Does Fabletics Use Shopify?

Whether Fabletics, the trendy activewear and athleisure brand uses Shopify to run its online shop or not, the answer to this question may be quite unexpected. Fabletics is not using Shopify. Rather, the brand will be based on proprietary, bespoke e-commerce platform that has been tailored to address its specific business requirements.

Although Shopify is among the most popular e-commerce solutions in the globe, numerous brands are growing fast, especially those with a complicated business model, such as Fabletics, and prefer to use custom solutions because they want to have a complete control of user experience, membership plans, and omnichannel retailing. This article takes an in-depth look into the tech decisions of Fabletics and how this company decided to go with a tailor-made platform, the benefits of this decision, and what other companies can learn about such strategies.

What is Fabletics? A Brief Overview

It is better to know what the brand is about before getting down to technicalities:

Fabletics was established in 2013 and is a co-founded company of Adam Goldenberg and Don Ressler, having a celebrity partner to promote its presence.

The company focuses on men and women activewear and athleisure (leggings, tops, jackets, footwear, and accessories).

Fabletics is a VIP based business and provides suggestions on outfits, unique offers, and tailored shopping options.

The brand has grown to be sold not only online, but also opened physical stores, with its first store opening in 2015, and has continued to expand throughout the U.S. and other countries.

In order to operate its hybrid online-and-offline retailing model effectively, Fabletics created its own custom e-commerce and retailing platform, which included membership administration, inventory, point-of-sale and data analytics systems.

In this regard, it will become evident that a normal e-commerce platform such as Shopify might not be adequate to meet the unique business needs of Fabletics.

Why Fabletics Did Not Choose Shopify

It is possible to identify a number of strong arguments that Fabletics should have chosen a tailor-made platform rather than Shopify or Shopify Plus.

Membership-Based Business Model

Fabletics is a business that follows a model similar to subscriptions. The VIP members are offered with personalized outfit ideas, special pricing, and perks.

Personalization: Fabletics relies on information about the preferences of its members, their previous purchases, and their browsing history to suggest customized outfits.

Complexity of Subscription: Membership management involves processing monthly credits, skipping months, recurring payments and special promotions.

Though Shopify has the ability to accommodate simple subscriptions with the help of apps, higher-level membership models would need a lot of customization which can be expensive and hard to scale on Shopify. A bespoke platform will enable Fabletics to entirely manage its membership logic and provide seamless personalized experiences.

Advanced User Experience & Branding

Fabletics is focusing on a powerful brand image and experience of shopping.

Interactive Onboarding: The customers can complete quizzes to identify their style preferences.

Customized Recommendations: Customized outfit recommendations depending on preferences and purchase history.

Custom Design Flexibility: The brand has the ability to control all of the user interface which provides a unified and branded shopping experience.

Ready-made websites such as Shopify usually have limitations in design and layout. Although the themes in Shopify are customizable, it is difficult to reach the level of customization and branding that Fabletics needs without a lot of development.

Omnichannel Retail Integration

The decision to move Fabletics to brick-and-mortar stores will need an effective synchronization of online and offline business.

Cohesive Inventory Management: The customers are able to view the real time stock in both online and brick-and-mortar stores.

Unified POS Systems: Store associates will have access to customer accounts, web carts, and shopping history.

Improved Customer Experience: Customers will have an opportunity to collect online orders in-store, swap products, or redeem in-store discounts with retaining the VIP membership benefits.

This is a higher level of integration that is not offered by Shopify. Fabletics has a custom backend that provides smooth omnichannel experience to its customers and employees.

Scalability and Performance Optimization

Brands with high traffic such as Fabletics need high performance and scalability:

High Traffic Management: When sales are taking place or a product being launched, millions of users can access the site at a time. Custom backend gives fine control to caching, load balancing, and server resources.

High-tech Analytics: Fabletics applies data-driven insights to recommendations and marketing campaigns and inventory management.

Custom Backend Workflows: Advanced business logic, including subscriptions, loyalty programs, and personalization are developed directly into the system without depending on third-party applications that might not even be scalable.

A generic e-commerce can fail to withstand heavy traffic or it may need expensive add-ons to achieve such functions.

Enhanced Security and Data Control

The issue of data privacy and data security is critical to any contemporary e-commerce brand.

Fabletics deals with sensitive data, which includes:

• Credit card information on recurrent membership fees.
• Individual profiles with the purchase history, size choices, and style preferences.
• The data on the omnichannel activity of online and offline shopping.

Being the owner of the infrastructure will allow Fabletics to know that the data of their customers is safe and meets the privacy laws and is under their complete control. The application of Shopify or third-party applications would mean that some data is shared with external parties and this may pose constraints or vulnerabilities.

Evidence That Fabletics Uses a Custom Platform

A number of signs indicate that Fabletics operates on a proprietary e-commerce platform and is not using Shopify:

Omni Suite System: The backend of Fabletics unites online sales, in-store POS, inventory, and membership into one system, which is not common in Shopify stores.

Personalized Shopping Experiences: VIP membership model implies the highly personal interactions with the strong integration with the analytics and recommendation engines in the background.

Tech-Enabled Stores: In-store fitting rooms will have technology such as iPads which are connected to customer online accounts and online shopping carts, which shows that the online and offline systems are closely integrated.

Fabletics has been mentioned as a user of either Shopify or Shopify Plus, but these assertions are probably older and made on assumptions instead of on proven technical architecture. The overwhelming amount of evidence in favor of the statement that Fabletics operates its own custom infrastructure is overwhelming.

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Custom Platform of Fabletics

There are a number of advantages and possible disadvantages of using a custom platform instead of Shopify.

Advantages

Complete Control of UX: All customer journey elements can be built to the standard of the brand.

Complex Personality: Natively, it is possible to introduce advanced personalization, exclusive offers, and VIP memberships.

Omnichannel Integration: The combination of unified inventory, POS and customer management enhances customer experience and streamlined business.

Scalable and High-Performance: Supports millions of users and sophisticated business logic without using third-party applications.

Data Privacy and Security: Full control on sensitive customer data is guaranteed compliance and security.

Disadvantages

Increased Costs: A custom platform needs a lot of investment in terms of development, maintenance, and updates.

Slower new features in the market: Custom systems might not be as quick to integrate new e-commerce innovations as other platforms, such as Shopify.

Complexity: A proprietary system is costly and technical risks to run.

Integration Issues: Adding third-party services, marketing tools, or international payment gateways can be a custom development.

Why Shopify is Not Always the Best Choice for Large Brands

Shopify is suitable to small to medium-sized businesses as it offers an e-commerce platform that is ready-made and does not have many technical needs.

Fast Implementation: Shopify enables brands to open online stores in a short time.

User-Friendliness: It does not need much technical skills to use.

In-house Capabilities: Shopify comes with in-built payment processing, inventory control, and templates that are easy to optimize in search engines.

Nevertheless, with the expansion of the business and the need to have complex functionality like subscription management, omnichannel integration, and superior personalization, a custom solution will offer greater flexibility and control. Fabletics is one of the brightest examples of a big brand that surpassed the services of an ordinary e-commerce solution.

Lessons for Other Brands

The strategy of Fabletics provides some ideas to other companies that want to know whether to use Shopify or a tailored solution:

Analyze Your Business Model: In case your brand is based on the idea of complex subscriptions, memberships, or personalized services, a custom platform might be needed.

Take into account the Omnichannel Requirements: Companies that have both an online and offline presence might need to be integrated to a great degree that cannot be easily achieved with off-the-shelves solutions.

Scalability Consideration: Brands with high traffic or high growth rates have to think about whether a platform such as Shopify can support the peak traffic without any performance problems.

Data Control Matters: Customer Data: Having full control of your backend allows you to have full control of customer data, security and compliance.

Shopify or Shopify Plus can be the right choice to smaller brands or startups with a simpler business model, whereas more complex brands tend to have better results with their own infrastructure.

The Role of Membership in Fabletic’s Success

One of the most important elements of the Fabletics strategy is the VIP membership program which has become a source of growth and customer retention.

Members are offered personalized suggestions on outfits, which are usually customized based on style quizzes or previous purchases.

Recurring Billing: Recurring membership fees give the company a stable flow of revenue and promote recurring buying.

Special Privileges: VIP members will have an advantage of new products, a reduced price, and selected outfits.

To support such an advanced membership model, there is a need to custom logic that cannot be handled fully with Shopify. There is a custom platform that will enable Fabletics to personalize the experience to every member and retain flexibility in pricing, promotions, and account management.

How Custom Infrastructure Supports Omnichannel Growth

The brand has stores that are not the continuation of its online store; they are fully connected with the digital activities of Fabletics:

Centralized Inventory: The company will provide customers with real-time inventory online and in-store.

Inbuilt POS Systems: The employees will be able to access the history of the members, online carts, and recommendations.

Smooth Customer Service: Members are able to shop online and pick up in-store or be advised on products in online carts in-store.

This unification is one of the key distinguishing features of Fabletics, which makes the experience of its customers uniform across channels and enhances loyalty.

Here’s What You Need to Know

Fabletics is not a user of Shopify. The brand is based on its own, bespoke platform that enables it to run its membership program, offer personalized recommendations, combine online and offline functions, and scale efficiently.

To businesses weighing between Shopify and creating a custom platform, Fabletics has shown the trade-offs: Shopify is quick, cheap and easy to operate, whereas a custom solution offers flexibility, control and the possibility to build complex business logic. The decision to go right hinges on the size of business, growth strategies and the complexity of the business.

The choice of Fabletics to invest in a custom platform has been successful and it has been able to provide a seamless, personalized and omnichannel experience that helps it to stand out in the competitive market of athleisure.