PAUL & JOE is a popular French cosmetics brand known for its retro-modern, glamorous designs and functionality. Albion Co., Ltd., responsible for its global expansion, has gained a large following through its retail strategy focused on department stores and cosmetics specialty shops.
In 2019, PAUL & JOE launched its official online store. Utilizing Shopify's Plus plan, they successfully built a flexible store, significantly reducing operational costs. They also employed a unique approach by hiring former beauty consultants for site management, leading to increased customer satisfaction. Currently, the online store's sales have quadrupled since its first year (2020), making it a crucial new sales channel.
Results from Utilizing Shopify's Plus Plan:
- Ecommerce site sales: 400%*
- CVR of customers contacted through online store: 15 point increase**
- Purchase rate of customers who tried samples from the online site: 20%***
*Comparison of sales between 2020 (the first year of site operation) and 2023 **Comparison between customers visiting the site and those who interacted with chat support in 2024 ***2024
This article delves into the background and achievements of Shopify's Plus plan implementation, featuring an interview with Takayuki Sakakibara, Group Leader of the Domestic Sales Promotion Group, International Brand Sales Department at Albion Co., Ltd., who leads the company's online store.
Takayuki Sakakibara, Group Leader, Domestic Sales Promotion Group, International Brand Sales Department, Albion Co., Ltd.
Learning from International Success Stories, Shifting from a Scratch-built Approach
Albion Co., Ltd.'s decision to launch an official online site stemmed from repeated inquiries during meetings with overseas brand licensees: "Why isn't Japan pursuing online business?". This prompted internal discussions about the importance of online sales, leading to the development of an official online store for ANNA SUI, a popular brand they distribute, around 2017.
"One of the reasons for launching the online store was the limited number of physical stores," explains Sakakibara. "For instance, there were customers who were interested in the brand but couldn't purchase products because there were no stores nearby or because they worked during the day. We felt the need to create an environment where such customers could easily enjoy our products."
However, the company lacked online business expertise at the time. They initially believed that building a scratch-built online store was the best approach and began preparing for a large-scale, self-developed website.
"Actually, we already had a very large budget approved by upper management for the development of a scratch-built online site," Sakakibara recalls. "But, I had a nagging feeling inside. I could see that we would have to request development from a scratch-built company every time we launched a new product, and we'd incur substantial costs for creating seasonal feature pages. I was uneasy about the huge initial investment and the ongoing operational costs."
Then, they learned about ANNA SUI's success in utilizing Shopify overseas. Through their encounter with StoreHero, a company that provides merchant support for Shopify, they realized the platform's potential.
Shopify's Plus plan, in particular, offered significant appeal: it allowed them to create high-quality pages in-house and significantly reduced initial investment, costing only 1/50th of a scratch-built development. They decided to scrap the planned scratch-built approach and fully embrace Shopify.
During this transition, StoreHero's expertise in Shopify played a key role in smooth implementation. "Meeting a partner with extensive experience in Shopify was a true asset for running our online store," says Sakakibara.
In 2018, they opened ANNA SUI's official online store, followed by PAUL & JOE's the next year.
Shopify's High Flexibility Allows for Seasonal Strategy Updates
Shopify's user-friendliness has had a positive impact on Albion's e-commerce operations.
Currently, the company operates two online stores: PAUL & JOE and ANNA SUI. Each brand has a dedicated team of two, but none of the members had prior experience in e-commerce, though they were former beauty consultants. Thanks to Shopify's intuitive interface and flexibility, they smoothly manage all operational tasks, including site updates, inventory management, customer support (CS), email newsletters, landing page (LP) creation, and more.
"We've always valued customer service through direct interaction in our stores. We wanted to create a similar experience online. To provide customers with a personalized experience, we entrusted the online store to beauty consultants with experience serving customers in stores. With Shopify, anyone can operate an online store, not just e-commerce specialists, but those with skills in other fields. This allows beauty consultants, masters of customer service, to build and run an online store with a customer-first approach," explains Sakakibara.
Sakakibara himself started with no experience in online site management, having a background in sales. However, after adopting Shopify and actively engaging in its operation, he was amazed by its intuitive interface and ease of updating.
For instance, they can quickly and affordably update the site for seasonal minor changes or new product launches, enabling flexible operations previously restricted by scratch-built development.
In fact, PAUL & JOE's official online store has undergone countless minor changes and one major overhaul in the four years since its launch. These changes were implemented to adapt to the strategic needs of a beauty brand evolving seasonally and to address changing customer demands over time.
"If this were a scratch-built site, it would have taken a significant amount of time and cost," says Sakakibara. "We need flexibility because we change what we want to express and what products we want to sell each season. Shopify's Plus plan allows us to make changes on a daily basis. This helps us maintain the freshness of the site and ensures a satisfying experience for our customers."
Achieving Flexible Site Expansion: Shopify Apps and Features Supporting PAUL & JOE's Growth
GemPages Landing Page Builder: Enhances LP Creation Quality and Efficiency
PAUL & JOE frequently creates feature pages to effectively communicate the appeal of new products, limited editions, and fashion accessories to customers. Shopify's "GemPages Landing Page Builder" app is essential for this process. It allows them to easily create high-converting LPs that showcase products attractively, even without specialized knowledge.
"PAUL & JOE sells cosmetics and fashion accessories, with new and limited-edition products launched every month. For products we particularly want to highlight, we create 5-6 LPs per month. It's like changing displays in a physical store based on the season. Just as with stores, LPs need to be flexible enough to change with the product features and timing," explains Sakakibara.
ChannelTalk: CVR Improvement Through Chat-based Customer Service
PAUL & JOE's official website utilizes the "ChannelTalk" app, which enables real-time communication with customers through a chat function, significantly improving conversion rates (CVR). Previously, they only offered email inquiries. However, by adopting chat-based customer service similar to in-store interactions, they achieved a CVR of approximately 17%, compared to the usual 2%.
"An increase in inquiries indicates that customers are interested in the brand. By having former beauty consultants meticulously respond to each customer's question, we've achieved higher quality service. We believe this contributes to improved customer satisfaction," says Sakakibara.
Recently, they implemented AI-powered automated responses, enabling customers hesitant about direct interactions to easily inquire. This addresses customers who previously left without inquiring, increasing the number of interactions to over 100 per day, compared to around 30 for human responses. This achieves greater efficiency in online customer service operations while significantly contributing to customer satisfaction.
Recustomer: Automating Cancellation Processing
PAUL & JOE's online store has implemented the "Recustomer" app, which automates cancellation and return processing, allowing customers to easily cancel orders themselves. This not only improves customer satisfaction but also significantly reduces the workload of e-commerce staff.
"Previously, we manually processed 200-300 cancellations per month. Handling them outside business hours could lead to delays and potentially cause customer anxiety. Since implementing Recustomer, customers can easily cancel orders themselves, leading to increased peace of mind," says Sakakibara.
Shopify's Scalability Drives Efficiency and Growth: Diverse Features, Apps, and a Reliable Foundation
In addition to the above, PAUL & JOE utilizes various other apps and features, such as the "Judge.me Product Reviews App" for collecting customer feedback and the "Shopify Flow" app for automating business processes. They carefully selected these apps based on their business stage with the support of StoreHero, their long-time Shopify partner.
Moreover, Shopify boasts high reliability, ensuring stable operation even during peak traffic periods. During previous large-scale promotions, they successfully maintained smooth operations without any server downtime. "When we were planning a large-scale campaign aimed at maximizing daily sales, we consulted with Shopify beforehand. They immediately assured us, 'There will be no problems.' And indeed, everything went smoothly that day," Sakakibara states.
Sales Quadruple! Accelerating Customer Acquisition Strategies for the Next Challenge
Through utilizing Shopify's Plus plan, PAUL & JOE's official online store has achieved four times the sales in 2023 compared to its launch in 2020.
This achievement stems from continuous efforts to provide a store-like customer experience online by leveraging the flexible operational foundation offered by Shopify.
One of their most successful initiatives is offering exclusive samples for online store purchases. "In physical stores, it's common to provide customers with trial samples. We thought that if we offered samples online, more customers would be able to try our products without hesitation," says Sakakibara.
These samples are available for purchase at a cost of only the shipping fee. They receive several thousand applications every month, with a 20% purchase rate of full-size products after trying the samples, leading to customer retention.
Sample Products. Priced at 0 yen, customers can obtain them for only the 300 yen (tax included) shipping fee.
Furthermore, they utilize Shopify's review function to effectively gather customer feedback, which in turn encourages other customers to make purchases.
"We don't offer any benefits for submitting reviews. Despite this, many customers voluntarily post positive comments. This ability to leverage such feedback in our online store operations is a testament to the strength of Shopify's platform," says Sakakibara.
Results from Utilizing Shopify's Plus Plan:
- Ecommerce site sales: 400%*
- CVR of customers contacted through online store: 15 point increase**
-
Purchase rate of customers who tried samples from the online site: 20%***
*Comparison of sales between 2020 (the first year of site operation) and 2023
**Comparison between customers visiting the site and those who interacted with chat support in 2024 ***2024
Looking ahead, PAUL & JOE's official online store aims to expand customer acquisition initiatives and further growth.
"We've focused on creating a site for existing customers who are familiar with the brand. Going forward, we want to build a system that allows those who are new to the brand to think, 'This brand is great,' and 'I want to visit this site again.' We will strive for intuitive site design that allows even first-time visitors to easily find what they want and explore new pages that showcase the brand's charm," says Sakakibara.
PAUL & JOE has successfully provided customers with a personalized experience online by leveraging Shopify's flexible platform and utilizing the expertise of former beauty consultants, professionals in customer service. Building on this success, they will aim for even greater growth, further enhancing existing customer satisfaction and forging new connections with customers.