The Brand

Oliver Bonas is renowned for its eclectic array of fashion, homeware, and gifts. Established by Oliver Tress, the brand has flourished since it was founded in 1993, guided by a philosophy that marries innovation with tradition. Known for its unique design, with a significant portion of products developed in-house, Oliver Bonas has captivated a diverse audience, fostering a retail experience that goes beyond mere transactions to celebrate creativity and personal expression. 

Their online store is powered by Adobe Commerce (Magento 2), known for its robustness and flexibility. The integration and on-going development of the platform are expertly handled by Tom & Co., a Magento eCommerce agency, renowned for its strategic and technical expertise. This partnership has been essential in enhancing the online presence of Oliver Bonas, addressing specific operational needs and customer engagement strategies effectively.  

The Challenge

Oliver Bonas faced significant challenges with their online user experience, particularly with the search functionality and category merchandising, while using their previous provider. 

The brand struggled with zero search results from complex, semantic keyword searches and had to manually manage merchandising across hundreds of diverse categories, making it difficult to highlight trending products efficiently. 

There was limited control over the ordering of search results, which hindered the company’s ability to capitalize on fast-moving market opportunities. Products that became popular through press features or social media could not be surfaced prominently without manual intervention, leading to missed sales opportunities. 

The merchandising process also lacked flexibility. Products were either ordered chronologically or required manual sorting within the CMS. This setup made it challenging to highlight trending or popular items alongside newer products, especially given the extensive number of categories, spanning hundreds across various product types that needed constant updating. 

Before Athos Commerce:

Before implementing Athos, Oliver Bonas managed their search and merchandising challenges manually, which was time-consuming and increasingly inefficient. The team actively monitored searches that resulted in zero results, and then manually added words not understood as synonyms or variations. Over time, this process led to the addition of over 2000 synonyms, aimed at ensuring that similar search terms, such as “t-shirt,” “tshirt,” and “t shirt,” would all yield the desired results. 

In addition to search-related challenges, the team manually managed category merchandising within their CMS. Specifically, they adjusted the ranking of categories that they did not want to rank solely by newness, such as gifting categories, to better align with marketing strategies and customer expectations. 

However, Oliver Bonas soon realized that these manual processes were not sustainable as a long-term solution. The growing scale of their online operations made it clear they needed a more efficient, automated system. So, the team started evaluating other search and merchandising providers, ultimately seeking a system that could automate these tasks with greater ease and flexibility. 

The Solution

Oliver Bonas chose Athos for its seamless blend of automation and manual control. Athos effortlessly handles complex searches, correcting misspellings and recognizing synonyms without manual intervention. Athos’ ‘pinning’ feature also allows for strategic product visibility, which can overwrite any merchandising rules by selecting certain products to stay on top of categories. This mix of advanced automation with the option for hands-on customization made Athos the clear choice for upgrading their e-commerce experience. 

Since integrating Athos, Oliver Bonas has seen remarkable efficiencies across its teams. The software is user-friendly and intuitive, making it easy for staff from various departments to effectively utilize the tool. Team members can apply rules, use the pinning feature to highlight products, and gain valuable insights, all of which enhance their operations. 

Athos’ clear scoring system for products has been particularly beneficial. It allows the teams at Oliver Bonas to easily understand and communicate the rationale behind product ordering to stakeholders, ensuring transparency and strategic alignment within the company. This level of clarity and ease of use has made Athos an invaluable part of their e-commerce strategy.  

One of the standout successes has been with their ‘papa’ and ‘pops’ mugs, which have seen a doubling in sales compared to the previous year. These mugs, popular during peak times and heavily searched for with various terms like ‘father’s mug’ or ‘dad mug’, are now more effectively surfaced thanks to Athos’ smart search capabilities that require no manual input to recognize and match the diverse search terms. 

Oliver Bonas has noted improved sales in other key product lines, such as cold weather accessories, which have been prominently featured and optimized by Athos across relevant categories. This enhanced visibility has directly contributed to their success on the website. 

As a multi-category retailer, Oliver Bonas faces the challenge of managing a vast array of product categories. Klevu has significantly lightened the load by automating many of the manual processes previously required, particularly in handling complex category management and product placement strategies. Athos’ ability to learn and adapt has also helped position products with high interactions and sales at the top of their categories, ensuring that new and highly sought-after items gain appropriate exposure. 

The Results

Oliver Bonas is actively enhancing its e-commerce capabilities, with recent additions like a new attribute to boost specific styles effectively. The team is exploring ways to demote products with fragmented stock, particularly sized items such as clothing, and to implement a more granularly chronological approach to showcasing new items. The company is also trailing A/B tests within Athos Category Merchandising, which they have never been able to do before, to compare automated versus manual merchandising. 

Additionally, they are planning significant upgrades to their reporting and analytics to better inform decision-making, which will involve further development work to integrate these tools directly within their e-commerce system. These advancements underscore Oliver Bonas’s commitment to continual improvement and innovation in their digital strategy.

• 22% decrease in search bounce rate  
• 20% increase in search transactions 
• 14% increase in search conversion rate   

Partner with Athos Commerce to transform your ecommerce store. With proven tools and expertise in search and merchandising, we empower businesses to achieve measurable growth. Contact us today to start optimizing your store for success.