When a brand has been trusted in kitchens around the world for nearly three centuries, it carries with it something that can’t be manufactured: legacy. For Zwilling, Henckels, Staub, Miyabi and Demeyere — brands united under the Zwilling Group — this legacy includes the heirloom knives passed down through generations and the timeless appeal of a cast-iron dutch oven sitting at the heart of a family meal. This depth of history creates something powerful, an emotional resonance that inspires confidence and loyalty before a product is even purchased.
But history alone is not enough. Today’s customers expect beauty and performance to meet seamlessly, both in product and experience. Whether browsing on a phone or checking out on a desktop, they want clean design, speed and relevance. For heritage brands, the challenge is not reinvention, it is translation. And Zwilling is meeting that challenge by digitally transforming with precision.
Modernizing Direct-to-Consumer with Purpose
Zwilling was not built as a direct-to-consumer brand. We were the manufacturers. Our foundations were in wholesale partnerships and physical retail, where trust was earned in person. Today, we are shaping a future where those same values are delivered through digital fluency and experience-led commerce.
The recent launch of a dedicated Henckels website in the United States is a key milestone in this strategic evolution. Henckels speaks to a different customer — whether it’s someone earlier in their cooking journey or a busy parent looking to find durable, quality cookware at an affordable price, they are seeking clarity and ease in their purchasing path. That meant rethinking not just the content but the entire architecture of the site.
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What we built was not just a transactional platform. We designed the Henckels site to feel light and modern, communicating almost entirely through our beautiful product and lifestyle photography. Navigation to our various categories like cookware and cutlery was made intuitive. Content was kept modular so that the site could respond to a wide range of customer contexts. This is modular brand architecture in practice, a system that gives each audience what they need, without losing the core heritage of who we are.
What stands out about the new Henckels site is how the technology steps back and lets the heritage of the brand speak through the product itself. It’s fluid, fast and responsive across devices, whether on a tablet, desktop or digital display, while maintaining that classic simplicity that customers associate with our brands.
Heritage as a Strategic Advantage
Too often, heritage is treated as a barrier to transformation. In reality, heritage is one of our greatest assets. Our brand has nearly three centuries of heritage equity, built on craftsmanship, performance and reliability. This gives us an unmatched foundation for digital storytelling and emotional connection through our long-earned trust.
Digital transformation is not about leaving that behind; it is about making it more visible. Whether through the new Henckels website, our Zwilling ecommerce experience or our wider digital ecosystem, we approach every touch point with the same goal — to reflect the values that customers already associate with us.
That mindset allows us to operate with agility while remaining grounded. Performance and preservation are not in conflict. When held in balance, they reinforce one another. This is the essence of legacy stewardship: being deliberate in how we evolve, so that the future is built on the strength of the past.
Translating the Brand for the Social Space
Social platforms move fast, but our approach remains rooted in the same core values that have guided the brand for centuries: quality, craftsmanship and trust. Adapting to channels like Instagram or TikTok isn’t about chasing trends, it’s about applying digital fluency to share the knowledge and design behind our products in ways that feel relevant to these new audiences and respectful of our heritage.
We tailor our content to fit each platform, without compromising who we are. That might mean a short, practical video on how to care for cast iron sitting alongside a more traditional piece of storytelling. Both formats serve a purpose. What matters is that both reflect the same attention to detail and desire to educate and inspire.
This is not about creative compromise. It’s about continuing our story in new spaces. Through translational storytelling we’re able to preserve our identity while expanding its reach. That’s the role of a modern heritage brand operating in an era of digital transformation.
Designing for Context, Not Just Conversion
In physical retail, our customers engage with our products directly. They feel the balance of a knife, inspect the craftsmanship hear the story behind the brands. Online, those same signals must be translated into digital moments.
This is why context matters. One customer may visit our site looking for inspiration, ready to explore with time on their hands. Another may need a seven-quart pot for an upcoming dinner party. Designing one static journey for both would be a compromise. That’s why our digital platforms are responsive and modular, capable of serving different needs with equal clarity and care.
This is experience-led commerce at its core. We’re not just designing for outcomes. We are designing for how people feel while they shop.
What Endures and What Evolves
Heritage brands hold a unique position in the modern market. In a world where trust is increasingly scarce, they offer something irreplaceable — proof of endurance, of craft, of care. But that strength must be actively maintained. The value of history is not in standing still, but in standing for something over time.
For Zwilling J.A. Henckels, digital transformation is not about chasing relevance. It is about making the timeless visible, accessible and meaningful to new audiences. It is about shaping the future without erasing the past. It is about meeting the integrity of our heritage and the expectations of a modern customer. And, perhaps most importantly, it is about ensuring that over 290 years of tradition remain a living force, not just a legacy remembered, but a standard renewed.
Marc Lickfett is VP Digital Transformation at Zwilling J.A. Henckels, where he leads U.S. ecommerce expansion and digital transformation projects across the organization. He is responsible for growing the Group’s direct-to-consumer business in the United States and enhancing the digital experience for customers across its portfolio of premium kitchenware brands. With over 25 years of international experience, Lickfett has founded and led companies across fintech, ecommerce and digital marketing, including roles as CEO and COO in Sweden, Germany, the UK and the U.S. His past ventures include Compricer AB, Klikki OY, Carambole AB, Knife Aid Inc., and King & McGaw Ltd.
