Challenge
Kulani Kinis sell almost $1m of swimwear each month — without spending a cent on advertising Kulani Kinis reached out to Parkfield for a beautiful and user-friendly website. With a simple and mobile-friendly design in mind, a brand was born. When Alex Babich and Danielle Atkins first launched Kulani Kinis out of their garage in 2015, they had a simple goal for the business: make enough side income to go on vacation to Hawaii.“None of us had any fashion experience”, Alex admits. But their Instagram-ready swimwear quickly struck a chord with retailers looking to stand out in a crowded market. While retailers like Forever 21, ASOS, and Ron Jon Surf Shop provided the break Alex and Danielle needed to get their name out, they quickly ran into difficulties giving customers the experience they wanted. As the brand continued to grow, it became clear they needed an experienced partner they could rely on to create the experience they wanted to deliver.But a pretty website alone wouldn't be enough. Alex needed a team that could help scale their brand from a niche startup to a major competitor in the women's swimwear space, and that could partner with him to clarify ideas and put them into action on a tight timeline.The search was on.
Solution
Alex quickly found his ideal match in Parkfield — a team that could respond quickly to Kulani's rapid growth, and work with Alex's hands-on approach to his business. Alex was able to bounce ideas around on the phone with the Parkfield team. Five years later, Parkfield has become a trusted ally — and an invaluable resource for Kulani. Because Kulani is still a small, hands-on team of only 10 people, having an experienced partner like Parkfield devoted to executing new opportunities while Alex's team focuses on growing the brand has been a huge benefit. While Parkfield was initially engaged to design and develop a visually stunning Shopify store, the relationship has expanded to include more user experience design too. Kulani's core demographic shops mainly on mobile, so we retooled the online store with a mobile-first approach, deploying lightweight pages that load in seconds. The data showed that Kulani Kinis’ most requested information tool was the size guide. To better serve the demand, we created a style-specific size guide that decreased support inquiries and improved sales performance. To better cater to international shoppers, we created a multi-site solution that funnels customers into the appropriate website based on their location. We also worked with Kulani to add dynamic videos of many of their products to their product pages, boosting the brand's wow factor and instantly setting them apart from other swimwear brands.
Results
According to Alex, Parkfield’s work for Kulani has been a resounding success. International sales on the new dedicated websites have seen a 60% increase, while site speed has improved by 43%. Conversion rates hover around 4%, and 48% of Kulani customers are repeat buyers — both stellar measures for any ecommerce business, let alone in a market as competitive as swimwear. Even more impressively, they've done all this without spending a cent on advertising. Looking forward, Alex is excited by the prospect of finding new ways for Kulani and Parkfield to continue working together.
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