About the Client: Havaianas

Havaianas has become a global icon in casual footwear, celebrated for its vibrant designs and durable rubber flip-flops. With over 990 monobrand stores across five continents and distribution in more than 100 countries, the brand sold more than 220 million pairs of shoes in 2024. This widespread popularity underscores Havaianas' significant presence in the global market.

Beyond its commercial success, Havaianas embodies the lively and relaxed Brazilian lifestyle, making it a staple for beachgoers and fashion enthusiasts alike. The brand's influence extends from the streets of Brazil to international fashion runways, highlighting its versatile appeal.

As Havaianas continues to expand its footprint, particularly in dynamic markets like China, strategic digital transformation becomes essential.

Collaborating with IT Consultis (ITC), Havaianas aims to enhance its digital presence and customer engagement in the Chinese market.

Goals and Objectives

We focused on strategic priorities designed to address key challenges and unlock growth potential:

• Build a Private Traffic Ecosystem: Reduce reliance on Tmall and JD by launching a WeChat Mini Program with full data ownership, integrated e-commerce, and a locally tailored loyalty program. Leverage Social CRM to automate marketing and manage the Official Account.
• Enhance Brand Localization and User Experience: Adapt Havaianas’ vibrant, beach-inspired identity to resonate with Chinese audiences, blending bold visuals with streamlined UI/UX tailored for China’s mobile-first, efficiency-driven digital environment.
• Ensure Compliance with Local Regulations: Guide Havaianas through local regulatory requirements and data compliance challenges.

Solutions

Tailored WeChat Mini Program Design for China

To ensure a strong connection with Chinese consumers, IT Consultis tailored the Mini Program’s design and structure to resonate with local digital expectations while staying true to Havaianas’ playful and colorful identity.

The goal was to create a vibrant, intuitive shopping experience that delivered both visual impact and ease of use.

ITC’s design lead began by thoroughly reviewing Havaianas’ global brand guidelines, identifying the core elements that needed to be preserved:

• Bold color schemes 
• Casual beach lifestyle imagery 

From there, the team translated these assets into a format better suited for the preferences of China’s mobile-savvy users, focusing on clarity, speed, and accessibility.

The design journey was executed in iterative phases:

1. Aligning UX wireframes to user flow best practices in the Chinese market.
2. Introducing playful functional layouts using regionally favored colors, large tap targets, and simplified navigation structures.
3. Creating dynamic visuals and animations to help retain Havaianas' identity, while enhancing usability.

E-Commerce & Loyalty WeChat Mini Program Development

Post-design phase, IT Consultis developed the WeChat Mini Program serving as a central pillar of the brand’s private traffic strategy.

This platform combines e-commerce capabilities with a fully integrated loyalty program, enabling Havaianas to take full control of customer relationships, drive sales, and collect valuable user insights.

We conducted an initial kickoff with the Havaianas team to carry out a comprehensive analysis of their goals and technical infrastructure.

We then established the customer journey and data flow by identifying the necessary components for a complete and autonomous private traffic system.

For development, our team leveraged Magento to power the e-commerce backend and Laravel to build a dedicated loyalty engine. This allowed for seamless synchronization between purchase behavior and loyalty benefits.

The WeChat Mini Program was developed using the Taro framework — a React-based solution — making the codebase easily reusable for future web or app expansion.

Optimizing Marketing Automation for Havaianas WeChat Official Account

We also implemented the Social CRM system to centralize customer data and enable personalized interactions within WeChat.

A Marketing Automation roadmap was designed and executed to optimize follower tagging and segmentation, helping Havaianas enrich customer profiles and deliver more relevant content.

Ultimately, these interconnected tools enabled the brand to activate data-driven, targeted campaigns, track user behavior, and build deeper customer relationships.

Guiding Compliance in China’s Digital Landscape

Successfully launching a digital platform in China requires a deep understanding of local regulations and technical environments.

IT Consultis worked closely with Havaianas to ensure full compliance with China’s strict data protection laws, including the Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL), and to integrate various backend systems smoothly.

Compliance and integration were not one-time efforts. We established ongoing workflows and protocols to ensure future updates and operations would also remain compliant and interconnected. This ensured that Havaianas’ digital operations in China could scale securely, efficiently, and without interruption.

Results

The solutions implemented by IT Consultis laid a solid foundation for Havaianas’ digital success in China.

The launch of the WeChat Mini Program gave the brand another key owned e-commerce channel in the market to drive sales and acquire 100% of the customer engagement and transactional data.

By shifting focus from public traffic channels to a private traffic ecosystem, Havaianas also gained greater agility in campaign management, product releases, and user communication.

The ability to launch limited-edition collections and VIP-only incentives directly through the Mini Program significantly enhanced user engagement and brand differentiation.

On the compliance side, Havaianas was able to operate confidently within the framework of China’s data protection laws. This not only reduced legal risk but also helped the brand build credibility with Chinese consumers — a critical factor in establishing long-term loyalty.