Introduction
After suffering a costly security breach and being told they needed to upgrade their costly platform, International Military Antiques – the largest dealer of military antiques and vintage weapons in the world – migrated to Shopify Plus and achieved record sales on Black Friday: holiday e-commerce conversion rates increased by 19.16% from last year, the average order value on Black Friday and Cyber Monday rose by 24.2%, holiday sales increased by 35.85% from last year, and supported revenues of $6 million in 2017.
Company Success Story
International Military Antiques (IMA) was founded 22 years ago after the father inherited vintage weapons from his father. Cranmer began searching for large stores of vintage military ordnance after conflicts. After locating and purchasing military furnishings and selling them to collectors across Europe, Cranmer traveled the world in search of larger stockpiles like those in Nepal, Egypt, Uruguay, and the Balkans. With unique mail advertisements and creatively designed printed catalogs, IMA became a major destination for military antiques and vintage weapons.
Transition to Shopify Plus
After IMA’s website was hacked, incurring significant financial losses, the company decided to transition to Shopify Plus in 2017. IMA recognized that Shopify Plus is a powerful and reliable platform that provides e-commerce automation features such as Flow and Launchpad. Additionally, IMA saw better profit margins after moving to Shopify Plus, as the overall cost for IMA on Plus was $300 less per month compared to the previous server cost. IMA halved its monthly operating costs after considering the previous platform fees and the work needed to build and maintain the old site.
Achieving Record Numbers
IMA generated over $6 million in revenue in 2017, a record for the company. It performed exceptionally on Black Friday and Cyber Monday in 2017 compared to the previous year, including a 19.16% increase in conversion rates from the previous year, a 24.20% rise in average order value from the previous year, and a 35.85% increase in revenue from the previous year. Cranmer attributes this success to the company’s partners and technology, including the extensive navigation list, product description pages, payment and shipping customization, site backup, customer reviews, product ratings, user-generated images, marketing automation tools, and on-site search. Cranmer considers Shopify Plus the right choice and regards it as one of the best business decisions he has made in his career.
Economic and Technical Impact
Thanks to Shopify Plus and its partners, IMA was able to achieve monthly, quarterly, and yearly sales records. Transitioning to Shopify Plus improved user experience, payment and shipping customization, and increased conversion rates. Additionally, IMA managed to cut its monthly operating costs by 50% after moving to Shopify Plus. Cranmer views this transition as a successful decision and considers Shopify Plus a strong partner that can meet all of the company’s needs.
Future Aspirations
Alongside his work at IMA, Cranmer continues to represent himself in films and series. Cranmer dreams of acting in a film that features IMA’s antiques. He believes that transitioning to Shopify Plus and the partners who contributed to the company’s success was the right decision and regards it as one of the best business decisions he has made in his career.
Source: https://www.shopify.com/enterprise/international-military-antiques-magento-migration
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