Founded in 2000 during the 'cool Britannia' era, Gresham Blake epitomises design-focused tailoring. The brainchild of Gresham and Fal Blake, the brand offers bespoke luxury clothing, shoes and accessories for all.
Since moving to Shopify Plus, the brand has seen:
- 98% reduction in time spent on implementation compared to Magento
- 68% increase in online sales
- Replatformed in just two weeks
Challenge
Before switching to Shopify, Gresham Blake faced significant challenges with their previous online store on Adobe Commerce (Magento). The primary issue was the lack of functionality and user-friendliness. The website lacked the flexibility needed for timely changes and any adjustments required developer intervention.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, as online sales became crucial, the site faced crashes, slow loading times, and additional complexities for what should be simple tasks like running promotions. This hindered the team’s ability to adapt swiftly to market demands, resulting in a sharp decline in sales.
I was building a brand and the website built on Magento just didn't have the functionality I needed to make any changes. I always had to go to developers.
Gresham Blake needed a platform that was intuitive, user-friendly, and could handle both online and in-store operations seamlessly, providing the agility required to thrive in a dynamic business landscape.
Enter Shopify.
Solution
Gresham Blake chose to migrate from Magento to Shopify for the platform's user-friendly interface and its vast ecosystem of apps, which offered the flexibility and ease of use the brand needed. The migration to Shopify was quick and seamless, taking less than three weeks compared to over a year to move to Adobe Commerce. Shopify Plus, with its integrated point-of-sale system, proved crucial for the brand's retail stores, enabling seamless synchronisation between in-store and online operations.
The day we opted for Shopify, I found somebody that could actually set it up for us. He bent over backwards in supporting us and in two to three weeks, we were up and running. It was amazing.
With Shopify powering their website, Graham Blake was able to seamlessly launch high-profile collaborations, notably with the popular TV show ‘Peaky Blinders,’ that delivered large surges in web traffic. Similarly, the brand didn’t experience any crashes during critical sales periods like Black Friday. The real-time reports, intuitive design, and 24/7 chat support emerged as standout features that enabled Gresham Blake to continue to thrive. The ease of managing promotions, inventory, and the delightful colour-coded system made Shopify a tool for growth, not just survival.
The team has also found that the seamless offline-online integration enabled by Shopify in addition to its intuitive promotions setup and user-centric features have not only revitalised sales but fostered customer loyalty too through repeat shoppers. Gresham Blake now navigates the digital landscape with ease, thanks to the impact of Shopify in optimising their business processes.
Results
With Shopify, Gresham Blake achieved substantial improvements in its business metrics. The brand reported an impressive 68% increase in online sales in the first four months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, when the website was built and run on Magento.
It's the little things that make Shopify so much easier to use. I love going into the orders page and you'll see things are colour-coded in a simple fashion. But most importantly, it's helped us increase sales and bring more repeat customers back to the website.
Gresham Blake's successful transition to Shopify has set the stage for a promising future Thanks to the support and adaptability of Shopify, the brand plans to further streamline operations, enhance the customer experience, and expand its B2B and corporate tailoring offering further.
