Paceline is revolutionizing wellness by turning it into financial rewards, promoting healthier lifestyles through seamless connections with fitness wearables like Apple Watch and Garmin. By shifting from traditional incentives like gift cards, Paceline enhanced its model by adopting Shopify Collective, allowing users to earn credits for health and wellness-related products and boosting motivation to stay fit. As a pioneer in integrating health with financial incentives, Paceline is committed to transforming every step, every mile, and every heartbeat into rewarding experiences, empowering a global movement towards proactive and financially beneficial wellness practices.
Since moving to Shopify to power their marketplace via Shopify Collective, Paceline has seen:
- 150 partnerships launched & introduced 3,000 skus to their customers via Shopify Collective without upfront inventory investments
- 262% increase in YoY sales through expanded product catalog
- 90% reduction in support requests by transitioning from gift cards to tangible products
- 185% more new customers captured YoY through curated offering
- Collective’s discovery tool leveraged to swiftly integrate products and start selling almost immediately, fostering agile business growth to fuel market demand
Challenge: Shift from Gift Cards to Quality Brands Users Want
Initially, Paceline incentivized healthy habits by offering gift cards, but this model presented significant challenges. Managing gift cards off-platform in an ad hoc manner not only limited the user experience with how and where rewards could be displayed in a mobile app, but also prevented any insightful data around the gift card being used, if at all.
Facing a common entrepreneurial dilemma, Paceline sought to expand its product offerings beyond gift cards without the financial strain of traditional inventory management. With a vision to provide high-quality health and wellness products, they needed a strategy to diversify their catalog without tying up capital in upfront product purchases and warehousing.
Anil Lodhia articulated the challenge: “Our value proposition to users is to deliver tangible value for one’s literal sweat equity. As an early-stage startup, predicting which products would resonate with our customers was a luxury we didn’t have. Every inventory decision carried risks, from selecting the right apparel sizes to managing potential surplus. The traditional route of maintaining actual inventory was both financially demanding and risky.” The hidden costs of inventory—such as storage fees and logistics for managing and shipping products—only compounded the challenge.
Solution: Embracing Shopify Collective to Grow Catalog
To tackle the challenges of managing inventory and enhancing their product offerings, Paceline adopted Shopify Plus and later embraced Shopify Collective. This strategic pivot enabled them to connect with premier DTC brands and integrate products into their store without upfront stock purchases. As a result, Paceline avoided overstocking or understocking issues and eliminated storage and maintenance costs.
Collective gave us the flexibility to offer exceptional products to our customers without holding physical inventory. We could focus on connecting the right people to the right products, driving growth without financial constraints.
By transitioning from gift cards and ineffective affiliate programs, Paceline improved customer engagement and reduced support requests by 90%, offering real products sourced through Shopify Collective. The platform's discovery tool was key, allowing Paceline to efficiently source and invite brand partners.
We could send an invite, import products, and have all product details ready, letting us start selling almost immediately.
Supplier integration was equally straightforward. Upon receiving an invite, suppliers simply had to accept it, choose products to share, set up a shipping rate, and activate their price list. Once a brand partner was engaged, product integration into Paceline’s store was swift, with product details, specifications, and images automatically synced. This ease and speed became one of Collective’s greatest strengths.
The seamless process allowed Paceline to select products from each supplier, crafting a curated customer experience. Shipping flexibility per supplier was another advantage, managed efficiently through Shopify Payments upon fulfillment. Anil noted the operational efficiency: "The automation in syncing product details and managing orders means we can focus more on making those vital customer connections."
Overall, Shopify Collective enabled Paceline to enhance their customer journey and align with their wellness-centric mission, providing a scalable, manageable, and efficient solution for product diversification.
Results: Transformative Growth and Better Customer Engagement
Through Shopify Collective, Paceline has seen remarkable growth and diversification in its product offerings. In just two years, Paceline partnered with over 150 brands, significantly expanding their catalog without the burden of upfront inventory costs. This strategic move not only broadened their range but also strengthened relationships with like-minded wellness brands.The expansion resulted in capturing 185% more new customers and a 262% increase in year-over-year sales.
By fostering these brand partnerships, Paceline has cultivated a vibrant community, supporting campaigns with curated product collections that resonate with social themes. With tangible product success, Paceline is now exploring experiential wellness offerings, further positioning itself as a leader in incentivized wellness. Per Anil “brands have been used to purchasing ad words in hopes their products are seen by the right audience. With Collective, we can take a yoga brand’s wide product selection and surface introductory items like mats and blocks to beginners, then highlight more advanced technical gear for the users who have progressed to become, or already are existing, dedicated yogis.”
Shopify Collective not only allowed us to grow our product offerings but also let us focus on enriching the customer experience, ultimately advancing our mission in promoting a healthy lifestyle.
Paceline’s journey demonstrates the transformative power of Shopify Collective in changing how businesses approach retail. It showcases how new entrepreneurs can effectively build and fill a Shopify store with curated products from leading brands without the burden of inventory management. For aspiring entrepreneurs, Paceline's success story with Shopify Collective serves as a powerful example of how technology can democratize access to top-tier products and experiences, enabling businesses to achieve their dreams and connect with customers more meaningfully.