Australian agencies win Shopify Build Award for Lioness

Elephant Room and Prosper Digital have won a Shopify Build Award for their work on Lioness Fashion's online retail business. The agencies say they are the first winners from Asia-Pacific to receive the award.

The recognition centres on a multi-year effort to build Lioness Fashion's direct-to-consumer channel alongside its established wholesale business and expand the brand's international eCommerce reach. Lioness now ships to 95 countries, the companies said.

Elephant Room began working with Lioness in 2018, when direct-to-consumer sales accounted for less than 10% of the fashion brand's total revenue and its WooCommerce site played a secondary role to wholesale. The agency moved the retailer to Shopify, introduced paid media across Meta and Google, migrated the business to Klaviyo and SMS tools, and provided broader support across its technology stack.

The work was intended to make online sales a bigger driver of growth and customer acquisition without disrupting Lioness's wholesale operations. According to the agencies, it also gave the business a more deliberate approach to eCommerce investment and international expansion.

Store overhaul

Prosper Digital joined the project later, focusing on changes to Lioness's online storefront. The agency rebuilt the site on a Shopify 2.0 theme, refreshed the design, updated collection and product pages, and redesigned the cart drawer with free shipping thresholds and upsell prompts aimed at increasing average order value.

The redesign also included a custom mega-navigation system, collection pages with swatches, quick-add purchasing from listing pages, hover states for browsing, and product pages with native swatching, image zoom, a fit guide, and buy now, pay later messaging. The agencies said the changes were designed to reduce friction in the shopping process and improve conversion.

Within six weeks of launch, Prosper Digital said the site recorded a 113% increase in sales, a 130% increase in orders, a 74% increase in conversion rate, a 93% increase in add-to-cart rate, and a 132% rise in checkout completions.

Lioness Fashion Chief Financial Officer Brian Nguyen described Elephant Room's role as important to the business's online growth.

"Our partnership with Elephant Room has been a valuable part of our success story," Nguyen said.

"Adam [Sharon-Zipser] and Matthew [Ding] from the Elephant Room team took the time to understand our distinct business model, earn our trust, and support us in developing and executing a balanced online strategy that complemented, rather than distracted from, our strong wholesaling operations.

"Elephant Room added value to the business. They took that first dollar and showed us how to efficiently spend it for our online channel."

Agency partnership

The award was presented under Shopify's Merchant Impact category, the companies said. It recognises the two Australian agencies, which worked on different parts of Lioness's eCommerce operation.

Elephant Room Managing Director Adam Sharon-Zipser said the project reflected a broader shift in the retailer's business model.

"This is really a story about a neglected eCommerce store, doing less than 10% of sales online, transforming into this global D2C powerhouse, driven entirely by two Australian agencies on Shopify.

"From our initial meeting with Lioness nearly eight years ago, we saw the brand's potential and the opportunity to improve its eCommerce offering. Moving Lioness to Shopify gave the label the speed and flexibility its old set-up lacked, which allowed the CRO work to convert. Shopify also gave Lioness the runway to expand internationally without replatforming.

"This award recognises our partnership with Lioness and the many roles we've played in getting the business to where it is today, allowing the label to scale while maintaining sustainable growth. To be recognised globally by Shopify for this work is a proud moment for the entire team."

Prosper Digital Founder Jacob Osborne said the joint win reflected the two agencies' working relationship.

"The Merchant Impact award feels like the best category Shopify could recognise us for. Having a real impact on our clients' businesses is what gets us out of bed at Prosper Digital, and the team behind Lioness are amazing humans who deserve every success that comes their way. Elephant Room cares about its clients the same way we do, and Adam is a good friend, so I couldn't think of a better partner to share Shopify's first-ever joint Build Award with. This is what happens when specialist agencies work together in a client's best interest."

Shopify's regional partnerships team also highlighted the result as a notable outcome for Australian and New Zealand partners in its network.

"It's always exciting to see local partners recognised for their incredible contribution to our global ecosystem. The Lioness story is a great example of what's possible when the right partners bring their passion and expertise to help a brand grow, expand, and make commerce better," said Hannah Udina, Head of Partnerships ANZ, Shopify.

Elephant Room was founded in Sydney in 2014 and says it works across paid media, creative, out-of-home buying, and measurement for retail brands. Prosper Digital, founded in 2017 with studios in Sydney and Melbourne, focuses on Shopify design, development, and conversion rate optimisation for eCommerce clients.