Christy Ng began her side hustle by sourcing shoes from abroad and selling them in Malaysian flea markets and local Facebook groups. Before long, the popularity of her shoe collection grew and Christy Ng became a household name across Malaysia. Christy swiftly scaled from selling from her mother’s living room to having 10 retail stores across the country and two online channels to cater to domestic and international customers.
Challenge
As online demand for Christy Ng boomed, the brand struggled to grow and scale operations to match its customers’ expectations.
Christy Ng had been using Opencart to power its online channel, but was disappointed by the platform’s capabilities. The brand’s website frequently crashed in busy periods, particularly during product launches. Consequently, Christy Ng had to have seven dedicated servers in a data center, just to keep the website running. The lack of automation options meant that order processing was slow and required two dedicated employees and took two days per order.
Christy was also frustrated by the inability to easily customize the website and enhance the interface without relying on external IT teams. The checkout experience was particularly clunky, resulting in a high customer dropout rate.
Solution
The pandemic was a turning point as online channels became a focal point for the business. Christy was desperate to improve the customer experience and reduce bloated operational costs. The founder, convinced after reading Shopify Plus case studies, decided to migrate to the platform.
Immediately, Christy Ng found relief in the reliability of the platform and how easy it was to use. Not only could the website withstand high traffic, along with supporting half a million customers on the system, but customizations had never been easier. The brand eliminated its reliance on third-party contractors and instead utilized Shopify Plus third-party apps. Apps like Klayvio were integrated for email campaigns during product launches, while Gorgias was adopted to enhance customer service.
Shopify Flow was another standout feature, which automated order processing and reduced the time from two days to one hour. With this app, the business could easily send out gift cards and enable customers to apply for discounts.
With Shopify payments, the checkout interface was transformed, offering customers a seamless journey from start to finish.
Results
Shopify Plus was a breath of fresh air for founder Christy. It removed roadblocks while making processes easier and quicker. With over half a million customers on the system, the business could automate tasks, easily customize the website, and cut the cost of external IT support.
“I realized immediately after shifting to Shopify Plus that this is the future of commerce,” said Christy. “Instead of spending time and effort finding the right vendors, I can just go to the app store, browse and purchase, with the same ease of installing apps on an iPhone. I have so much more flexibility now.”
The website interface was intuitive and simple, making online shopping seamless. This resulted in a 50% reduction in the dropout rate at checkout. At the backend, due to automation, processes took half the team effort as before, enabling employees to redirect their focus onto more valuable tasks.
When I started using Shopify Plus, I was an SME, but today, I’m an enterprise. The platform has enabled me to scale, and I have been able to hit astounding revenue numbers. I can do all this while moving at lightning speed.
