When luxury alpaca wool brand Alicia Adams Alpaca approached Atelier Commerce, they were facing a perfect storm of ecommerce challenges. Despite being a family-owned pioneer in sustainable luxury textiles, their online presence was failing to reflect their brand's true quality and heritage.
The symptoms were unmistakable: unexplained declining sales despite strong brand recognition, a website that had undergone multiple developer changes, resulting in a fragmented tech stack cluttered with poorly integrated apps, and multiple agencies working in silos created disjointed marketing campaigns. The site completely lacked merchandising functionality despite being a high-AOV retailer, and SEO opportunities were missed across all editorial content.
But Atelier Commerce saw beyond the surface problems. They recognized that this wasn't just a website issue—it was a brand storytelling crisis that required a fundamentally different approach than what other agencies might offer.
While most agencies would have recommended a standard site refresh, Atelier Commerce operates from a philosophy that luxury ecommerce success requires far more than attractive product photography and sleek designs. Their approach begins with understanding that customers don't simply buy products; they invest in stories, lifestyles, and values that resonate with their identity.
Before touching a single line of code, the Atelier team embarked on extensive consumer research, diving deep into where Alicia Adams Alpaca's customers actually shop, who influences their purchasing decisions, and what lifestyle the brand truly represents. They analyzed the brand's content pillars and communication strategy, recognizing that alpaca wool is more than a material; it's a statement about sustainability, luxury, and conscious consumption.
This holistic approach revealed the true scope of the challenge. The fragmented tech stack was actively preventing the brand from telling its story cohesively. Years of patchwork development had created a digital environment where excellence was impossible to achieve through incremental improvements.
The Atelier team made a bold decision that would define the entire project: a complete rebuild was essential for the brand's future success.
The technical foundation required starting from scratch. Atelier Commerce rebuilt the entire site using a fresh codebase, systematically eliminating years of accumulated tech debt. Rather than simply replacing old apps with new ones, they streamlined the entire ecosystem, implementing custom functionality that actually served the brand's specific needs and long-term goals.
However, the real innovation emerged in how they approached the content challenge. The team recognized that Alicia Adams Alpaca's 300+ press articles represented a massive untapped asset. It was a treasure trove of third-party validation that was being undermined by poor presentation.
The Atelier team went to extraordinary lengths to source pristine assets. They purchased physical copies of every magazine that had featured the brand, ensuring access to high-resolution imagery that truly reflected the quality of Alicia Adams Alpaca's media coverage. Each press article summary was rewritten and optimized for SEO, transforming what had been missed opportunities into revenue-driving assets. Most importantly, they developed a sophisticated shoppable integration strategy, linking each piece of editorial content to related products and creating a seamless journey from inspiration to purchase.
This level of editorial sophistication required a platform that could match their ambitious vision. Atelier Commerce selected Shogun Page Builder for its unique combination of editorial-quality flexibility and ecommerce functionality. The platform offered the sophistication needed for magazine page layouts without compromising on commercial capabilities, while remaining intuitive enough for the Alicia Adams Alpaca team to manage ongoing content independently.
Using Shogun, they completely rebuilt the blog section with custom landing pages, detailed article pages, and author profiles. The press section received a professional overhaul with editorial-quality presentation standards. Campaign-specific landing pages were created with seamless product discovery integration, and all editorial content was strategically woven throughout the site to support both brand storytelling and commercial objectives.
The quantitative results demonstrated the power of Atelier Commerce's strategic approach with remarkable clarity. Conversion rates increased by 69% year-over-year. Even more impressive, average order value increased by 10% without any price increases, and email campaigns achieved 69% open rates with significantly higher click-through rates. The complete SEO optimization, with direct product linking throughout editorial content, created a virtuous cycle of discovery and conversion.
But the transformation extended far beyond metrics. Atelier Commerce created authentic brand alignment where every digital touchpoint now reinforces the quality and heritage that customers expect from Alicia Adams Alpaca. What was once a neglected blog and press section became a sophisticated content destination that nurtures high-consideration customers while driving measurable sales.
What was once a neglected blog and press section became a sophisticated content destination that nurtures high-consideration customers while driving measurable sales.
The operational improvements proved equally valuable. Thanks to Shogun, Atelier can now schedule content and campaigns in advance, eliminating the stress and quality compromises that come with last-minute scrambles. This enhanced planning capabilities and enabled Atelier to launch promotions at the most opportune times, such as weekends and holidays. Additionally, they were able to target promotions to customers based on their location in the sales funnel, increasing the potential for conversions.
Perhaps most significantly, the new editorial experience creates deeper, more meaningful relationships with customers who appreciate the brand's commitment to craftsmanship and sustainability. The site now serves as an immersive brand destination that educates, inspires, and converts in equal measure.
Through their work with Alicia Adams Alpaca, Atelier Commerce developed a replicable methodology that challenges conventional ecommerce wisdom. They proved that editorial content and commerce functionality don't have to compete. When properly integrated, they enhance each other exponentially. Their decision to invest in presentation quality, including the purchase of physical magazines and professional content rewriting, demonstrated that attention to detail drives measurable business results in ways that shortcuts never can.
The project also highlighted the critical importance of advanced planning and coordinated campaign management. By building systems that support sophisticated content scheduling and strategic coordination, they created a foundation for sustained excellence rather than isolated successes.
Three critical success factors emerged from the transformation.
The partnership between Atelier Commerce, Alicia Adams Alpaca and Shogun exemplifies what becomes possible when strategic vision meets exceptional execution. The transformation was comprehensive: a site once weighed down by technical debt became a streamlined platform showcasing sustainable luxury at its finest. Press coverage that had previously looked unprofessional now drives direct sales while building brand credibility with every visitor.
The operational transformation proved equally dramatic. The team evolved from managing crisis-driven campaigns to executing sophisticated, coordinated marketing initiatives with complete confidence in Shogun’s capabilities.
This success has created momentum for continued innovation. Atelier Commerce continues pushing boundaries with their client, implementing scheduled content management for coordinated campaign launches, global snippets for streamlined content updates across multiple pages, and personalization applications for sophisticated audience segmentation.
The Alicia Adams Alpaca project seamlessly combined storytelling excellence with commercial success. As CEO Michael McBride explains, "Don't underestimate the power of high-quality, editorially driven content. Well-crafted editorial not only tells your story but also positions your products in a more aspirational, meaningful way, turning content from a marketing 'nice-to-have' into a measurable revenue driver."
"Don't underestimate the power of high-quality, editorially driven content. Well-crafted editorial not only tells your story but also positions your products in a more aspirational, meaningful way, turning content from a marketing 'nice-to-have' into a measurable revenue driver."
This philosophy extends beyond content to encompass every aspect of luxury ecommerce strategy. Quality investment consistently pays dividends that justify the initial resource allocation. Detailed content planning and coordination reduce errors while improving campaign effectiveness. Most importantly, selecting the right platforms and partners, like Shogun, enables editorial-quality experiences that simply weren't possible with previous tools and approaches.
The project demonstrates that success in luxury ecommerce requires moving beyond basic functionality to embrace tools and strategies that enable editorial quality alongside commercial effectiveness.
Strong platform partnerships accelerate learning and implementation success, while future-ready features support long-term growth ambitions rather than just immediate needs.
