Sculptural Design, Flawless Speed

When the Stellar Soft team started working with Côte&Ciel in May 2023, this was not a project to build an online store from scratch. The French brand already had a multi-store Shopify infrastructure with separate regional storefronts based on a customized Dawn theme. The stores were already live, so the task was not to rebuild the eCommerce setup from the ground up but to support and continuously improve it.

Côte&Ciel was looking for a long-term technology partner – a reliable team that could support the existing storefronts and gradually expand their capabilities. The focus was on ongoing development, QA, custom functionality, and systematic performance improvements.

We joined the project in May 2023 and have been working as the brand’s dedicated Shopify team ever since.

Rather than rebuilding the platform, we focused on gradually optimizing and extending Côte&Ciel’s existing multi-store setup through an ongoing technical partnership.

Alongside performance optimization, we launched a CRO initiative focused on improving conversion. One of the first solutions was to simplify the path from cart to checkout: we removed an unnecessary step so users could reach checkout in fewer clicks.

Our work expanded across three areas: 

1. PageSpeed optimization for three storefronts – we established a unified performance improvement process and consistently applied it across the EU, US, and APAC storefronts, with the strongest results on mobile devices.

2. Shopping directly from the blog – we added interactive + hotspots to product images. Clicking a hotspot opens product information directly within the article, turning editorial content into a shopping entry point.

3. Upselling in the catalog – we rebuilt the collection pages by adding blocks with small complementary accessories for bags beneath the products, encouraging additional purchases while users browse the catalog.

When Less Is Better

One of the first hypotheses concerned the collection page. We added an Add to Cart button directly to product cards to shorten the path to purchase.

But Côte&Ciel’s audience behavior showed the opposite: shoppers barely used this option. For a designer catalog, it was more important for them to explore the product first and then move to the PDP to make a decision.

So we removed the button.

Instead, we kept a minimalist grid that better matches the brand’s character: hovering over the card changes the image and reveals the price. The catalog remains visually clean, and shoppers move to the product page when they are ready to explore it in more detail.

Upselling Where the Shopper Is Already Choosing

Another approach worked better. Instead of pushing shoppers to add the main product to cart directly from the catalog, we used the PLP as a place for relevant add-ons.

A block with small bag accessories was added beneath each product. This allows shoppers to see complementary items while browsing the collection without leaving the main navigation flow. This is not a ready-made Shopify block, but a custom implementation built around Côte&Ciel’s logic.

Three Stores or One?

Another challenge emerged at the architecture level.

For a long time, Côte&Ciel operated three separate stores – EU, US, and APAC. This model provides more independence: separate payment accounts, different catalogs, and the ability to adapt each market more deeply.

At the same time, three separate stores mean more complex app management and a larger ongoing support workload.

We are currently evaluating two scenarios together with the client: consolidating the stores into a single Shopify setup with different Markets or keeping the current structure. Our role is to compare the technical and operational advantages of each approach and prepare an estimate for the consolidation option.

The PDP Enters a New Stage

In parallel, Côte&Ciel’s design team has prepared a new PDP visual style in Figma, while Stellar Soft is advising on technical feasibility and handling the development.

The next stage is to populate the products with content and publish the changes to the live storefront.

The Technologies Behind It All

• Platform: Shopify Advanced → Shopify Plus

• Theme: Dawn

• Frontend: Liquid, theme.liquid, sections / blocks

• Performance: WebP image pipeline, custom lazy-load / optimization scripts

• Analytics & testing: Google Lighthouse, WebPageTest, Microsoft Clarity

• Catalog: Search & Discovery, Matrixify

• Localization: Translate & Adapt

• Marketing: Klaviyo

• Payments: Klarna

• Fulfillment: ShipStation

Technical Side

Performance

• Before: several regional stores had red or low-yellow Lighthouse scores, especially on mobile devices, which account for around 70% of traffic.

• After: key pages moved into the yellow and green zones. For the EU store, Core Web Vitals reached an LCP of 1.1 s, INP of 170 ms, and CLS of 0.005, while around 79% of page views received a “Good” rating.

Optimization of Three Storefronts

• Before: the EU, US, and APAC stores required separate work, while all changes still had to remain consistent across the regional storefronts.

• After: a systematic PageSpeed optimization approach was consistently applied across all three stores, with the strongest improvements on mobile devices.

Continuous Development

• Before: the client needed a team for ongoing development, QA, support, and improvement of already launched stores.

• After: Stellar Soft works with Côte&Ciel as an ongoing technical team: developing custom functionality, conducting QA, optimizing performance, and advising on further development.

Business Side

Increased ConversionDuring the same period, the EU store’s conversion rate increased by 7% YoY alongside marketing-driven traffic growth.

Smarter Development SpendingThe client avoids unnecessary app subscriptions when the required functionality is more practical to build as a custom solution. At the same time, ready-made tools are used for complex or costly-to-develop solutions when they are more cost-effective.

More Control With Less Developer DependencyThe Côte&Ciel team can make everyday changes to the stores independently thanks to training and documentation. This reduces dependence on the technical team and leaves Stellar Soft to focus on more complex tasks.