D2C Fashion Brand Launch
From Instagram brand to $2M ecommerce in year one
OBJECTIVES
PROJECT TYPE
E-commerce
An Instagram-native fashion brand with 180K followers was leaving money on the table.
15 MIN · NO PREP REQUIRED
OVERVIEW
An Instagram-native fashion brand with 180K followers was leaving money on the table. DMs handled orders. Inventory was managed in spreadsheets. They needed a real ecommerce operation. We built a Shopify store that converted their engaged audience into $2M first-year revenue.
THE PROBLEM
The brand had everything except infrastructure. Their Instagram posts generated hundreds of comments. DMs flooded in asking to purchase. But every sale required manual work: DM conversation, PayPal invoice, spreadsheet update, manual shipping label.
The founder spent 4 hours daily just processing orders. Growth meant hiring, not scaling. When a post went viral and generated 500 purchase requests in 24 hours, they couldn't fulfill half before items sold out—and didn't know what sold out until counting remaining inventory.
They needed a store that matched their brand's premium aesthetic while handling the operational complexity of multiple sizes, colors, and drop-based releases.
CONSTRAINTS
- Brand aesthetic must translate perfectly to web
- Must handle high-volume product drops without crashing
- Founder must be able to manage without technical help
- Budget: $25,000 for complete launch
- Must integrate with existing Instagram shop tags
- International shipping required from day one
DELIVERABLES
What we shipped.
Custom Shopify store with premium design
Product photography optimization and guidelines
Inventory management with low-stock alerts
Email marketing flows (welcome, abandon cart, post-purchase)
International shipping configuration with duties calculation
Product drop queue system for high-demand launches
Training for founder on day-to-day management
KEY DECISIONS
How we solved it.
Custom platform or Shopify?
Shopify Plus with custom theme
Custom platforms require ongoing development support. Shopify Plus provided enterprise reliability for drops while remaining manageable by a non-technical founder. Custom theme ensured brand differentiation.
How to handle product drop traffic spikes?
Queue system with time-limited checkout
Flash sales crash sites and frustrate customers. A queue system gives everyone a fair chance, reduces server load, and creates urgency without chaos. Cart reservation times prevent inventory overselling.
In-house or 3PL fulfillment?
3PL with direct Shopify integration
Founder's time was better spent on product and marketing than packing boxes. ShipBob integration provided 2-day domestic shipping and simplified international, with inventory syncing automatically to prevent oversells.
OUTCOMES
Results delivered.
$2.1M
First Year Revenue
From $0 structured ecommerce
4.2%
Conversion Rate
Well above 2.5% industry average
31%
Email Revenue
Percentage of total revenue from email marketing
< 3 min
Drop Performance
Average time to sell out limited drops
28%
International Sales
Revenue from outside US
TIMELINE
Project phases.
Brand Translation
Extract brand guidelines from Instagram, define web design direction, plan site architecture
Design & Development
Custom theme development, product page templates, mobile optimization
Operations Setup
ShipBob onboarding, Klaviyo flows, inventory migration from spreadsheets
Product Upload & Testing
Upload catalog, test checkout flow, international shipping validation
Launch & Training
Soft launch to email list, founder training, Instagram announcement
Ready to build?
Book a call to discuss your project. 15 minutes, no prep required.