KEEN Achieves 80% Cost Reduction while Accelerating Omnichannel Growth

Founded in 2003, KEEN has evolved from an upstart outdoor footwear brand into a trendsetting global leader in sustainable footwear manufacturing. With three retail stores—or "garages" as the brand calls them—in the US and fourteen in Japan, KEEN is a major player both domestically and abroad. But when Sam Buckingham joined as Director of Digital Product, he found the company struggling under the weight of complex enterprise systems that were stifling growth and driving up costs.

With Shopify, KEEN realized they could scale more quickly and efficiently while dramatically reducing their total cost of ownership through a commerce operating system that unified retail and ecommerce capabilities. The result is a brand poised for rapid global expansion without sacrificing their commitment to quality and craftsmanship.

Since replatforming to Shopify, KEEN has:

• Reduced total cost of ownership (TCO) of commerce technology stack by approximately 80%
• Sold 1,000 pairs of shoes in five hours at a pop-up shop with first-time retail staff
• Transformed an empty building into a fully operational retail store in under 30 days
• Launched in 7 new international markets with 15 more planned within the year

The Challenge: Complex and costly technology stack grows unsustainable

KEEN was managing an increasingly complex technology stack that included Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Micros POS, and numerous third-party integrations. Teams were inevitably siloed from one another due to the specialized knowledge required to maintain each system, and outsourcing the work to agency partnerships was expensive. "We had to act like a software company rather than focusing on what we do best—making great shoes and telling great stories," explains Sam.

The challenges were particularly acute in KEEN's retail operations. Their POS system required separate machines for returns and checkouts, suffered from slow loading times, and featured a user interface that made basic tasks difficult. Sam notes how these deficiencies also impacted the customer experience, saying "We couldn't look up inventory across locations or place orders for out-of-stock items to ship directly to customers. Exchanges required a full refund followed by a separate order, leaving customers waiting up to five days for their refund."

These limitations extended to KEEN's broader retail strategy. Managing their diverse retail presence across the US and Japan required juggling multiple business entities, each with different content strategies and product catalogs. Without a unified approach to data across channels, providing a consistent customer experience was a lot of work.

"Our legacy systems had served us well over the years, but we needed something more modern and efficient that could scale with our business," says Sam. He knew firsthand how Shopify could streamline operations and reduce costs from prior experience in his career, and he was confident in recommending it to KEEN's board as the solution to help usher in their next phase of growth.

The Solution: Consolidating fragmented systems into one

KEEN replatformed to Shopify with a phased implementation approach that began with their online store. They launched four expansion stores across the US, Canada, Europe, and Japan to support their multiple business entities. Each featured tailored content strategies and product catalogs while maintaining centralized control from a single admin interface.

The team also took advantage of Shopify's extensive third-party app ecosystem to refresh business critical functionalities such as email, loyalty, reviews, and more. "Rather than building custom solutions in-house, we can leverage best-in-class third-party apps like Loop Returns to enable seamless cross-channel experiences," says Sam. He elaborates on the value of this ecosystem, saying "I would rather have 40 software companies competing to build the best tools than have our engineers maintain a custom-built solution. That's not sustainable."

KEEN next transformed their retail operations by replacing Micros with Shopify POS. This gave store associates a modern, intuitive point of sale interface on mobile devices that streamlined everything from checkout to inventory management. "We have a single view of everything, everywhere, all the time," says Sam. With rich customer profiles and global inventory data all available in one place, the team can maximize their sales output. "When someone walks into our store, we can look them up and make personalized product recommendations because we have the data at our fingertips," Sam explains.

The flexibility of Shopify has also enabled KEEN to launch innovative new retail experiences. "We turned an empty building into an outlet store live on Shopify POS in just 30 days, completely built out with inventory, staff, everything," says Sam. In another example, the brand created a pop-up shop at a local festival in Portland staffed with four first-time sellers. The team sold out of 1,000 pairs of shoes in just five hours. "Every single person involved said Shopify POS was incredibly easy to use," Sam recalls. "They learned how to use it in a matter of minutes." From online to in-store and everywhere in between, Shopify gave KEEN the ability to meet customers where they were in ways previously deemed impractical.

The Results: Stepping up growth while cutting costs

KEEN's decision to unify on Shopify has been an undeniable success. "By moving to Shopify, we cut the total cost of ownership of our commerce stack by about 80%," says Sam. "Not only are we spending less on development resources, but projects that used to take six months to a year now take a week." But beyond the financial impact, Shopify has transformed how KEEN's retail staff work and serve customers.

With Shopify POS, order management and customer service have become far easier. In-store exchanges that once required a full refund and separate order can now be completed instantly. Staff can also fulfill online orders directly from the store when items aren't available in their location. "We've seen an incredible increase in cross-channel sales from orders being placed in-store that ship from online," says Sam. Better reporting capabilities also give managers visibility into each staff member's performance, helping them set goals and track progress.

Another innovation enabled by Shopify is KEEN's "store-in-a-box" concept, which has proven particularly successful for international expansion. They've launched in seven new countries in six months, with 15 more planned this year. Each new location gets up and running quickly with KEEN's approved Shopify theme and consistent branded experience. The company plans to use this same model to expand their retail footprint to 25-40 stores over the next two to three years.

Perhaps most importantly, unifying on Shopify has helped KEEN better serve their customers no matter where they shop, which is crucial to the brand's growth. "Customers who shop both online and in retail stores typically have two to three times higher lifetime value (LTV) than those who shop on just one channel," notes Sam. "Having one unified platform allows us to recognize customers across channels and provide the seamless experience they expect."

With Shopify as their foundation, KEEN is well-positioned to continue their global expansion while maintaining the personalized service and sustainable values that have defined them since day one.