducing consumption. Finland is the promised land of flea markets. It may be a cliché to say, but flea markets save both your wallet and the environment. Recycling, refurbishing, and reusing goods is not only economical but also responsible. Reducing consumption is one of the most effective ways to lessen our environmental impact.

Especially in the summer, flea markets, flea fairs, auctions, cruising sales, and all kinds of used-goods sales events are organized frequently. Family-friendly events are a chance to meet other collectors and enthusiasts. And there is often evening programming available for an older crowd.

Since its founding, the goal of the Rompetori.info site has been to bring all of Finland’s events onto a single browseable platform. That way even the smallest events get their voice heard, and those interested in collections and events can find happenings that would otherwise go unnoticed.

With Rompetori.info you can, for example, browse interesting events along your route before a summer road trip. Or if you’re interested in collecting Iittala or Arabia Moomin mugs, you can search for events where they are sold. On event pages visitors also see information about ancillary services such as food offerings and accommodations.