Who is Arabella London?
Stocked by luxury retailers all over the world, Arabella London offers a fresh take on swimwear. The brand has perfected the balance of support, and style – with swimwear crafted like lingerie, that can be worn both lounging around by the pool, or accessorised for a touch of evening glamour.
The brand predominantly sells online, and their core ethos is to offer swimwear that will fit their customers perfectly… while flattering all ages, sizes and skin tones.
When we began our partnership with Arabella London, they were already on Shopify – but their storefront was using an old theme, which no longer represented the brand’s visual style. The website needed a complete visual overhaul.
The Challenge: New Store, New Markets, New Features
Arabella London wanted the full package: a beautiful new storefront that reflected the company’s up-to-date aesthetic, while also targeting new audiences in other countries. It would mean incorporating features such as location switchers and multi-currency support.
During our initial discovery process, as always, we performed a complete UX review of the existing site – to identify any points of friction within the customer purchase journey.
One of the key areas we highlighted was customers’ confidence in picking the correct size. We soon realised that this common issue deserved a closer look… and a bespoke solution.
The problem of picking the right size…
Sizing is always a big challenge in buying swimwear online – as there’s no opportunity to get a feel for it, or to see how it fits! This is especially true for products where sizing may vary from one brand to another. Additionally, factor in the higher-end price bracket here, and it becomes a risky proposition indeed.
When considering a purchase, customers want to feel completely at ease with their choice. So we quickly identified the sizing issue as a potential friction point for Arabella London’s ecommerce business.
We brainstormed the challenge with the client, ultimately deciding that the best approach would be to help Arabella’s customers find their perfect fit, using a quiz-style questionnaire.
The Solution: A Powerful New Shop 2.0 Storefront
Our team created a fantastic new storefront for Arabella London, based on an upgraded Shop 2.0 theme. We used Shopify Markets to power their international expansion, with a range of new benefits including:
- Geolocation and location switcher
- Ability to sell to UK, Europe, Australia and the US
- Multi-currency support
Added to this, we also paid close attention to size naming conventions. For example, the same size might be described differently in Europe, the US or Australia, so we went above and beyond by ensuring that sizing conventions were tied to location selection.
But in the end, we were perhaps most proud of how we tackled the size selection issue! For Arabella London, we built a custom quiz option that would help their customers to shop online with confidence.
The “Find Your Perfect Fit” quiz
By adding a bespoke quiz element to the new store, customers could find their size by answering questions about their preferred products, styles, and also their current fit. After answering these questions, each customer would then be recommended their perfect size, alleviating those usual sizing worries.
The first challenge we tackled during development, was ensuring that the quiz accurately displayed the correct size based on the inputted data.
We worked with the client to determine the questions and responses for a range of common and unique scenarios. For example, a customer might enter their measurements but specify that they prefer a more snug, ‘push-up’ fit. The final recommendation is then adjusted, to reflect that fit.
To further personalise the customer experience, we created three quizzes: each unique to specific product types, namely bikini tops, bikini bottoms and swimsuits. This meant that customers could select their preferred styles for each, independently.
The final results page would then show a model wearing the precise same size(s) the customer had been suggested.
The Result: Increased Buyer Confidence
The Arabella London site was delivered right on schedule, and the clients were delighted with its slick visual aesthetic. But more than that, powered by Shop 2.0 and Shopify Markets, the new store kickstarted their international expansion and allowed them to sell seamlessly in whole new markets around the world.
The “Find Your Perfect Fit” quiz was a huge success. This feature made it far more accessible to shop for swimwear online, resulting in increased consumer confidence and sales. From Arabella’s perspective, the quiz also provided valuable insights into what their customers wanted… Powerful data to put towards future product development!
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Thanks for reading, we’re Inspira Digital.
We launched the 123rd store on Shopify, today we are one of the most experienced Shopify Experts in the world, delivering industry-leading Shopify services for fast-growing ambitious brands. We have helped build 100s of successful stores and have delivered 1000s of individual projects for Shopify and Shopify Plus clients globally.
Clients that work with us know we work passionately, to make sense of your commerce business, so if you want to talk to a team of experts about how best to take advantage of the Shopify platform, then let's talk.
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