MK Socks is a USA company having over 45 years of experience in the sock industry. It provides licensed, branded, themed, customizable athletic socks, uniforms, and accessories.
Business Goals and Pains
In 2018, MK Socks contacted us, already having an existing Shopify store. Their primary goal was to integrate a sock builder to streamline the growing amount of orders and enable customers to configure socks easily.
"We needed a builder on our website for our customers to design and order their socks and jerseys and see the color and logo changes in real-time."
Previously MK Socks company used back-and-forth emails and phone calls to communicate with customers about their custom design orders.
The primary pain point for MK Socks was finding a solution that would allow them to save time and costs, eliminate manual labor and communication with customers, and help them scale their business.
MK Socks was searching for some ready solutions that would meet their critical needs:
- Implement a WYSIWYG personalization scenario, e.g., select socks pattern, add text and logo, colorize the socks panels, and preview pricing changes in live mode.
- Develop a user-friendly interface so their customers can make changes on the fly.
- Directly exchange order information details with the manufacturing team via a custom Shopify application.
- Integrate with their existing Shopify store and meet their seamless branding.
After evaluating various solutions, none proved to fit their business needs.
Eventually, they came across LiveArt, where we met to discuss their pains and helped apply our expertise to meet MK's business needs by implementing a tailored solution.
How LiveArt Met the Needs
The solution we build works as a print-on-demand ecosystem and consists of the following:
Custom Product Builder
The client addressed his immediate pain needing the builder to give customers complete control over the personalization process, e.g., choose a socks pattern, colorize it, upload the team or corporate logo, and most importantly, preview the final result in real-time.
The client's goals were clear, and we started integrating a socks builder into his Shopify store.
After seeing the immediate business value and growth, MK Socks expanded their product offering by allowing customers to personalize other products such as jerseys, hats, and scarves.
Adding multiple product support to the builder allowed our client to transform their solution into a comprehensive uniform kit platform, simplifying the ordering process for customers who can now build and purchase all the required items in one place.
The jersey support opened new customer capabilities, such as doing complete full-feature team orders by uploading the team roster and then exporting all team uniform kit specs to the production team.
As a result, MK Socks got increased offerings and sales and took their business to the next level.
Since Mk Socks provides an extensive range of products, styles, and patterns, we aimed to ensure a hassle-free intuitive customer journey and fast loading times.
Additionally, we prioritized mobile usability by developing our solution with a mobile-first approach.
Backend and Admin Area
With such a wide range of products, MK Socks quickly developed an urge to introduce and tweak new product options.
Setting minimum order quantities for products or additional checkout options, to name a few.
After discussing this pain with our customer, we suggested a solution.
We created an admin tool that allows setting minimums with just one click when editing or creating products or categories.
Ultimately, our task was to create a flexible management information system (MIS) for MK's vast product catalog and allow turning on or off additional options or introducing new ones for specific product groups.
As a result, the client got a significant profit from adapting to new business challenges.
Another pain our customer struggled with was the inability to process short-on-stock products effectively.
MK Socks managed their preorders using ad-hoc methods, and the default Shopify applications were ineffective and unable to meet the demands of their business.
We proposed to add the ability for customers to preorder items directly on the product page.
At the same time, the admin automatically receives preorders and manages them more effectively without hassle.
Adding preordering capability resulted in a significant flow of new customers. It led to a notable increase in sales for MK Sock.
Our client saw business value as the company could overcome the challenge and turn lost opportunities into new orders.
Production Backoffice App
Many print-on-demand providers struggle with back-and-forth communication with production facilities, and MK Socks was no exception.
Order information mistakes and much time spent on processing orders were some things that prevented their business from growing.
To overcome this challenge, we built a tailored bespoke application that works as a convenient communication hub and provides all the necessary info directly for the production company to fulfill the order, including a product spec and print files.
Automating this process allowed our client to streamline the operations, avoid many production mistakes, and save the tone of time on communication.
Company personnel can now dedicate their time to critical business tasks and goals.
Results
The tailored print-on-demand solution we built for MK Socks allowed them to simplify product personalization for their clients, improve communication with customers, and make order processing straightforward.
MK Socks sales increased by 10 times once we integrated the solution into their Shopify storefront.
"For us, the most important thing is that the builder works and is easy to use for our customers. We have generated sales via this builder 10 times over what we have spent. To me, that is the most important measure of success."
What's next?
We continue improving the solution by adding new cutting-edge features and products, allowing the client to capture more business opportunities, take his business to the next level, and offer their customers the best on-market uniform kit personalization experience possible.
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