How Seafolly is Accelerating Global Growth
WITH AN ADVANCED ECOMMERCE ECOSYSTEM
How Seafolly is Accelerating Global Growth With An Advanced Ecommerce Ecosystem
Seafolly is an iconic Australian fashion brand, born on the beaches of Sydney in 1975 and embodying the Australian beach lifestyle. Its innovative swim collections are sold globally via 30 Seafolly stores, 2,700+ stockists in 50 countries, affiliate sites and marketplaces.
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When Your Brand Outgrows Your Platform
With established worldwide brand awareness, Seafolly was well placed to expand globally and increase ecommerce revenue. But delivering a customer-first, agile digital experience supported by omnichannel capability wasn’t easy within the existing ecommerce and customer architecture.
Seafolly Chief Digital Officer, Elain Vaughan, explains that accelerating global growth demanded advanced capabilities that either had to be added to the existing platform or prompt a complete platform migration.
Seafolly chose a new ecommerce platform, Shopify, and set an ambitious project timetable for replatforming and integrating new product and marketing tools. Seafolly had complete confidence in Comestri’s expertise with Shopify and POS System AP21.
“We already had significant ecommerce growth to deliver alongside the replatforming project,” Elain says.
“With a very lean technology team, we needed support from a trusted partner.”
63% IMPROVEMENT
in online inventory updates
9 LOCALISED WEBSITES
plugged into Comestri PIM
0 DOWNTIME
across 30 stores, 9 websites and third-party marketplaces
We were behind the market for online user experience and needed to be able to make improvements quickly and cost-effectively on an ongoing basis.
We were behind the market for online user experience and needed to be able to make improvements quickly and cost-effectively on an ongoing basis.
Expert Ecommerce Replatforming & Integration
With Comestri’s Product Information Manager (PIM) already in place in Seafolly’s technology stack, they were an obvious choice for replatforming and ecosystem integration support.
“We were confident in Comestri’s technology for using the PIM for our product data. We knew they were good partners to work with and that their expertise could certainly empower our big e-commerce ambitions,” says Elain.
Seafolly and Comestri collaborated closely to deliver ambitious iterative timeframes – without downtime for customers or inventory.
“Comestri provides an essential component of our system and we’re only able to service new markets with accurate inventory coming through from the PIM.”
Elain Vaughan, Chief Digital Officer
Seafolly manages product data across currencies and languages using the PIM.
Seafolly replatforms to Shopify and plugs directly into the PIM and key ecommerce tools.
Enriched product data boosts Seafolly sales, marketing and growth.
How Comestri Helped Seafolly Leap Across Platforms
01.
NINE NEW
Shopify sites plugged into the PIM.
02.
ENRICHED PRODUCT DATA
across marketplaces like The DOM, The Iconic and The Market
03.
BRAND AND REGIONAL PRODUCT DATA
connected to marketing spend across Facebook, Google Shopping and Pinterest
04.
SEAMLESS CONNECTION
with Cloudinary for centralised management of digital assets
We knew they [Comestri] were good partners to work with; there’s a high level of trust there… we’re very happy with the relationship that we have.
We knew they [Comestri] were good partners to work with; there’s a high level of trust there… we’re very happy with the relationship that we have.
One System For Market-Leading UX
Comestri’s PIM integration with Shopify and key marketing and product tools has transformed Seafolly’s user experience.
Eliza Yarnold, Seafolly Senior Ecommerce Executive & Business Analyst, says the PIM provides an opportunity to control and activate all products, in one place, for more sites. With product information flowing from AP21 to the PIM and back out to their Shopify sites, Seafolly relies on Comestri’s automation tools.
“Using the PIM with Shopify and other tools makes it simple to rollout localised sites, apply consistent product rules, and automate to remove the risk of human error.”
We’ve taken a big leap forward in terms of online capability, and our agility in terms of user experience.
We can do more ourselves to stay responsive.
Linking to Comestri’s PIM provides a reliable product feed and a solid foundation for improving UX.
“We’ve enhanced our transactional emails using data insights, implemented virtual fitting solutions and stylist appointments and enhanced on-site merchandising,” says Elain.
“And it’s all tied to the data piece from Comestri.”
Faster Launch & Exceptional AOV Growth
The replatform and tool integration impacts include a unified global brand and improved user experience through personalised search, easier payment, size and fit guidance, in-store appointments, and Click & Collect.
Seafolly is equipped to get to market faster across new channels and markets. The combination of Shopify and Comestri allows Seafolly to set up new currencies and service new regions quickly and efficiently. Extension sites, such as New Zealand being an extension of the Australian site, give customers a local experience without the need for local sites.
“We’re achieving exceptional average order value (AOV) growth against some fairly aggressive targets,” says Elain.
Knowing our customers are spending more when they shop gives us confidence we’re providing a better experience, driving customers into stores, and making it easier to find products online. And of course our fantastic product ranges and brand awareness underpin this capability.
We knew they [Comestri] were good partners to work with; there’s a high level of trust there… we’re very happy with the relationship that we have.
Knowing our customers are spending more when they shop gives us confidence we’re providing a better experience, driving customers into stores, and making it easier to find products online. And of course our fantastic product ranges and brand awareness underpin this capability.
A Partnership Built on Trust
Where would Seafolly be without the support of Comestri?
“We’d be in a longer project management cycle, with implementation looking very far off, time consuming and expensive,” Elain says.
“We were 100% confident that Comestri would move heaven and earth to meet the timeline.”
The project has been win-win-win: for Seafolly, our customers, and the vendors we enjoy working with. We consider Comestri to be a very close, trusted partner – one we can always reach out to – and we’re so grateful for the team’s commitment to our success.
The project has been win-win-win: for Seafolly, our customers, and the vendors we enjoy working with. We consider Comestri to be a very close, trusted partner – one we can always reach out to – and we’re so grateful for the team’s commitment to our success.
