Why Le Nouveau Chef left Shopware 6 for Shopify Plus

Two years ago Dutch brand Le Nouveau Chef was already enamored with Shopify Plus, but stuck with Shopware 6 because it seemed a better fit in terms of B2B functionality. Now that Shopify Plus offers a strong B2B solution, they happily jumped ship and are enjoying all the benefits of Shopify’s extreme user-friendliness.

CLIENT

Le Nouveau Chef

INDUSTRY

Fashion, Food

TECHNOLOGY

Shopify plus webshops

PACKAGE

Webshop migration

Services we provided

Migration

Store Development

UX/UI Design

Email Marketing

From false start to soaring launch

Le Nouveau Chef is a family business that sells fashionable, quality workwear to chefs and other catering professionals. It was founded in 1986, when the open-kitchen trend took hold in Dutch restaurants and created a market for high-end, on-brand chef’s apparel. Today, Le Nouveau Chef is managed by Paul van Luipen and Marijn Blaauw, who took the brand online and grew it internationally.

About three years ago Le Nouveau Chef moved from WooCommerce to Shopware 6, which had just been released at that time. Back then, E-commerce Specialist Raymond Weijers was already eyeing Shopify Plus, but decided to go with Shopware 6 because Shopify’s B2B offering wasn’t up to speed yet. Unfortunately, it turned out Shopware 6 wasn’t up to speed yet, either. Asked about the pain points of Shopware 6, Raymond and Ylmar answer: “Development was definitely an issue. Since we were one of the first Shopware 6 users we got all the teething problems. We had to get basic tools developed that were available out-of-the-box in other platforms."

When Raymond and Senior Brand Manager Ylmar Haring found out about Shopify’s much improved set of B2B tools, early 2023, they didn’t have to think long. Fast forward a few months and they have migrated Le Nouveau Chef to Shopify Plus, are seeing impressive results within the first 6 weeks on Shopify, and couldn’t be happier with Code.

→ Get insight into the costs of a Shopify online store for your brand. Use our TCO calculator for a personalized calculation, including Shopify fees, Apps and (ongoing) store development.

Why Le Nouveau Chef chose Shopify - and Code

Of course, they also checked out a few platforms other than Shopify. Raymond: “Magento gave us the same feeling as Shopware 6. And since Ylmar and I both run our own webshop on Shopify, we knew that we wanted that kind of user-friendliness. It has the most complete ecosystem too, a controlled environment. When there’s an update nothing goes wrong, and new features can be live within a week without anything crashing.”

→ Check out five reasons why Shopify is your best bet here

→ … and read more about the benefits of a SaaS platform here

The next step was finding a good Shopify agency. “We talked to the three biggest Shopify agencies in the Netherlands, but Code felt like the best fit. We had a chat with Bob [Code’s co-founder and CCO] and Mark [Code’s Director of Customer Success] and were impressed by the very specific solutions they offered to the very specific problems we brought to them.”

Le Nouveau Chef kicked off the project with a full Discovery, Code-style. Ylmar: “We had a great start talking through the set-up we needed with Pier [Code’s Senior Solution Architect] and Dominick [Project Manager at Code], and challenged it to arrive at the best solution.” Raymond adds: “The Discovery was wonderful, it took away a lot of our worries and cleared up any uncertainties we still had.”

→ Want to read more about a Discovery, Code-style? Learn more about how we work

Complex project, tight deadline

What were the biggest challenges of the project? Raymond: “It was a pretty complex use-case, with a B2B portal for dealers and resellers and a B2C store in five languages and a lot of currencies. The collaboration with our Coders was great though. Casper [Project Manager at Code] is an excellent communicator and kept things on track, and developers Sónia and Leroy really thought things through.”

For the B2B portal, we made good use of all the B2B functionality freely available in Shopify Plus, such as price lists, payment conditions, and profiles for both individual customers and companies. We’re also using Shopify’s one-page checkout, with a few Checkout Extensions: instant VAT number validation, VAT reverse charged, a loyalty program, and a dropshipping option for our dealers where we send orders straight to their customers.”

→ Read more about Shopify’s superior checkout and B2B features

What made the store extra complex is the difference in shopping habits between countries. “To give an example, in Germany a chef buys his own work apparel, sometimes including VAT - while elsewhere, a restaurant orders it in bulk for its employees, without VAT. Still, we wanted all those different clients to have a similar user experience. They can all order their attire with a name and/or logo embroidered on it, for instance, and we offer them a tool where they can preview how their name will look on the garment.”

The ambitious deadline was a considerable challenge as well, with Le Nouveau Chef aiming at October 1st 2023 for the launch. “Which was on a Sunday, so it became the 3rd in the end. But Code pulled it off! Also thanks to the rigorous Discovery.”

Platform migration = reinvention opportunity

As many brands do, Le Nouveau Chef used the migration as a catalyst for a complete reinvention. In addition to a new platform they got a new store design (courtesy of Tim Borst at Stu Stu Studio), a new CRM, adopted the Agile/SCRUM method throughout the company, started using a loyalty program and a FitFinder, and implemented a PIM (which was a major project in its own right). Another novelty is the video-content on the product pages, which allows customers to see how garments move on the body. This was difficult to do in Shopware - but a piece of cake with Shopify, which inspired Le Nouveau Chef to make new imagery and videos of their entire collection.

Code also advised them to start using Gorgias for their customer service and to switch their email marketing from MailChimp to Klaviyo. “We started with four basic Klaviyo flows that immediately took off. Our revenue from email marketing is now ten times higher than it was!”

→ Interested in Code’s Email Marketing expertise? Read about our Klaviyo service

Ylmar concludes: “Using all these new tools has an amazing impact on our organization, it’s a lot more data-driven now. And the integration with Shopify is perfect.”

Impressive results and great collaboration

At the moment of writing, the new store has been live for 6 weeks. Are they seeing any positive impact yet? Definitely. Ylmar sums up: “Our revenue is up, conversion is up, AOV is up, our return rate is down because of the FitFinder, and our SEA agency is happy with Shopify because it integrates so much better with Google.”

Raymond and Ylmar fully expected a dip in performance after the launch, but they see improvement every week. Raymond: “Our revenue for November 2023 is already higher than it was for November 2022, and the month isn’t even over yet. What makes it even more impressive is that we had a really good year in 2022, with restaurants reopening after the COVID lockdowns, so to top this in our second month on Shopify is amazing.”

They’re both very pleased with Code, too. Ylmar: “The design is literally the finished website! With earlier designs, we always had to make concessions, but Code simply delivered it pixel-perfect.” For Raymond, the community that comes with Code was a definite plus. “Before we even signed on, Code invited us to a dinner where we could swap ideas and experiences with other brands like ours. And they also take the time to discuss new Shopify features with every client, which I’ve never seen with other agencies. So yeah, we’re happy.”

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Future plans

What is the next step for Le Nouveau Chef, now that their new store is taking off? In terms of tools, they are considering to start using Code’s Returner app. Ylmar: “This might be a way to tackle the problems we have with returns from the UK since Brexit. We’re looking for a partner who can collect our returns in the UK and then send them to us: it turns out Code knows a party who can do this, which they are already talking to.”

Other than that, Le Nouveau Chef simply wants to continue being the best. “This year is all about building tools and integrations, and when that’s done we want to keep improving our service. We already have a reputation for high quality, even when we’re almost fully online - and we aim to keep it.” Now that’s a goal Code wholeheartedly supports!