Since 1886, the Saint Charles Pharmacy has been the historic center of Saint Charles in Vienna. In addition to the pharmacy, Saint Charles offers a natural cosmetics shop, a wellness spa, an organic restaurant, and a health center. The company is rooted in traditional European medicine and the healing power of nature. With around 400 products in the areas of natural cosmetics, aromatherapy, and herbal medicine, Saint Charles combines ancient knowledge with modern well-being.
Since the introduction of Saint Charles's online shop in 2015, the brand has placed a clear focus on storytelling and its own marketing. The goal has been to transfer the extensive knowledge passed down from one generation of pharmacists to the next into the modern era. Two years ago, the company decided to migrate to Shopify Plus and was thus able to create the perfect bridge between innovation and tradition.
Since the migration, the company has achieved the following results:
- 20% revenue growth after the introduction
- Increase in returning customers to 55%
- 300% increase in newsletter subscribers
Challenge
Saint Charles had been involved in ecommerce since 2015, using Adobe Commerce as a supplementary channel alongside their physical stores. However, this ecommerce platform posed considerable difficulties for the marketing team. The company encountered difficulties in creating marketing landing pages, as there were no straightforward methods for implementing specific marketing events, product promotions, and campaigns. The seamless integration of newsletter systems was also complex, requiring many of these processes to be programmed from scratch.
With Adobe Commerce, we always had the issue that for almost everything where we needed marketing, we also needed an agency. This, of course, translates into costs and a higher time-to-market.
One of the significant technical challenges was the checkout process, which became highly unstable during periods of high traffic. This resulted in a high cart abandonment rate and needed urgent resolution. The need for constant system adjustments and custom programming to meet specific requirements proved to be time-consuming and costly.Faced with these challenges, the company was looking for a new solution that could provide more flexibility and better integration, as well as something to pave the way for improved customer engagement.
Solution
Collaborating with MSTAGE as a partner, the migration to Shopify Plus proved to be the desired solution to Saint Charles's challenges. The new system excelled in user-friendliness, empowering every marketing team member to execute campaigns more quickly and flexibly. This was crucial, as customer engagement is a central measure for Saint Charles.
From a marketing perspective, Shopify Plus has enabled us to do many things that we simply couldn't do before. Back then, we sometimes didn't even implement measures on Adobe Commerce because we realized it would take way too long.
By integrating Klaviyo into the Shopify Plus system, the marketing team could create personalized and automated campaigns based on specific customer segments. Creating new landing pages became an effortless task thanks to the intuitive structure of the Shopify back end.
We have also started working with Shopify Flows through Klaviyo. This allows us to reach customers in a much more targeted way with automated emails.
Furthermore, the issues in the checkout process were effectively resolved. With Shopify Plus's unlimited bandwidth and scalability, the checkout process saw significant improvements. Even during peak traffic times, such as the holiday season or Black Friday, the checkout remained highly stable and powerful. This significantly contributed to reducing cart abandonment rates and enhancing the overall customer experience.
We simply see that we don't receive a single customer service inquiry regarding the checkout. I believe, and many others in the market share this view, that Shopify simply has one of the best checkouts.
Another benefit of migrating to Shopify Plus was the integration of the point-of-sale (POS) system, enabling Saint Charles to have a seamless workflow between their physical and online retail.
Through the Shopify App Store, Saint Charles had access to a wide range of extensions and modules that were seamlessly integrated into the system. For example, the brand used the Smile app for its customer loyalty program and Klaviyo as a marketing automation tool. These integration possibilities opened up new dimensions in customer engagement and marketing for Saint Charles.
The Shopify apps were also a significant factor for us. With Adobe Commerce, we almost always needed extensions. Now, for example, we use apps for customer loyalty, and we can work very effectively with Shopify Plus and its app ecosystem.
The migration to Shopify Plus thus proved to be a comprehensive solution that not only increased marketing efficiency but also optimized the checkout experience for customers and bridged the gap between physical and online retail.
Results
Saint Charles achieved an impressive increase in conversion rates after migrating to Shopify Plus, leading to significant revenue growth. The website's flexibility also allowed for targeted testing that positively influenced customer behavior.
The migration to Shopify Plus improved customer service both online and in physical stores. A bonus point system for purchases, with the ability to redeem points online or in-store, further promoted a personalized customer experience. The company doubled the number of repeat customers, representing an increase to 55%. After the introduction of Shopify Plus,Saint Charles experienced an immediate 20% increase in revenue. Notably, the strategy of targeting first-time customers with special offers after 100 days led to an impressive 5% increase in conversion rates.
Overall, the implementation of Klaviyo and Shopify Plus contributed to strengthening customer loyalty, increasing revenue, and making marketing more effective. The successful measures not only significantly improved conversion rates but also long-term customer loyalty.
Above all, the flexibility and time to market were important reasons for us to migrate, and these reasons have definitely been confirmed. With Shopify, we can integrate and expand things very quickly, both through the platform itself and with apps that work really well. We can swiftly respond to customer needs and reach customers in the market.