Since 1976, Bambi Baby has grown from a small family-owned department store into a leading specialty furniture retailer offering baby furniture, baby gear, car seats, and more. With five retail locations across New York, New Jersey, and Florida, plus a thriving ecommerce business, they've built their reputation on providing personalized service and expert guidance to new parents selecting all the essentials for their growing families.
But as the business expanded, Bambi Baby’s manual processes and disconnected commerce systems couldn't keep pace with customer expectations for fast, efficient service. Unifying their sales channels on Shopify helped them overcome these challenges. In the four months since replatforming, Bambi Baby has seen remarkable results, including:
- 30% growth in conversion rates online and offline
- 30% growth in average order values (AOV)
- Reduced in-store checkout times from several minutes to seconds
- Increased repeat purchases and customer lifetime value (LTV) due to integrated loyalty rewards program across channels
The Challenge: Improving inefficient and manual processes
Before Shopify, Bambi Baby struggled to find technology solutions that could scale with their business. In their stores, they had tried Fishbowl POS and their online store ran on BigCommerce, but they needed a unified solution that could support their growing omnichannel operations. This led them to fall back on manual processes that were growing unsustainable.
Store associates, focused on helping customers select the right products, struggled to keep up with manual order entry, especially busy weekend hours. "We were doing pen and paper transactions using an Excel sheet, scanning them, and having back office enter orders," explains Josh Weiss, IT Director at Bambi Baby. "You'd come in on a Monday and have to enter 50 orders manually. It just became a process that was not sustainable."
The paper-based checkout process also created bottlenecks. "You'd have four or five people backed up trying to buy something," says Josh. "People were just like, 'I'm out of here.'"
Inventory management was also an issue. Prior to Shopify, stores maintained minimal inventory and largely operated as showrooms. But this meant that when customers wanted to take products home same-day, they often had to drive 30 minutes to the warehouse, which was inconvenient and put unnecessary strain on warehouse operations.
The brand’s loyalty program faced challenges as well, with in-store purchases requiring manual point tracking and customer service intervention to ensure rewards were properly credited. These technical limitations weren't just creating inefficiencies—they were actively holding back growth and hurting Bambi Baby’s customer experience, especially as they continued to expand their brick-and-mortar presence. That’s when they decided to move to Shopify.
The Solution: A retail solution built for growth
Working with design and development agency Syatt, Bambi Baby replatformed to Shopify in just three months, launching both their website and point of sale systems across all locations. "I've never had a project be on time before from development to deployment," says Josh. "There's so many moving pieces and I was stressed, but it happened. It went off without a hitch."
Each store now operates multiple Shopify POS stations plus mobile devices, enabling staff to process transactions anywhere on the floor. "I can check four people out simultaneously and it takes minutes to do so," says Josh. Training new employees on the system takes just 35 minutes, and the intuitive interface allows staff to spend more time with customers. "Now I have time to be with people because the same 10 minutes I used to spend writing up orders, I can be upselling," explains Josh.
Inventory and order management have been transformed as well. With Shopify’s multiple location inventory capabilities and visibility across locations, Bambi Baby can confidently stock all their stores, enabling customers to take products home same-day. "The ability for customers to pay and leave with a box has been great for growth," says Josh. “Buying baby gear is exciting for parents. They want to buy their stroller and go home and set it up." A seamless integration with their SellerCloud ERP system is also a key improvement, enabling efficient order fulfillment whether items are being picked up in-store or shipped from the warehouse. "It helps me operate a well-oiled machine," says Josh.
Shopify has also helped streamline the brand’s loyalty program. The team uses Smile, a third-party app built for Shopify, to ensure rewards are instantly credited to Bambi Baby’s customers regardless of where they shop. This efficiency extends to their promotional strategy too as the team can now manage discounts centrally and deploy them across both online and in-store channels instantly.
The fact that I can be sitting 30 miles away from our closest store and can update all the point of sale devices with a new coupon through Shopify saves a ton of time. When staff arrive they just see a new button on the POS screen. It’s that easy.
The Results: From manual to modernized retail
Shopify’s impact was immediately apparent during Bambi Baby's annual car seat trade-up event, which draws hundreds of customers over two days. "In years past, because you couldn't check people out quickly enough, the volume in the store was claustrophobic with so many people waiting," explains Josh. "This year, with Shopify POS, we never felt overwhelmed because we could keep the line moving. We got 600 people through over the course of two days, and it worked exactly as we wanted with no hiccups."
This improved efficiency has translated into significant business growth. "Our conversion rate is up by 30%," says Josh, as customers no longer abandon purchases due to long checkout lines. "Our average order value is up by 30% too. I think that's just the ability for my team to be able to upsell. We have the time to be with people because we’re not spending those minutes writing up orders."
The integrated loyalty program has transformed customer relationships, driving repeat purchases and increasing customer lifetime value. "We’re seeing much less ‘one and done’ transactions. Now they're coming back for some of the smaller items because they know they're going to get to use those points," explains Josh.
Looking ahead, Bambi Baby is positioned for continued retail expansion. "The growth that we've experienced over the last four months we would not have been able to accomplish without Shopify and Shopify point of sale," says Josh. With the ability to quickly set up new locations by simply shipping down iPads and card readers, they have minimal barriers to launching new stores while maintaining consistent operations across their growing retail footprint.
At the scale we're growing right now, I don't know how we would have done it without Shopify. Everything is managed from one place and it's so trainable—I can teach someone the POS system in 35 minutes. It doesn't slow us down anywhere. It’s really instrumental in our growth.
