Case Study: How Our Shopify Experts Supported the Launch of the Saint James Australia Ecommerce Store

Brand overview

Renowned for its timeless designs and chic nautical style, Saint James is a popular French clothing brand. It has an international presence, selling to customers across Europe and the US. Its products are also sold in Australia, via the business’ in-market distribution partner, Le Comptoir Français.

Le Comptoir Français is on a mission to bring classic French clothing and accessories down under, selling products from various French brands – including Saint James’ striped wardrobe staples – to Australian businesses and consumers.

Recently, Le Comptoir Français sought to launch a standalone DTC ecommerce store for the Saint James brand in Australia. It’s this project, which was led by Swanky’s Shopify experts in Australia, that we will explore in this case study.

Saint James Australia: Platform selection

When choosing a platform for the new Saint James Australia online store, the Le Comptoir Français team could have opted to host it on Neto, just like the Le Comptoir Français DTC site. However, the team’s ongoing frustrations with this legacy Neto setup – including increasing costs, lack of reliability and poor support – had left them feeling somewhat disillusioned with the platform.

Meanwhile, Shopify was already successfully powering Saint James’ French, US, and EU ecommerce stores. Keen to keep the brand’s tech stack standardised around the world, and with the aforementioned frustrations in mind, the Le Comptoir Français team opted to have the new Australian site built on Shopify too.

Shopify represents an affordable, dependable and supported ecommerce solution for retailers across the globe. Named a ‘Leader’ in the 2023 GartnerⓇ Magic Quadrant™ for Digital Commerce, Shopify’s value proposition for brands includes:

• simple, code-free customisations that reduce reliance on developers;
• powerful native features to enable global growth, including the highest-converting checkout in the ecosystem;
• a marketing-leading ecosystem of apps and integrations;
• a rich product and feature roadmap, with unmatched pace of innovation;
• access to various forms of 24/7 support; and
• reduced total cost of ownership.

Project goals

Our core goals when building this Shopify store for the Australian ecommerce market were to:

• match the look of the existing French, US, and EU Saint James stores;
• sync inventory and orders with Neto (to link with Le Comptoir Français’ wholesale inventory system);
• integrate with key marketing accounts (GA4, Search Console, Klaviyo and Meta); and
• extend basic store functionality with a carefully chosen Shopify tech stack.

What we did

Shopify 2.0 store build

We built the Saint James Australia store on Shopify 2.0. This upgraded version of the Shopify platform has transformed the Shopify experience for retailers and consumers alike.

Ecommerce teams have flexibility at their fingertips, with increased ownership of their store. Meanwhile, visitors can enjoy fast ecommerce sites, with enriched content experiences and better brand storytelling.

You can read more about this topic in our article about the benefits of Shopify Online Store 2.0.

In order to maintain a consistent look and feel with Saint James’ other ecommerce stores, we leveraged existing branding and styling throughout the build. This is important for reinforcing the Saint James story across countries and creating a unified international brand.

Sync with Neto

It was important for the Le Comptoir Français team that inventory could be synced between Neto and Shopify.

We leveraged the Neto-Shopify integration, built by Neto, to achieve this. Details of any orders placed on the Saint James Australian Shopify store are transferred into Neto for shipping to be arranged.

Tech stack consultation & implementation

We assisted with the implementation of a scalable Shopify tech stack to provide essential functionality and support automation:

• Klaviyo: As an official Klaviyo email marketing agency, we champion Klaviyo as an extremely powerful data and marketing automation platform that can help retailers to connect with customers seamlessly across channels.

• Okendo: We often recommend Okendo for automating review requests and showcasing customer feedback. Featuring authentic social proof at key touch points across your site is especially important for a brand looking to build trust quickly on a new ecommerce store.

• Littledata: Swanky recommends Littledata for many of our clients. Empower your team with enriched data, thanks to integrations with GA4, Google Ads and Meta.

• Shopify Search & Discovery: We implemented this tool for enhanced site search and product filtering. It can also be used to understand how customers are navigating a store, with these insights being used to improve the search experience further.

• Instafeed: We used Instafeed to display Saint James’ Instagram feed on the Australian store. This is another way to showcase social proof, build trust and drive conversions.

• Wishlist Hero: This popular app enables users to create and manage product wishlists, no login required.

Launch a new ecommerce store in Australia with our Shopify Experts

Thanks to Swanky, the Le Comptoir Français team now has a fast, flexible and reliable standalone ecommerce store to support its distribution of Saint James’ iconic striped tees in the APAC market.

To discuss any of the themes in this case study with our expert team, including international expansion, platform comparisons, or Shopify 2.0, please get in touch.