Studio Anneloes tailors better ecommerce experiences with BigCommerce
Discover how customizable, cost-effective and reliable BigCommerce is and why we built it that way.
- Featured
B2B Edition
Advanced B2B features for enterprise plans.Catalyst
NewCreate stunning, high-performing storefronts that captivate and convert.Feedonomics
Omnichannel feed and data transformation.Multi-Storefront
Manage multiple unique stores from one account.International
Grow your brand across the globe.
- Launch Services
Overview
Chart your path to success with specialized services.Implementation Project Management
Experts to ensure you launch on time and under budget.Solution Architecture
Seasoned advisors to help you best design your store.Data Migration & Optimization
Expertise on a clean and clear path to migrating your data.Enterprise Launch Package
Personal training on how to set up and launch your BigCommerce Store.
Professional Services Blog Series
Get to know our teams and how they support your success in this Q&A series.
The Global B2B Buyer Behavior Report
This in-depth report provides actionable strategies to help you sell more online.
24%
increase in conversion rate
25%
increase in sold items
60%
decrease in bounce rate
Since replatforming to BigCommerce.
Building a sustainable future for fashion.
Studio Anneloes was set up in The Netherlands by Anneloes van der Heijden in 2006. She wanted to launch a fashion label that frequently ‘drops’ new ranges and styles sustainably, producing only enough items to match demand.
Hence, all its clothes are made in Europe and come with care instructions she believes will ensure they last two and a half times longer than lower quality items that are not as well looked after. The company is also fully transparent on the environmental impact of each piece purchased.
The business has been hugely successful and is now sold in more than three hundred stores in The Netherlands. However, the pandemic revealed the importance of having a direct relationship with its customers, as well as retailers, and so it has launched its own D2C website which, since December 2022, has run on BigCommerce’s ecommerce platform.
CHALLENGE
Customer experience needed an overhaul.
Studio Anneloes' original ecommerce website was very limited. It was essentially an extension of its ERP and had several issues, including an inability to test pages when new products launched. Andre Kortekaas, Head of Digital Projects B2B/B2C at Studio Anneloes, admits to just having to hope the right product information would be displayed. However, his greatest problem was a disconnect between systems meaning orders would sometimes not be flagged up to fulfillment teams.
“We had some orders that would disappear into a black box somewhere and we didn't know where they were,” Kortekaas reflects. “Then a few days later, people were giving customer services a call and saying, “Hey, where's my order?”
The initial site was only going to be temporary but poor performance and a lack of features convinced the Studio Anneloes team it needed a reliable, flexible and scalable ecommerce platform to deliver its ambitious roadmap for growth in D2C sales.
“We had some orders that would disappear into a black box somewhere and we didn't know where they were.”
Andre Kortekaas, Head of Digital Projects B2B/B2C, Studio Anneloes
SOLUTION
Looking for reliability and flexibility.
The Studio Anneloes team knew it needed a SaaS based ecommerce platform to replace the unreliable extension of its own ERP system. Kortekaas reveals the business had two leading requirements that led it to choosing BigCommerce as its solution.
“The first thing we had as a requirement was it needs to be online 24/7,” he says.
“The second requirement was to be flexible because we had a lot of developers working on the ERP side functionalities as well as the D2C website. That risked being time-consuming and expensive and so we needed an out-of-the-box ecommerce platform solution. This flexibility and always being online were the main requirements, and BigCommerce fulfilled them perfectly.”
A push from mobile.
Studio Anneloes had seen a lot of traffic coming from mobile devices and so wanted to build a bespoke, personalized app that elevated customer experiences and pushed up sales. It targets customers with individual offers and product alert notifications which deepens the bond between the brand and its fans. The app is fast and checkout is simplified, thanks to an integration with BigCommerce.
“The owners really wanted to invest in creating a native app to provide a space where people can get into the Studio Anneloes world,” explains Kortekass.
“Our mobile implementation ‘talks’ to the BigCommerce API so all the products and categories come from BigCommerce. We also use the BigCommerce checkout on our native app to boost conversions. The app is important for us to reach out to customers. Email is a big channel for us, but if we have push notifications, then we can trigger people every time of the day.”
Search that works.
One of the issues most fashion retailers face is the poor quality of search, leading to customers left surprised at what shows up in search results. This can have negative results when a query has not been understood and unexpected items are suggested on screen. For Studio Anneloes, this is no longer a problem because the search function now better understands customer requirements.
“BigCommerce has given us the flexibility to implement Tweakwise for the search and filters on our website,” he says.
“The filters are working normally now, so if you click the colour pink, then you get pink items and if you select trousers, you get them and not a dress. It used to be a little ‘fuzzy’ and people would wonder if the search actually worked or not.”
Tech Stack
Agency:
Technical features:
Solution Architect
Implementation Project Manager
Customer Success Manager
“The first thing we had as a requirement was it needs to be online 24/7.”
Andre Kortekaas, Head of Digital Projects B2B/B2C, Studio Anneloes
“Our mobile implementation ‘talks’ to the BigCommerce API so all the products and categories come from BigCommerce. We also use the BigCommerce checkout on our native app to boost conversions. The app is important for us to reach out to customers. Email is a big channel for us, but if we have push notifications, then we can trigger people every time of the day.”
Andre Kortekaas, Head of Digital Projects B2B/B2C, Studio Anneloes
RESULTS
Successful collaboration boosts sales.
Since replatforming to BigCommerce, conversion rates have shot up by 24% and sales have rocketed by 25%. Studio Anneloes attributes this to its new slick, fast site that is always available to consumers. It allows the business to deliver its dream customer experience where purchase journeys are simplified and the store is regularly updated with new stock.
Just a couple of years ago, Studio Anneloes was wrestling with an inflexible system that was unreliable, lost orders and left the ecommerce team worrying whether page updates would happen in the way they were planned. Today, the team has the support of its integration partner, De Nieuwe Zaak or DNZ, as well as BigCommerce and Kortekaas reveals it has very comforting to know the BigCommerce team will always have his back.
“BigCommerce’s support is really helpful,” he says. “They're really quick and it's 24/7 customer service. Our account manager is always helpful if we have questions, just need to talk something over or need to be connected to the right people.”
“Our account manager is always helpful if we have questions, just need to talk something over or need to be connected to the right people.”
Andre Kortekaas, Head of Digital Projects B2B/B2C, Studio Anneloes
LOOKING AHEAD
Multi-Storefront and omnichannel plans.
The success of the site has prompted Studio Anneloes to use BigCommerce’s Multi-Storefront (MSF) technology to expand its online offering to new markets from Spring 2025 onwards, starting with Germany.
It recently launched an in-store, omnichannel service which empowers retail staff to place orders for customers when items are out of stock. These can be delivered to a home address or picked up at the store at a later date. The brand reveals it is the success of this in-store service, which uses its D2C BigCommerce platform, that made it realize the same technology could be used to give each market its own shop front, powered from a single platform.
“BigCommerce’s support is really helpful. They're really quick and it's 24/7 customer service.”
Andre Kortekaas, Head of Digital Projects B2B/B2C, Studio Anneloes
Published: February 2025
