BÉIS was founded by Canadian actress and entrepreneur Shay Mitchell to meet the needs of millennial women in need of functional yet stylish travel bags. They selected Shopify as their platform due to its reputation as a reliable partner for scaling, out-of-the-box functionality, rich app ecosystem, and site speed.
BÉIS has made creative use of Shopify’s functionalities to build community and engage their customers both IRL and online with seamless, unified shopping experiences and customer events. They’ve experienced double digit growth YOY on Shopify and plan to expand using other Shopify features that are nascent to them, such as Shopify Markets.
With Shopify, BÉIS has experienced:
- 135% growth in first partial year, 200% growth in first full year, and double digit growth YOY every year since
- 30% increase in traffic in markets where BÉIS runs a Shopify-powered pop-up
- 200% increase in site traffic during BFCM 2023 with no site downtime and site speed of 2.5 seconds during surge periods
- $200+ million annual revenue in 2023
BÉIS: Disrupting a high-growth, multi-billion dollar industry
Back in 2018, Shay Mitchell, the Canadian actress and entrepreneur, already had a successful YouTube channel where she was prolific in detailing her adventures as she traveled for work. As Shay traversed the great far and wide, she shared all of her pro tips for fellow travelers on how to stay grounded.
Soft socks for the plane; a “staying alive bag” filled with vitamins and herbal tea. Let’s just say, Shay wasn’t the kind of traveler who was afraid to “shock everyone else when they wake up [on the plane] and I have a full-on mask.”
But in all this, something was missing. The luggage available for millennial women like Shay was either fashionable or clunky, without much overlap. And few retailers understood the user enough to provide a pocket inside them for every kind of plug, document, and, well, full-on facial mask that a frequent traveler could need.
Adeela Hussain Johnson, CEO of BÉIS, describes it best:
“There was this market opportunity in [Shay’s] mind for bags that were highly functional but looked chic. At the time, it felt like you're spending boatloads of money on this bag that's going to get beat up or [your bag is] super cheap and it falls apart after your first trip. So there wasn't this perfect intersection.”
With experienced retailers like Adeela on board, BÉIS was set to take off—and did steadily for their first full year, with 136% growth over their partial, initial year. And then?
“COVID hits,” says Adeela, describing the experience. “And you’re like, ‘Oh my God, the entire world is grounded. We’re an on-the-go brand.”
Just weeks away from launching their first roller bag, the team paused and transitioned their already diverse portfolio into the kinds of bags their fans needed now: bags they could take on walks, to the grocery store, even from the bedroom to the living room. Anything that helped them go hands-free as work and life blended into one, blurry thing that could happen anywhere.
That’s the kind of responsiveness, agility, and creativity team that’s threaded throughout the BÉIS story—and in fact, is a key ingredient in their continued success.
In the end, “2020 was tremendous,” says Adeela. “We surpassed 200 percent growth by a long shot. And then every year since it’s been double digit growth.”
We surpassed 200 percent growth by a long shot. And then every year since it’s been double digit growth.
Challenge #1: Platform reliability and room for growth
Seeking: A travel companion to scale with
There’s planning for a trip, and then there’s planning for the meteoric success in the heart of a world altering pandemic.
With a direct to consumer model, BÉIS didn’t just need a platform, they sought a reliable partner from their founding who could grow with them—and pivot on a dime as they did.
And there was one more thing.
The company had gone for DTC as a strategic decision to carve a niche for themselves in a sector filled with noteworthy name brands. But more than that, the company was built on Shay’s direct relationship with her followers. The business model needed to replicate that one-to-one feeling—and the platform they went with had to support that relationship.
Solution: A partner for scale and growth
So why Shopify?
“When we launched, we were a very small team,” says Adeela. “A lot of what we were looking for was, who can help us start and scale seamlessly? We were a brand new brand and we didn't have the resources internally to build our own platform when we didn’t need to. Because there's a partner, Shopify, that does it really well. That's their bread and butter. For us, it was really about, who's best in class and who can help us scale as we grow this business long term?”
We were a brand new brand and we didn't have the resources internally to build our own platform when we didn’t need to. Because there's a partner, Shopify, that does it really well. That's their bread and butter.
Results: Reliability, scale
That key decision, to go with the most reliable partner in scaling, has proven itself out time again. Average page load time remains low as the brand has scaled. And it’s been reliable during BFCM surges, when the brand sees an average increase of 225% in daily sessions when compared to non-holiday seasons.
Challenge #2: Creating meaningful experiences in-store and online
Pop in for a pop up—and a unified, brand-building experience
BÉIS was born out of a need, then built by a strong relationship with a millennial audience. As the world began to open up again, BÉIS fans wanted to take the relationship IRL.
Solution: The seamlessness of Shopify’s unified solutions
In 2023, the brand hosted their very first pop-up, with a very specific vision in mind.
“[Pop-ups are] really a moment to build the brand and to build the relationship with the consumer,” says Adeela. “That perspective is what allows us to do it so uniquely, because the KPIs are not traffic per foot or sales per foot. It’s really about, how do we hear what the consumer is looking for and how do we create a fun, immersive way to tell our brand story?”
The team knew that the key to an IRL experience would be its seamlessness. It wouldn’t be enough to just show up—they’d have to make it magical. That was a tricky line to walk for a product as big and bulky as luggage, which made it impossible to hold a lot of product at the pop-up site itself. The consumer was coming for an IRL experience, but they’d need to buy in-store, and then wait for the product to be shipped to their home.
How, then, to foster a deeper connection than browsing online?
The answer is in the seamlessness of Shopify’s unified solutions.
Shopify POS for IRL activations
As the platform behind the BÉIS online store and checkout, Shopify was an easy choice as the POS solution for pop-events. This would allow customers to fall in love with a product in-store, then, check out using the Shopify POS, and receive their product at home, rather than having to lug their new purchase around New York or LA all day. With iPads set up in store, the Shopify network is set up with a unique discount code unique to the shop and to the pop-up.
It’s a combination of the best of two worlds: the rush of the physical experience with the convenience of the at-home one. To the consumer, this creates a feeling of ease and community at all touch points. For BÉIS, it helps to capture that consumer in the moment when they’re excited about the brand, rather than expecting the potential customer to keep up the momentum of that moment and finish the purchase at home.
Results: Increased traffic and customer loyalty
From the first event at the Grove in Dallas on, the pop-ups have been a resounding success. Not only have they helped BÉIS test out and expand into new markets, but the events have also helped BÉIS secure loyal and returning customers, who are more passionate about the brand because of their IRL experiences.
We see an average 30% increase in traffic during pop-up activation and an average revenue lift of 10%.
Additionally, the brand sees an average of 2.5 thousand new followers and more than 2.5 million impressions during pop-up events. Consumers acquired from IRL activations have an average 20% higher 12-month long-term value and are more engaged with the brand.
Engaging IRL with an active online community
With these successful events under their belts, the BÉIS team has continued to get creative, including one event called a BÉIS wash, where customers brought in their bags to be washed. The idea stemmed from frequently asked questions from the company’s passionate online community on how to keep their bags clean. The brand responded—and the result was lines around the block.
Challenge #3: Putting on a robust and engaging BFCM
There are few moments where the seamlessness and reliability of a commerce platform come to the forefront as much as BFCM. BÉIS isn’t a discount brand, and they rarely run a sale. So BFCM represents a key moment when BÉIS loyalists can get their hands on deals they won’t see at any other time of year. It’s an important time for the brand, one where they see an average increase of 225% in daily sessions and a 250% increase in conversions over non-holiday periods.
Solution: A full-funnel, multi-channel experience
For the brand, it’s another moment where they try to thread the needle between offline and digital experiences.
“[BCFM] is such a critical time period for us, our four busiest days of the year,” says Adeela. “Being a DTC brand, of course, 90 percent of our effort is making sure those four days go off seamlessly. But there is a consumer that maybe just loves to do the old school lineup-at-the-door kind of black Friday feel. That [is] really what that Shopify partnership [has allowed] us to offer the consumer…[For example], we did…a takeover through New York. We had billboards, we were wrapping cabs…to create an immersive experience so that the consumer could then see us through multiple touch points.”
There is a consumer that maybe just loves to do the old school lineup-at-the-door kind of black Friday feel. That’s really what that Shopify partnership [has allowed] us to offer the consumer.
Product launches, doorbusters, and virtual waiting rooms
The brand brought its most recently launched colors to the event, an experience Adeela says is, “pretty unique to what we’re able to do at a Shopify pop-up.”
But it wasn’t just IRL where the team got creative during BFCM. To recreate the feel of that classic IRL Black Friday experience, the brand experimented with doorbusters, which attracted over 60,000 people in their virtual waiting room. The doorbuster event alone increased their social following 5.2 thousand, generating 2.94 million impressions and 55 thousand engagements.
Results: 200% growth in traffic
Altogether, this omnichannel experience drove over 200 percent growth in traffic during BFCM alone. That’s 200 percent more people learning about the brand, exposed to the product, interacting in a new way that they wouldn’t have been able to capture at another time.
Personalized experiences for customized targeting
But customers attracted aren’t equivalent to customers acquired. BÉIS turned to Nosto, an AI-powered customer experience app available in the Shopify store, to create personalized experiences customized to shopper behavior. Through these analyses, the brand was able to discern which products consumers began their BÉIS store journey with, and what they browsed subsequently. This helped them better customize targeting for specific products during a customer’s most ripe buying period. In fact, 40% of BÉIS consumers shopped Black Friday multiple times.
40% of BÉIS consumers shopped Black Friday multiple times.
Product affinity data helped the brand stay stocked and ready to ship—a crucial part of any successful BFCM experience.
Improved site speed by half, reducing points of tension
Throughout it all, site performance—and in particular, site speed—kept the experience going without a hitch.
“Site speed is a huge metric and often one that goes understated,” says Adeela. “[We] improved site speed by half. It was two and a half percent. Just north of that. That just means the consumer doesn't have to wait. It reduces friction points. And that's really what any objective is. When we get somebody on our site, the focus is to reduce points of tension and make it as seamless and possible.”
“Shopify is a huge way that we do that. We leverage a lot of the capabilities that come within the Shopify platform to help keep people easily going through the funnel. Reducing site speed is a direct correlation to why we saw such high conversion rates.”
We leverage a lot of the capabilities that come within the Shopify platform to help keep people easily going through the funnel. Reducing site speed is a direct correlation to why we saw such high conversion rates.
“I don't think we could have done it any other way. And I wouldn't do it any other way because I think it's a slam dunk. It's kind of a no brainer, especially for brands that are starting, because Shopify are experts in what they do,” says Adeela.
I don't think we could have done it any other way. And I wouldn't do it any other way because I think It's a slam dunk. It's kind of a no brainer, especially for brands that are starting, because Shopify are experts in what they do.
BÉIS and Shopify: A bright future
What does the future hold for BÉIS? As the brand moves into new products and styles, it plans on leaning further into Shopify’s vast feature and app ecosystem to continue its growth. Next up? Shopify's international sales tools to expand globally.
There’s no doubt, BÉIS is headed upwards, leading with their creativity in storytelling, community building, product innovation, and engaging IRL and online experiences—all powered by a platform that shows up to play wherever they dream of going.
Watch the entire interview
Want to hear more? Watch the full video interview with Adeela Hussain Johnson, CEO of BÉIS, below.
