I once listened to a world-renowned game developer discuss the importance of happiness in our daily lives. She predicted that within the next 5 years, the ability to provide products and services that promote happiness and well-being would be the primary metric for measuring success.

A lot of the work we’ve been doing with KEEN Footwear recently has reminded me just how important happiness can be to the process of completing a purchase online. The custom shopping experience we created for KEEN has an array of features that aren’t “necessary” to each purchase, but they go a long way in building a unique experience for each customer. With each customer account comes a KEEN Closet: a visual representation of a closet full of outdoor gear and the products purchased by that customer. “See with Jeans” is another interactive feature allowing customers to see what shoes will look like with a pair of light or dark jeans.

We developed the features to help KEEN stand out from the crowd, and have received great feedback on these extra bells and whistles. With the number of online shopping outlets exploding, it’s vital that our clients’ sites shine and provide an extra splash of “happiness” even when completing an otherwise ordinary task. I believe interactive games and entertainment really are spilling over into the traditional online marketing space, and it’s our job to keep finding new ways to provide unexpected happiness where we can.