Faherty is a family-led apparel brand that’s been inspired by sun, surf, and a spirit of togetherness since 2013. Their laid-back clothing blends style with sustainability, earning them a devoted following that continues to grow. But as demand accelerated, their legacy ecommerce platform became a hindrance rather than a helper, with performance issues, limited storytelling capabilities, and merchandising constraints standing in the way of their ambitious growth plans.
To overcome these challenges, Faherty needed more than just a new website. They had ambitious goals of building a digital flagship that could embody their brand ethos while supporting rapid scale. They chose Verbal+Visual, one of the original Shopify Plus partners, for their unique approach—combining strategic consultancy with hands-on implementation, led by a dual creative director model (one verbal, one visual) that puts brand differentiation first.
Since redesigning their site on Shopify with Verbal+Visual, Faherty has achieved remarkable results:
- 28% increase in revenue
- 15% increase from search referrers
The challenge: When platform limitations hold back brand potential
Faherty's existing ecommerce foundation had become a significant obstacle to their growth trajectory. During peak shopping periods and new product launches, the site struggled to maintain performance, creating friction for customers and leaving potential sales on the table. This lack of scalability threatened their ability to capitalize on seasonal opportunities, which are crucial moments for an apparel brand.
Likewise, storytelling sits at the heart of Faherty's brand identity, with seasonal collections and editorial content driving customer engagement. Yet their previous site experience severely restricted this creative expression. New campaigns often took weeks to launch and required extensive developer support, hampering the team's ability to respond quickly to market trends or seasonal inspirations.
We needed a digital flagship that could scale with us, give us freedom to tell our story, and remove barriers for our internal teams.
Perhaps most frustrating was the lack of merchandising autonomy. Without intuitive, no-code tools, internal teams couldn't independently create product groupings or variations, forcing them to rely on developers for even routine updates. These dependencies created bottlenecks that limited experimentation and delayed campaign launches, putting Faherty at a competitive disadvantage in the fast-moving apparel market.
Shopify offered the ideal solution with its modular architecture, seamless integrations, and intuitive merchandising tools. The platform promised to deliver the creative freedom, speed to market, and operational resilience that Faherty needed to move at the pace of their seasons rather than their technology.
The solution: Technology that meets speed and flexibility of the industry
Working hand-in-hand, Faherty’s in-house product and merchandising teams partnered with Verbal+Visual to reimagine the shopping experience on Shopify. The collaborative approach focused on:
Branded, modular design
The team developed a composable design system powered by modular content blocks. Faherty’s internal teams can now launch new campaigns, collections, or editorial stories in hours instead of weeks—keeping pace with seasonal trends and customer demand.
AI-powered discovery
To enhance product discovery, the team integrated Constructor.io, an AI-powered search and navigation solution that offers autosuggest, behavioral learning, and smart merchandising. This helps customers find products faster while personalizing the discovery journey for items that match their preferences for sizing, styles, and featured collections.
Merchandising autonomy
Through no-code Shopify tools, Faherty’s merchandising team gained the ability to craft complex product stories, groupings, and tailored landing pages independently. Campaign concepts now move from idea to execution without developer bottlenecks.
Smooth checkout and conversion flows
Shopify is known for having the best converting checkout, and for good reason. Verbal+Visual added conversion enhancements for Faherty like quick add buttons on product cards and a persistent flyout cart, reducing drop-off and accelerating purchases.
With Shopify, we’ve been able to bring storytelling front and center. We’re now able to quickly create and launch new campaigns with the confidence that shoppers will find exactly what they’re looking for.
The results: High scale growth for a laid back brand
The migration to Shopify delivered transformative results for Faherty. The DTC experience has seen a 28% increase in revenue and 15% conversion rate increase in search referrers, making the new site a knockout success.
We’re thrilled with our redesign on Shopify Plus. The new site has dramatically improved our shopping experience and helped us get ahead of trends and seasonal opportunities instead of reacting to them.
The new site has fundamentally changed how Faherty operates day-to-day. Marketing and merchandising teams now have the autonomy to move quickly. The enhanced product discovery makes browsing intuitive for customers, while the streamlined checkout process converts browsers to buyers more effectively.
Verbal+Visual continues to support Faherty as a design and optimization partner, while the internal ecommerce team owns the roadmap, analytics, and prioritization of features. Together, they’re pursuing ongoing A/B testing, personalization, and loyalty integration to unlock the next phase of growth.
Faherty plans to expand Shopify POS across their retail stores and further integrate loyalty and personalization strategies—initiatives that will strengthen their connection with customers while supporting omnichannel growth. With Shopify providing the foundation and Verbal+Visual as their strategic partner, Faherty is well-positioned for sustained success in the competitive apparel market.