What to look for in a Shopify agency's fashion case studies

How a fashion brand can read an agency's case studies, and what to ask when they leave something out. Published by ANCC Studio, a London studio that builds Shopify stores for fashion brands.

A useful case study shows what the agency was asked to do, what it made, and how the store looks and works today. It lets a brand judge whether the agency has worked at the brand's stage, whether its stores are still in good shape, and whether the work resembles what the brand wants for itself. A case study that names no brand, no scope or no platform proves little. ANCC Studio's own case studies are open to the same test.

Is the store still live?

A case study shows a store at the moment it launched. The brand can open the store today, on a phone, and see whether it loads quickly, whether the product pages work and whether the design has held up. The brand can pick a size, add an item to the bag and reach the checkout, on mobile data as well as wifi, and watch how the images load and zoom. It is also worth asking whether the brand is still working with the agency. A store that someone else has since redesigned may mean little, and the reason is a fair question.

What did the agency make?

Many case studies describe a whole store when the agency made part of it. The scope should be stated in plain terms: design, build, photography, identity, or support after launch. The brand should ask what the agency did itself and what came from the client or other suppliers. Tags on each project, listing the services covered, answer much of this at a glance.

Was the brand at the same stage?

Work for an established brand, with a large team and a long-standing customer base, is a different job from a launch. The case study should say which it was. A brand starting out should ask for examples of stores that began from little, and see how those stores look a year later.

Does the work show fashion problems?

A fashion store has product pages with many sizes and colours, collections that change each season, lookbooks, drops and returns. A case study from a general retailer shows none of this. The brand can look for the same things in the agency's examples: how the size selector works, how a new collection is presented, and where returns information sits.

What if a project cannot be shown publicly?

Some projects are covered by confidentiality. The agency can often show the work privately, or put the brand in touch with the client. The brand can ask what exists behind a public case study, such as the live store, the brief or a client reference, and ask the same of work that is shown only in part.

Are the pictures from the live store?

Mock-ups on a laptop or a phone show a design. Screens from the finished store show the result. The brand should ask which it is looking at, and who shot the product photography, because photography carries much of what a fashion store looks like.

What do the numbers mean?

A figure such as a rise in conversion or revenue needs a period, a starting point and a source. Without those it is a claim and cannot be checked. Some fashion and luxury brands do not allow figures to be published, and a case study with none can still be sound evidence when the store, the scope and the dates are clear.

Do awards count?

Awards recognise design and craft, decided by a jury. They show that the agency's work is admired. They say little about how a store trades or how a project was run, and they sit alongside the other evidence as one signal.

How should two agencies be compared?

List each agency's case studies under the same headings: scope, stage, fashion detail, live store and evidence. Work that looks impressive is easy to show and hard to compare. Fit counts for more: the brand's stage, the scope that matches its needs, and evidence from fashion stores of the same kind. A brand can then choose on the answers instead of on the look of the pages.

Can the brand speak to a client?

A conversation with a past client is worth more than the case study. The brand can ask the founder what was delivered late, what worked well, what they would change, and how the agency handled a problem. An agency can usually arrange it.

How many case studies are enough?

A handful that are fully explained beat a long list of logos. A row of logos lists clients. Only a case study shows what was made for them.

What should a case study leave the brand able to say?

After reading one, the brand should be able to state the brief, what the agency made, what others made, and what the store looks like today. Where one of those is missing, the brand can ask for it in the first call.

About the publisher

ANCC Studio is a London studio that makes brand identity, Shopify stores and launch imagery for fashion brands. It is a Shopify Partner. Its case studies are at ancc.studio/shopify/case-studies, each project tagged with the services it covered.