Elyse Breanne Design: Scaling Ecommerce for a Multi-Million Dollar Brand
Elyse Breanne Design had built a loyal following with its bold, botanically inspired products—but the site’s structure was holding the brand back. Shoppers struggled to navigate the catalog, especially on mobile, and the checkout experience introduced unnecessary friction.
I led a full UX redesign—restructuring the site’s architecture, optimizing for mobile, and refining the checkout flow to support higher conversions without compromising the brand’s creative voice.
The result was a shopping experience that felt as joyful and intentional as the products themselves—ready to scale with the brand’s rapid growth.
The Challenge: Outgrowing Etsy’s Limitations
Elyse Breanne Design had rapidly scaled from a one-woman Etsy shop into a nationally recognized brand with retail partnerships and wholesale demand. But Etsy’s platform—built for hobbyists and small sellers—couldn’t keep pace.
Key issues included:
Limited Control – Etsy restricted customization of the storefront, checkout, and brand experience.
Scaling Constraints – Managing a growing catalog and wholesale orders became increasingly inefficient.
Brand Perception – Remaining on Etsy risked underselling the credibility and professionalism Elyse had worked hard to build.
Elyse had started setting up a Shopify site, but it wasn’t yet live. That’s when I stepped in—to ensure the new platform wouldn’t just replace Etsy, but would scale with her business and give customers a seamless, trustworthy shopping experience.
My Role in This Project
I led the end-to-end UX strategy, design, and development for this multi-channel ecommerce transformation—partnering directly with Elyse, the founder, to scale her Shopify site for rapid business growth.
Working independently, I conducted a full UX audit, mapped user journeys, and designed a streamlined shopping experience that aligned with the brand’s visual identity and operational needs. I also collaborated on content structure, guided key platform decisions, and ensured the site could support both wholesale and direct-to-consumer expansion.
This case study reflects a solo project—where I served as both strategist and designer—grounding creative decisions in real business priorities.
This early design brief mapped out brand and user priorities, ensuring the redesign aligned with evolving product goals and e-commerce scaling needs.
Designing for — Fans, First-Timers, and Fast Growth
Elyse Breanne Design serves a wide spectrum of customers, from everyday stationery lovers to boutique buyers and business owners. While each user group comes to the brand with different goals, they share a common thread: a deep appreciation for beauty, quality, and thoughtful design.
Key user groups included:
Intentional Everyday Shoppers: These users were drawn to the visual appeal of Elyse’s products and often shopped for gifts, seasonal decor, or personal inspiration. They needed a site experience that made browsing feel joyful—and checkout feel frictionless.
Boutique Owners & Wholesale Buyers: These customers shopped with intention and volume. They needed clear product information, trust in fulfillment quality, and easy access to wholesale terms, all without sacrificing the brand’s premium feel.
We grounded the experience in two flexible personas—Jules, a creative and detail-oriented customer shopping for herself and others, and Tessa, a small business owner curating her shop’s seasonal displays. Their motivations helped shape the site into something as functional as it was delightful.
The Solution: A Shopify Redesign for Seamless Shopping & Wholesale Scaling
To support the rapid growth of Elyse Breanne Design’s ecommerce business, I implemented a user-centered Shopify redesign that optimized usability, engagement, and scalability.
Product Navigation Overhaul – Introduced improved filtering and categorization to help customers browse an expanding inventory with ease.
Optimized Checkout Experience – Reduced friction in the purchasing flow, minimizing cart abandonment and increasing conversions.
Wholesale-Specific Enhancements – Built a dedicated wholesale experience that streamlined bulk ordering for national retailers.
Mobile-First UX Improvements – Ensured a seamless shopping experience across devices, improving accessibility and customer satisfaction.
These enhancements resulted in a high-performing ecommerce platform that scaled alongside the brand’s growth while providing a seamless, reliable customer experience.
The Process & What I Did
Identify Limitations of Etsy
Goal: Understand where Etsy’s platform was constraining growth and customer experience.
Etsy had provided Elyse with a solid launchpad, but it was beginning to hold the brand back. Product discoverability was limited, wholesale buyers couldn’t be supported efficiently, and checkout lacked flexibility. By analyzing customer pain points and comparing them against Elyse’s growth goals, I mapped the specific gaps that a custom Shopify build needed to solve.
Clarify Customer Segments
Goal: Define the needs of retail shoppers and wholesale buyers to guide feature prioritization.
Elyse’s audience wasn’t monolithic. On one hand, individual customers wanted simple navigation and quick, seamless checkout. On the other, wholesale buyers needed a way to browse large catalogs, place bulk orders, and reorder easily. I worked with Elyse to separate these journeys, ensuring the site design could support both segments without compromise.
Streamline Product Discovery
Goal: Create a navigation and filtering system that scaled with an expanding catalog.
With hundreds of SKUs and new products launching regularly, Etsy’s search-driven structure had become overwhelming. I designed a system of categories, filters, and collection pages in Shopify that let customers browse intuitively and find products faster. This structure also reduced support inquiries and improved product visibility across the catalog.
Optimize the Checkout Experience
Goal: Minimize friction and increase conversion rates by improving Shopify’s purchase flow.
The existing checkout introduced too many steps and distractions, leading to cart abandonment. I streamlined the flow to emphasize clarity and speed—auto-filling key fields, minimizing visual clutter, and surfacing trust signals like security and shipping policies earlier. These refinements helped retail customers feel confident and wholesale buyers complete larger orders without friction.
Design Wholesale-Specific Flows
Goal: Provide wholesale buyers with dedicated tools to support large, repeat orders.
To meet the needs of growing wholesale relationships, I created a parallel pathway for bulk buyers within Shopify. This included simplified product listings, quick-order forms, and clearer account-level communication. By tailoring the experience to wholesale workflows, Elyse could scale her retail and wholesale businesses side by side without creating operational strain.
Ensure Mobile-First Performance
Goal: Deliver a seamless experience across devices, supporting both retail and wholesale buyers on the go.
With the majority of traffic coming from mobile, the new Shopify design had to feel effortless on small screens. I optimized layouts, simplified forms, and tested interactions across devices to ensure speed and clarity. This mobile-first approach extended to wholesale buyers, who often placed orders from tablets during trade shows or store visits.
The Outcome: A Seamless Shopping Experience for Rapid Growth
This redesign didn’t just refresh the brand’s digital presence—it unlocked the operational scale and user experience needed to support explosive growth.
✅ Scalable Storefront for Multi-Million Dollar Growth — The new Shopify architecture supported a surge in traffic and sales volume—without breaking under pressure.
✅ Higher Conversions, Lower Abandonment — Refined product flows and a simplified checkout experience helped reduce drop-off and boost purchase completion rates.
✅ Streamlined Ordering for Wholesale Buyers — A tailored wholesale experience made it easy for large retailers to browse, bulk order, and return—without manual back-and-forth.
✅ Optimized for Mobile, Built for All Screens — Responsive design and performance improvements ensured a smooth, intuitive experience across devices.
“The new site finally feels like it reflects where the brand is headed. It’s easier to shop, easier to update, and better aligned with our wholesale and direct-to-consumer goals.”
Scope & Constraints
Scope:
This solo project supported Elyse Breanne Design, a fast-growing ecommerce brand navigating a critical scale-up moment. As both UX strategist and visual designer, I led the full redesign process—from early research and IA through high-fidelity mockups and Shopify implementation.
The goal was to evolve the site’s structure and shopping experience while preserving the creative brand essence that fueled the company’s growth.
Constraints:
Tight Timeline, Lean Team: With a small team and high urgency, every design decision had to deliver both immediate value and long-term scalability.
Shopify Flexibility (and Limitations): While Shopify supported faster iteration, layout customization and dynamic content constraints required thoughtful workarounds.
Full Design Ownership: As the sole UX lead and implementer, I had to balance deep strategy with efficient execution across multiple disciplines.
Creative Brand Identity: Every update needed to elevate usability without stripping away the playful, expressive tone that defined the brand—making nuance essential at every step.
Lessons Learned
This project reinforced the importance of balancing brand identity with ecommerce best practices.
My key takeaways include:
Looking ahead, I’ll apply focused iteration strategies that flex with product growth—supporting seasonal pivots, wholesale scaling, and evolving customer journeys without compromising cohesion.
The Real Win
Scaling the experience behind a multi-million dollar brand—without sacrificing what made it personal.
Referenced Frameworks & Reading
A few resources that influenced my approach on this project:
