ABBOTT LYON
How a fast-scaling personalised jewellery brand transformed its digital platform while maintaining continuous trading on an eight-figure operation.
01 — The Noise
Abbott Lyon had achieved something remarkable. Ten-fold revenue growth in five years, powered by sharp product development and highly effective Meta and influencer marketing. The brand had built genuine customer love in the personalised jewellery space.
But the website hadn't kept pace. Agency relationships that once worked had been outgrown. The platform was functional, but it wasn't driving growth. It was simply enabling transactions. The brief from leadership was clear: move from enabler to grower.
When marketing outperforms platform, you're leaving money on the table. Every visitor who bounces, every basket that's abandoned, every personalisation journey that feels clunky compounds into real revenue loss.
This wasn't a greenfield build. Abbott Lyon was trading on an eight-figure operation. Traditional replatforms mean new store builds, data migration, switch-overs, and downtime. They needed transformation without disruption. Continuous trading, maintained SEO, uninterrupted marketing activity. The wrong approach could have cost them a peak trading period.
02 — The Signal
The initial scope was a Shopify theme refresh. But discovery revealed a harder truth: the product data architecture wasn't fit for purpose. Personalisation journeys were constrained. The visualiser couldn't scale. Without addressing the foundations, a new theme would simply be a fresh coat of paint on the same limitations.
The recommendation was to expand scope. Transform product data, rebuild personalisation, and deliver the new theme together. It was riskier. It was closer to a replatform than a retheme. But it was the only way to achieve the ambition.
A rigorous three-way RFP led to selecting Onstate as the development partner, chosen for their personalisation strategy, experience with complex builds, and creative approach. The build happened live. No new store. No switch-over. Continuous trading throughout, with SEO and marketing activity maintained.
The iceberg visual tells the story. Above the waterline: UI redesign, visualiser, personalisation journeys. Below: product data transformation, carrier service rebuild, app consolidation, customer accounts, and a new development pipeline.
The harder work was governance. Managing agency relationships. Mitigating risk across multiple workstreams. Ensuring the board had visibility without drowning in detail. Building confidence that this transformation would land on time and on budget.
03 — The Outcome
"Mark has been a fantastic addition to our team during our website rebuild. His expertise has been invaluable and his attention to detail has mitigated a huge amount of risk. Most importantly his passion for the project and complete flexibility has made him feel like part of the team."
— Izzi Rowe, Trading and Commercial Director, Abbott Lyon