Case Study · Shoe Store · Rivière-Rouge, Laurentians
When being online adds $82,000.
Most of Escarpins et Vilebrequins’ sales still come through the door of its store in Rivière-Rouge. The online store started on the side, during the first lockdown. Since then, it has brought in $82,000 in online sales on top of the store’s, with a shop window that changes every season.
The Starting Point
Her customers came to try things on. In spring 2020, the door was shut.
Escarpins et Vilebrequins is a shoe store in Rivière-Rouge. Brands people know and ask for by name: Piccadilly, Rieker, Remonte, Skechers. Anekke and Jak’s bags. Work boots. You walk in, you try them on, Claudine helps you choose.
In March 2020, non-essential stores closed. There was no online store. The customers were at home, the season’s stock was on the shelves, and nobody could come in.
It wasn’t a product problem. It was a door problem.
Sound familiar?
What We Did
What we found
Escarpins et Vilebrequins customers don’t search for “shoes.” They search for a brand they already wear, in their size. Even now, after the store’s own name, “Piccadilly” searches bring the most visitors from Google. And they come back with the seasons. Sandals in May. Boots in October. That’s how a village store lives.
The real opportunity
In the store, the window changes four times a year. Online, it had to change too. Otherwise the site shows sandals in November, and the customer concludes nobody’s minding it. So two things had to exist. An online store where you find your brand and your size in two clicks. And a homepage that announces the season, with a newsletter that sends it to the right people. The seasonal homepage isn’t part of the base package. We added it because a store needs it.
The Process
The bloom unfolds in order.
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Phase 01
Clarity
- The insight: people search for a brand and a size, not a store
- The rhythm: four seasons, four windows
- The store’s service, kept online: phone orders with help, free delivery over $80
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Phase 02
Strategy
- A catalogue laid out like the store: Women, Men, Kids, Work, Accessories, Sale
- A four-beat calendar: every season, a new homepage and a newsletter issue
- The newsletter connected to the store, to see which sales come from email
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Phase 03
Launch
- Online store built by the team that founded Tansley, open in April 2020
- First order on April 20, 2020, in the middle of the lockdown
- 81 orders before the end of the year
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Phase 04
Momentum
- A new homepage every season since 2023: the banner, six tiles, two product carousels
- The seasonal newsletter issue, since spring 2023
- Since spring 2025, the homepage invites visitors to subscribe
- A welcome email and an abandoned-cart reminder, sent automatically
What Set Her Apart Already
An online store is often where the service disappears. Not here. You can still order by phone and be guided, the way you would at the counter. And every season, the homepage carries a few lines signed by Claudine, the owner, on what the season changes outside.
The site didn’t replace the store. It extended it.
The Online Store
A shop window that changes with the seasons.
Every season, the homepage is rebuilt from top to bottom: a banner with the featured products, six tiles that each lead to a category or a brand, and two product carousels. Sandals and lightness in summer, boots and colour in fall, warmth in winter. A returning customer sees right away that the stock is new. Behind the window, a complete WooCommerce store: catalogue, sizes, payment, delivery, gift cards.
779
online orders since April 2020
$126
spent per online order in 2026, up from $96 in 2023
4
shop windows a year
The Newsletter
One issue a season. A list that keeps growing.
The seasonal issue goes out with the new homepage: it announces the season, shows what’s new and links back to the store. Claudine adds her own emails every week: new arrivals, sales, in-store events. The two work as a pair. The issue sets the date. Claudine’s emails keep the connection going between seasons.
481 → 821
subscribers, 2022 to 2026
$2,350
in online sales linked to email in 2026, up from $999 for all of 2025
26.1%
clicked the abandoned-cart reminder
The Seasons
Four windows a year.
Every season starts from a folder: the featured products Claudine picks, the photos, the copy. The window is live in time for the change of season.
Summer 2023
Spring 2024
Fall 2024
Winter 2024
Spring 2025
Fall 2025
Spring 2026
Summer 2026
Fall 2026
Statement
Launch an engaging website that clearly communicates your expertise, helps the right clients find you online, and turns visits into booked appointments.
The Content Ecosystem
Each season sets up the next.
The homepage announces the season. The newsletter sends it to 821 subscribers. The abandoned-cart reminder catches the sale that was about to slip away. Claudine does the rest, in the store and on the phone. The result: more people look the store up by name. This summer, Google searches for “escarpins et vilebrequins” brought 37% more visits than last summer.
Six Years Later
The store closes at 5 p.m. The online store never does.
$81,996 sold online in six and a half years: 779 orders, net of refunds, before tax and shipping. Here’s how it got there.
-
2020
Opened in lockdown
$8,403
81 orders in eight months. The first came on April 20, while the shop door was shut.
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2021
The peak
$19,613
197 orders. With stores closing and reopening, everyone was buying online.
-
2022–2025
Back to the counter
$9,400
A year, on average, from 2023 to 2025. The shop reopened and customers came back in person. Online held steady at $9,250–$9,500 a year, while the average order rose from $96 to $128.
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2026
Climbing again
$11,249
By October 11, already more than in all of 2023, 2024 or 2025. Up 70% on the same dates last year ($6,600), with 96 orders instead of 62, and the holidays still to come.
These are online sales only. Most of the store’s revenue still comes through the door on rue L’Annonciation. The online store was never meant to replace it: it’s a second counter, open day and night.
Tansley took over, with ease and professionalism, a part of my business that was giving me a lot of headaches. Thanks to them, I now feel surrounded and supported. I have a strong visual image that keeps evolving, and an online store that lets me sell 24/7. A real team spirit, a sense of family, rigour and attention to detail. I highly recommend them!
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