A GTM Enterprise Solution for the Leader in SUBSCRIPTIONS
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SHOPIFY SUBSCRIPTIONS Case Study: Guthy|Renker

Subscription-First Shopify Solutions for Enterprise

Guthy|Renker has been launching and scaling beauty and self-help brands for over 30 years. Their fast pace of innovation required new ecommerce technology that matched their marketing, allowing product launches in weeks, not months. Looking for a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) and a reduction in development customizations, Guthy|Renker looked to Shopify as the best commerce platform.

Considering migrating from SFCC to Shopify, Guthy|Renker engaged CQL to validate and prove out how their existing brands and subscription model would fully integrate with Shopify’s bullet-proof architecture and leading subscription management platform, Recharge. A comprehensive discovery and solutioning created a clear, viable path forward that met both Guthy|Renker’s business and technology goals. Leveraging templated functionality for a multi-site solution, CQL designed a new ecosystem architecture that served as the foundation for growth for all Guthy|Renker brands.

Guthy|Renker teams developed the front-end of Shopify, while CQL collaboratively built the core architecture for the Shopify ecosystem, developed the middleware framework on AWS to manage subscription customizations, and managed the data migration. The roll-out of the new solution was completed in 3 phases:

  • Phase I – building the core architecture to 80% of its existing subscription functionality and launching on 1 brand, KindScience.com.
  • Phase II – building the remaining 20% of subscription functionality with brand-specific functionality and customizations, while launching additional brands.
  • Phase III- further feature optimization of the brands and adding wishlists.

As an innovative disruptor, Guthy|Renker is always ahead of the curve, from launching brands “digital first” long before it was a trend, to innovating new technology. With its focus on entrepreneurship and rapid-development, the Guthy|Renker team is strategically positioned for future revenue growth and the continued optimization of customer-first experiences. 

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BRANDS

Kind Science® (Ellen DeGeneres)
JLo Beauty® (Jennifer Lopez)
Principal Secret® (Victoria Principal)
Wen® (Chaz Dean)
Westmore Beauty® (McKenzie Westmore)

Services

Ecommerce Replatform
Innovative Solutions

Technology

Driving Growth Through Continued Innovation

ABOUT THE BRAND

Guthy-Renker brands are built to disrupt and change how a consumer looks, feels or lives. They are consistently among the highest ranked beauty businesses in the world and still privately held. The family of brands today includes global leaders like JLo Beauty®, Westmore Beauty®, Meaningful Beauty®, Crepe Erase®, Kind Science®, and Principal Secret®.

THE CHALLENGE

In an effort to refocus internal IT teams attention to other areas, move away from customizations, and lower TCO (total cost of ownership), Guthy-Renker needed to validate an enterprise-level migration from SFCC to Shopify, using subscriptions management platform Recharge. CQL was selected to help prove out their new architecture and bring the new foundation to life.

THE RESULT

Following an in-depth technical discovery, Guthy|Renker used a 3-phase approach to migrate their brands from Salesforce Commerce Cloud to Shopify with Recharge Subscriptions. CQL built the system architecture and subscription customizations on Shopify’s bullet-proof foundation, with a repeatable framework to replicate across all Guthy|Renker brands.

Guthy|Renker Shopify Framework
Guthy|Renker Quote

“We are thrilled to collaborate with visionary partners and merchants who continually push the boundaries of subscription innovation. Our goal is to provide flexible APIs that empower our merchants to create cutting-edge subscription models, enhancing customer lifetime value and driving success.”

Chanel Fournier

Product Lead, Subscriptions

Shopify
Guthy|Renker Brand: Westmore Beauty

Making the Impossible, Possible

Leveraging off-the-shelf software in innovative ways and combinations is where both CQL and Guthy|Renker both shine. Guthy|Renker’s subscription architecture required the decoupling of Shopify shipments from payments, and the resulting innovative solution made Guthy-Renker’s migration to Shopify impossible. 

Why would you need to decouple shipments from payments? Let’s say you buy a subscription today for $19.99, plus tax and shipping, and you are sent a 90-day supply. Over the next 2 months, you are billed 2 more installments of $19.99, but since you already received your 90-day supply, the payments need to be made without shipments.

CQL was able to bridge the gap between SFCC and Shopify for a seamless enterprise migration for Guthy|Renker.

The Art of Optimizing Subscriptions

To enable Guthy|Renker to migrate their website and subscriptions from Salesforce Commerce Cloud to Shopify, CQL needed to build a foundation with innovative subscription optimizations on Shopify & Recharge.

The new subscription architecture included:

  • Building middleware framework on AWS (to look up and maintain pricing)
  • Upsell functionality post-purchase (add products post-subscription)
  • Item swaps (change items in a subscription vs. canceling)
  • Subscription frequency (change frequency interval 30/60/90 days)
  • Adding multiple quantities of subscription items
  • Data mapping & migration of existing subscriptions
Guthy|Renker Brand: JLo Beauty
Guthy|Renker Brands
Guthy|Renker Quote

“We have an amazing ecosystem focused on our core DNA of marketing, focused on products and getting our products to our consumers. Our reliable tech partners including Shopify and Recharge allow us to remain innovative and entrepreneurial. Shopify introduced us to CQL and they’ve been an incredible partner along the way for us in building the solution that we need.”

Karthik s.

 

SVP, Growth & Strategy

GUTHY|RENKER