Sukhmani Designs Grows Revenue by 38% while Boosting Efficiency after Unifying Operations on Shopify

Growing up in the jewelry business, Sat Gurumukh Khalsa learned what it took to build a successful business. His parents built relationships with artisans around the world and imported their jewelry to the US before eventually crafting their own, which they sold to some of the largest retailers in the country. When his parents were ready to retire, Sat Gurumukh was determined to keep the family tradition alive—but with his own vision. He launched Sukhmani Designs first as a wholesale jewelry business, then expanded into retail, with stores that blend jewelry, home furnishings, and interior design services infused with the ancient principles of Vastu Shastra.

Sat Gurumukh initially used QuickBooks Point of Sale (POS) for in-store operations, along with separate systems for credit card processing and accounting. But the disconnected nature of these platforms created significant operational challenges, particularly as the business expanded to multiple locations. By replatforming to Shopify's unified commerce platform, Sukhmani Designs has transformed their business and accelerated growth, unlocking:

• 38% year-over-year revenue growth
• Greater operational efficiency by consolidating four separate business systems into one
• Automated marketing signup capture during purchase, leading to email engagement rates 3-4X above industry standard
• Simplified tax compliance with automated location-based calculations and reporting
• Growth in on-location sales with tap to pay functionality for in-home design consultations

The Challenge: Managing multiple retail locations with disconnected systems

Before Shopify, Sukhmani Designs struggled with a fragmented technology stack. Operations were spread across multiple disconnected systems: QuickBooks POS for in-store sales, QuickBooks Desktop/Online for accounting, a separate credit card processing system, and WordPress for their website.

The most significant challenge was the lack of unified data across their two locations. "If my headquarter computer is in Albuquerque and I'm in Santa Fe, I can't see from Santa Fe all the sales that Albuquerque has done," explains Sat Gurumukh. "Even understanding what's in my inventory or accessing a customer's purchase history required remote accessing computers in different locations." These inefficiencies created headaches for staff and took away from time that could be better spent serving customers.

The manual process required for collecting customer information was also preventing an optimal customer experience. "When somebody wanted to sign up for our email list, there was no way for it to go from QuickBooks POS into the online system," says Sat Gurumukh. "We'd have to physically enter that information as opposed to it being an automatic part of the purchase process. Even if they did purchase something, and I typed their email into QuickBooks POS, I would then have to manually transfer that information to our email platform if I wanted them on our email list."

This lack of unification wasn't just creating extra work—they were affecting the brand's ability to maintain consistent customer relationships and make data-driven decisions. "When you're trying to scale or grow, you need data that's reliable to make important decisions and see where you want to invest your time and energy," says Sat Gurumukh. The team knew there must be a better way.

The Solution: Simplifying operations through unified commerce

After evaluating their options, Sukhmani Designs chose to consolidate their operations onto Shopify's unified commerce platform.

The transition brought immediate improvements to the brand's data infrastructure. With Shopify, the team now has real-time visibility across both retail locations, enabling them to access customer histories, track inventory, and process sales from anywhere. The platform's cloud-based architecture eliminated the need for remote computer access and manual data transfers between systems, saving the team a significant amount of time and effort.

Customer engagement also became seamless. Email signups are now automatically captured during the purchase process and integrated with their email marketing platform, eliminating the manual data entry that previously consumed so much time. "Now when customers sign up for something and put their email address, they're actually getting our emails," says Sat Gurumukh. "Our engagement has been higher. Our open rates are probably three or four times industry standard." Even sales tax management, which had been a complex process, became automated. "Shopify automatically understands which location you are in and charges the appropriate tax," explains Sat Gurumukh. "Then it's just easily reported for state tax filing."

The introduction of Tap to Pay has been particularly transformative for Sukhmani Designs' in-home design consultations. With credit card processing fees reaching tens of thousands of dollars annually, even small rate differences have a significant impact. Previously, typing in card numbers during off-site consultations meant paying a higher processing rate than in-store swipes, creating a difficult choice: either inconvenience customers by making them wait to pay in-store, or accept higher processing fees for keyed entries. But with Shopify POS, powered by Shopify Payments, Sat Gurumukh can now process secure, card-present transactions anywhere, eliminating this compromise between customer convenience and cost.

The Results: A simplified approach leads to sustainable growth

Sukhmani Designs' commitment to simplification is paying off. Since replatforming to Shopify, the business has grown nearly 40% year-over-year, with projections to achieve even higher revenues this year. "We're just getting smarter and better with everything," says Sat Gurumukh. "Shopify has made a lot of the work much easier for us so we can focus on the right things."

Shopify has also brought greater peace of mind and data integrity. The team's annual inventory count showed significant improvement. "We did way better than we did last year when we did the inventory. We still had hiccups, but it was smoother," says Sat Gurumukh. "I'm anticipating everything will get even smoother as time goes on."

Perhaps most importantly, the company now enjoys a more sustainable business model with Sat Gurumukh spending his time on the things that matter most. "Often in small businesses, the owner is working so much in the business as opposed to on the business," explains Sat Gurumukh. "That's not necessarily sustainable if you actually want to scale and grow. Shopify has definitely helped create more possibility for sustainability and scalability with all the technology and things they have to offer."

Looking ahead, Sukhmani Designs is focused on strategic growth, including plans to expand their ecommerce presence. "We're in the process of developing certain products that are branded that soon we will be wholesaling and getting them into other showrooms," says Sat Gurumukh. With Shopify as their technology foundation, they're confident in their ability to scale while maintaining the unique blend of cultures and experiences that defines their brand.