Sytner Group approached Bulb Studios to build a flexible, premium online experience for car buyers, powered by a scalable automotive website design system. The result bridges the gap between traditional showrooms and today's digital-first car buyers, setting a new standard in automotive UX.
Services provided
Bringing car sales online with a flexible automotive website design system
The Sytner team understand the role that digital products and effective user experience can play in the car-buying process. With customer behaviour becoming less predictable and more dependent on external factors, Sytner wanted to pioneer a hybrid approach. It should be the customer’s choice how they interact with a business. In addition, it is the business’s responsibility to keep every channel open. Our creative partnership led to the development of a flexible automotive website design system. This system was built to push the industry forward through thoughtful, future-ready design.
Designing a hybrid car-buying journey
This project centred on building a smooth, user-friendly ‘Buy Online’ experience, supporting e-commerce and showroom sales through one seamless platform. Until recently, buying a car online felt overwhelming, but it’s now an expected part of the customer journey. After discovery workshops, we mapped user flows, created wireframes and planned the site architecture. Competitor analysis and user insights led to a sharp, flexible e-commerce journey that feels premium at every touchpoint.
Insight-led strategy across the Sytner Group
The entire project was insight-led. Discovery workshops, SEO audits and keyword research defined a clear content structure. This gave our design team the clarity to make sure every page served a purpose and drove real conversions. Our agile collaboration with Sytner let us respond quickly to evolving priorities, including the challenges brought on by the pandemic. Moreover, each brand within the Sytner Group retained its own distinct online identity throughout.
A scalable design system for future growth
To support Sytner’s move to online sales, we built a scalable automotive website design system alongside the new website. This system supports fluency between teams and simplifies delivery. As a visual toolkit, the system helps scale future projects and improves delivery speed. Furthermore, it also drives higher conversion rates and more meaningful user engagement.
A flexible, proactive design partnership
At the core of our relationship with Sytner is a fast, practical delivery process. Using agile methods, we move quickly and maintain high standards. We operate as Sytner Group’s internal digital design team, bringing strategic input, ideas and research into every phase. Our development and marketing expertise has helped shape a unified user experience by supporting backend teams in improving customer journeys.
Results-driven automotive website design system
This multi-phase project navigated shifting timelines, global disruptions and stakeholder feedback. Despite this, we delivered on time, hit our KPIs and maintained creativity throughout. The hybrid purchase journey has transformed how Sytner sells cars. Paired with a robust automotive website design system, the new website supports a future-focused, customer-first approach.
The automotive website design system we built with Sytner Group now underpins a hybrid, customer-led buying journey across every dealership brand. We continue to work with the team as an extension of their internal resource, helping the platform scale as the business grows.
Frequently asked questions
A scalable automotive website design system and a hybrid 'Buy Online' platform, supporting ecommerce and showroom car sales through one seamless experience across every Sytner Group brand.
An approach where the customer chooses how they interact with a dealership, whether entirely online, entirely in the showroom or a mix of both, with the business responsible for keeping every channel open.
The design system is a shared, scalable visual toolkit, so each brand within the Sytner Group can retain its own distinct online identity while benefiting from consistent, reusable components and faster delivery.
The project was delivered on time and hit its KPIs despite shifting timelines and pandemic-era disruption, and the hybrid purchase journey has transformed how Sytner sells cars.
