Lamy is a German company that develops high-quality writing instruments for both analog and digital writing. Since 1966, the Heidelberg-based company has been producing writing tools that combine design and functionality at the highest level. Traditionally, retail has been one of the most important sales channels for the company. However, developments in e-commerce and the associated changes in consumer behavior made a technological transformation indispensable. This long-established brand aims to provide its customers with consistent brand experience across all channels.
Objectives of the collaboration between Lamy and Shopify:
- Scaling and unifying product information across all channels
- Ensuring a consistent brand experience across all touchpoints
- Globally uniform product presentation
- Simplified communication with partners worldwide
- Maximum flexibility within the tech stack
Challenge: Consistent Brand Communication Across All Channels
Lamy has a long and successful history. Particularly in the DACH region, the company enjoys high brand recognition and an excellent reputation. Lamy aims to convey this positive brand perception and the associated consumer trust in the LAMY brand consistently worldwide and across all channels, whether online or offline.
The decline of traditional distribution channels and changes in consumer behavior create opportunities for new partnerships that can support Lamy in meeting its high standards for holistic brand communication.
Trust and consistency go hand in hand. Consistency starts with how the product is presented at different touchpoints, the message conveyed and extends to how the purchase process is completed.
The Heidelberg-based company places great importance on addressing the individual needs of its customers at every touchpoint.
60 to 80 percent of customers who ultimately purchase the product begin their customer journey online.
Consistency in brand communication starts with uniform product information, descriptions, and images, and extends to additional content and activation measures for retail.
One in ten fountain pens is purchased online, while nine out of ten are bought in physical stores. We need to ensure that our products are presented in the best possible way online and consider how to expand within brick-and-mortar retail.
The company's previous tech stack resulted in inconsistencies in the brand experience, necessitating a new solution.
Solution: Unified Brand Presence and Global Flexibility with Shopify
By transitioning to Shopify, Lamy chose a system that perfectly meets the brand’s requirements due to its scalability, unified commerce solution, and user-friendliness. With Shopify, Lamy will standardize product information across all sales channels and countries, ensuring a consistent presentation of its products. Using Shopify’s integrated product taxonomy and the Combined Listings App, Lamy can centrally manage product information for individual variants and make it available across all channels.
We want to ensure that our customers worldwide, whether in Germany or the U.S., have access to the best possible information.
International expansion is simpler and more cost-effective with Shopify and its international sales tools compared to the previous tech stack. Shopify enables the Heidelberg-based company to support its many global partners, present products uniformly, and build a consistent brand presence across all countries.
The brand experience and the way we communicate with consumers in Singapore or Germany is the same.
Shopify’s flexibility gives Lamy the freedom to tailor the system to its specific requirements and integrate external partners. Instead of relying on cumbersome workarounds, Shopify enables the seamless integration of external solutions with just a few clicks. Lamy can now implement individual requirements using a simple editor, numerous apps, and API solutions—without the need to maintain an in-house development team.
The Goal: A Strong Unified Commerce Solution for the Future
The collaboration between Lamy and Shopify began in 2023 at the OMR event in Hamburg. Within a year of intensive collaboration, the foundation was laid for a globally consistent brand presence.
With Shopify, Lamy is setting the stage for a unified brand experience as it expands internationally and strengthens its omnichannel commerce. In the future, the integration of a powerful CRM system will help provide customers with comprehensive, tailored, and personalized information before and after their purchase. Initial steps in mobile commerce have been planned and are ready for implementation.
I am confident that Shopify can make a significant contribution to how we present and develop ourselves as a brand in e-commerce.