Bathroom Brands // Advertisement Feature


From the click to the showroom


Bathroom Brands is investing heavily in digital tools designed to drive consumers to its independent customers. "We want to inspire, educate and guide people towards retailers," they say…


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athroom Brands has been supporting and nurturing its independent retailer customers for over 20 years, and now a new initiative sees it


investing heavily in technology with one clear objective – drive better-informed consumers to its retail network. Rather than creating a direct e-commerce


platform, the group has rebuilt its Crosswater website and supporting systems to make it easier for consumers to research products, gather inspiration and arrive in showrooms with a clearer idea of what they want. For retailers, that means warmer leads, more informed conversations and, ultimately, an easier path to conversion. “It’s all with the aim of driving


consumers to our retailers," says marketing manager Natalie Riley. "We’re not trying to sell directly to the public, we’re trying to make it easier for our retailers to reach them.” While this could be seen simply as a website


quickly the business could evolve digitally. “The old website had been refreshed a few


Natalie Riley


times,” she says. “But the system behind it was older, so every time we wanted to make a change it required quite a lot of coding and care.” The new site has been rebuilt from the ground up and gives the team more flexibility, improves internal efficiency and creates a platform that can evolve. It also removes much of the manual work behind product launches, with new items able to go live almost immediately. That's all the technical investment behind the scenes, but for consumers visiting the site, the biggest shift is in how Crosswater presents its products. as it is designed not just to display ranges, but to inspire and guide decision-making. A key feature is a “shop by room”


approach, which allows users to browse by


relaunch, the reality is that it represents a broader investment in systems, data and future capability – underlining how seriously Bathroom Brands is taking it as a tool to support physical retail. The previous Crosswater site had served the business well and had been refreshed over time, but it had reached a point where it needed a platform that could better support its growing catalogue and allow it to move faster without labour intensive manual input. “Our old website needed every product entered manually,” says Riley. “But now we’ve moved all our products to a central database, and the new website links directly to that, so we can put out product information much faster and make sure the information is much more accurate because it comes directly from that main source.” Jessica Howard, group brand and creative


services manager, says the previous platform worked well for its purpose but it limited how


bathroom type - such as a main bathroom, en suite or cloakroom - rather than needing to understand specific product categories from the outset. “We launched a lookbook last year aimed at


consumers and we’ve essentially built that into digital form on the website,” says Howard. “If you’re coming for inspiration and you know the type of room you’re doing, it’s all there in one place, and then we can push you through to a retailer.”


Guiding consumers That shift reflects a recognition that most


consumers do not think in product terminology, but instead try to visualise what might work in their own space. “It can be quite hard as an end user to


understand the difference between types of enclosures, baths or fittings,” Howard says. “Whereas if you can see something that looks like your bathroom and you're given a rough price, it becomes a far warmer lead for the retailer.” The new site combines clear cut-out product images with lifestyle photography, helping users


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May 2026


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