Case Studies

The Client

HSBC InvestDirect (India) Limited is a premier financial services organization providing individuals and corporates with comprehensive financial solutions. The HSBC InvestDirect brand is a global retail broking brand of HSBC. HSBC acquired IL & FS Investsmart and was rebranded as HSBC InvestDirect (India) Limited (HIDL).

HIDL, through its subsidiaries has a pan-India presence with it's headquarters in Mumbai and offers a range of financial solutions & web based services that include Retail Broking Services, Investment Advisory Services, Distribution of Financial Products and Securities related financing (NBFC).

The Brief

HSBC InvestDirect (India) Limited is positioned as a brand that provides advisory services apart from selling/broking of market instruments.

However, the current execution of its digital communication was getting lost in translation, the distribution of content was not standardised and defined in a structured manner on the website. Many useful, dynamic utility tools were navigated to after 3-4 clicks and were within a labyrinth of sub-sections. The website needed a revamp strategy that strategically places dynamic & static content with utility tools. As the HSBC InvestDirect website already has a number of registered users the new design should not deviate drastically in classifications. Apart from service offering categorisation challenges, the website was extremely cluttered web1.0 version that was in dire need of a design overhaul.

The Approach

HGS Interactive conducted Competitor Analysis on user trends of broking & financial services websites that assisted us in defining the services that need to be highlighted. The strategy involved dividing the page between static & dynamic content with a constant call to action block throughout the website. The call to action block was also leveraged as a platform to cross-sell & promote other market investments or sharing quick facts & data, or tools & calculators. Wireframe was chalked out keeping the same in mind. The approach was to revamp the existing website to a clear and clean website that provides information, but doesn't look cluttered with content overdose.

The Solution

• HGS Interactive revamped the HSBC InvestDirect website using the latest tools & Web 2.0 technology.
• The first step, wire-frames that classified & segregated information, were chalked out. Each section is built based on the market service offering and contains all pertaining dynamic data, tools & calculators, static content on “Getting Started”, “Next Steps” & “Knowledge Centre” – the sections are built as an independent entity yet are correlated to each other through cross promotions.
• Clean styled approach to design the website ensures no cluttering and confusion. Appealing colours that confirm to guidelines, smart approach to presentation of content and slick use of jQuery add on to the aesthetic aspect of the website.
• Forms, tools & calculators were adapted as per the new design and are strategically placed within each sectional offering.
• As the market data was to be generated dynamically there was not much scope of a major structural change in the representation of same. The designs for market data/dynamic sections were adapted to the new style, massive amount of dynamic data that is relevant for market insight is classified as per sections and is available on a click. 
• From the navigation getting lost in sub-sections, every information on the website is now available on a single click. This feature has made it one of the most user friendly websites ever; everything can be browsed on a mouse roll-over and can be accessed in one single click.
• Space for advertising is provided on each page and the same is being judiciously used on homepage.

The Result

The brand new HSBC InvestDirect website is well received by users and traffic on the site has improved exponentially. The easy dissemination of information is extremely user friendly as reaching relevant information is on fingertips. Strategically placed call to action bar and cross promotion suggestions play an important part in the distribution of traffic and help in creating awareness about sections that users might get interested in.

With simple distribution of content HGS Interactive achieved information on single click.