This week was all about the spring revamp & relaunch for two of my web design and development clients: newbie client Ask Ashe and my first ever client Tous Les Jours – the client that launched my freelancing career! After last months hectic late nights and early mornings I am excited to finally share with you the website revamp process we went through with Tous Les Jours and the awesome Shopify ECommerce platform they decided to use.
Tous Les Jours or rather, ‘too-lay-joor’ for the none Frenchies out there, is a luxury sleepwear boutique based in the Natal Midlands. Under the creative eye of Tracey Atkinson this brand has grown from strength to strength over the last couple of years and is now not only known for it’s highly luxurious sleepwear range but also it’s all-natural skincare range and adorable Mon Petite Chou Chou baby range.
Mid 2013 saw TLJ join the online shopping world but sadly it didn’t come easy and after many frustrating, challenging and fruitless meetings with their previous tech heavy web designers they called it a day and recruited me on a freelancing basis to get them online as fast as possible. My solution was to use Shopify – the easiest, most user friendly ECommerce platform out there!
And here are my top 7 reasons why I think Shopify is an awesome ECommerce platform.
1. There are over 100+ professional themes to choose from…
Choosing a new theme for the revamp of TLJ’s site was like standing in the toothpaste isle at Pick n Pay, complete overwhelm! But we quickly overcame this by defining their vision for the new site and what their main selling points are – ‘to market the chic Parisian women and their three ranges (skincare, sleepwear & baby)’. After much debate we all happily settled settled on the Mr Parker (Apothecary) theme.
2. The customisation process is super user-friendly
All of the Shopify themes come with their own intuitive settings that make the customisation process super simple and quick which is perfect for implementing your businesses brand! TLJ have an extremely strong, fun and very French brand that we wanted carried throughout the website so we stuck with the light pinks and a simple classic font to portray the chic Parisian woman.
3. Shopify is Mobile Commerce Ready
Included in every Shopify store is a built-in mobile commerce shopping cart which is perfect for the modern day women looking for luxury and elegance on her cellphone or tablet. In this fast paced world this was a big selling point for TLJ.
4. If you love stats you’ll love Shopify’s dashboard!
From seeing how many people visit your site everyday to whose been purchasing what, the Shopify dashboard is perfect for those who love stats and for making those all important business decisions i.e. like removing that product that just isn’t selling! The Cold Feet Customer stat is the one I love the most, they fill up their basket but don’t quite make it all the way to the end which leaves you wondering why and how you can get them to follow through?!
5. Managing your inventory is the simplest thing to do!
Yes honestly it really, really is! There is no limit to the number or type of products that you can sell on the Shopify platform and with the option to have ‘multiple images you can show off your products from every angle’. There is also the nifty function of importing or exporting your products using either CSV files or one of Shopify’s importer/exporter apps. And yes Shopify supports digital downloads, something a lot of my customers like to ask about.
6. Shopify supports secure online shopping & 70 payment gateways
There are still many South African’s who are fearful of online shopping but with the Shopify platform you are guaranteed a secure shopping experience. In Shopify’s words… ‘All credit card and transaction information is protected by the same level of security used by banks: a 256-bit SSL certificate.’ The new TLJ website now accepts payment via debit cards (SA – Nedbank, Standard and ABSA), credit cards (World Wide), EFTs, Payfast, Bitcoin and UKASH.
7. 24/7 Support
This time around I happily navigated my way around the Shopify platform but back in 2013 when just starting out I used their support team a lot and they were always available and always extremely helpful. A must for anything you are working with online!
With the help of Shopify, Tous Les Jour’s has been able expand their business and brand by offering their beautiful products to customers nationwide. Their new summer ladies sleepwear and baby range went online on the 1st of September and to celebrate they are giving away a gorgeous nighty & dressing gown combo from their all white 100% cotton sleepwear range – be sure to follow them on Facebook to find out more about the competition.
“I just wanted to say a very big thank you for all of your help in creating and launching our new website! I couldn’t ask for a better look, or design!! It is so fresh, and so us! And exactly what I wanted.” – Alex TLJ
Thanks for this info, I haven’t used Shopify yet, have been through many many shopping carts over the years and work predominantly with woocommerce, but I am keen to try shopify out.Well done on the revamp, it is awesome
Thanks, I love it for it’s simplicity and also that you don’t have to constantly do updates and worry about taking backups etc.