After four years, the Cuteness webshop , with more than 1,600 kawaii products, had clearly outgrown its capacity. Owner Mai therefore decided that it was high time to move from Mijnwebwinkel to Shopify. That major change was accompanied by a complete rebranding. And SYSO was allowed to fix all that for her.
And so we developed a brand new branding and moved the webshop from Mijnwebwinkel (including those 1,600+ products) to a new, professional and converting Shopify webshop. When you see the (illustrative) branding you can probably guess that I (Mariko) worked on this. We have Mark in-house for the more corporate and tighter work :)
Who is Cuteness?
Cuteness is Mai Nguyen, an entrepreneur, creative and mother of two children born and raised in Leeuwarden, who combines her love for cute things with her skills in numbers and an eye for detail. In 2008 she started Cuteness, an online store that brings kawaii products to the Netherlands and Europe. Her passion lies in continuously expanding the range with new, fun and cute products to put a smile on the faces of her customers.
Result
At one branding project , we always look at the current market. What competitors are there and what do they do? It is important for a brand not to resemble its competitor. We then determine the goal, look at the target group, formulate the mission and core values and then incorporate these into the new branding. That, in short, is how you give a love brand charge. And that has ensured that Cuteness has its current shape and colors: kawaii, playful and sweet pastel, but not too childish.
The new webshop
The new Cuteness webshop was created with Shopify , a user-friendly SaaS e-commerce solution that grows with the company and is equipped with many automatic marketing options as standard. An extensive and flexible theme was chosen with which we could go in any direction. For example, this theme has an extensive mega menu, which is important for large catalogs such as that of Cuteness. Shopify also has a blog function, which we have set up for Cuteness and the products now stand out much better.
We asked Mai from Cuteness a few questions
How did you start your business?
Ever since I was young, I have loved cheerful, cute items. In my childhood we went on holiday to Vietnam almost every year. I was amazed there, there were so many nice, cute things available there. I always took something back to the Netherlands. As I got older, I didn't go to Vietnam as often anymore, and I tried to find cute things in the Netherlands. Without success. At the time (2007), there were few kawaii items on offer in the Netherlands and I wanted to change that. I decided to draw up a plan and on January 1, 2008 my company was registered with the Chamber of Commerce.
What do you think is the best product (category) from the range?
Oh, that's a tough one. I like a lot of things, but if I really have to choose, I like the cuddly toys the most. And the stickers , haha.
What made you decide to hire SYSO?
After years of struggling with Mijnwebwinkel, I was suddenly done with it. I wanted to move forward, but I couldn't do it with the time and resources I had. I had to get help. I have been following Mariko online for years. I think she has so much knowledge of e-commerce and everything that comes with it, and she is also very friendly, so I decided to hire SYSO.
What are you most happy with when it comes to the new branding and webshop?
The new branding is great! It's beautiful and cheerful, but not childish. I can go in many directions with it. During the intake we discussed what I would like for branding. I found it very difficult to put into words, but Mariko understood me immediately. She also quickly came up with the new logo that she designed, and I was immediately sold. So nice! The switch to Shopify was quite a job, because more than 1,600 items had to be transferred, but Mariko was very helpful. I could ask all the questions I wanted, Mariko always thought along with me. Even now I can ask her questions about Shopify and that's what I love about Mariko (and her team).
May I ask you what the future plans are?
Hopefully I can continue spreading kawaii goodies on the European market for a long time to come. I find this the most fun to do. In any case, the branding and new shop will last me years to come!
Would you recommend SYSO and why?
With SYSO you are in good hands, so I would definitely recommend SYSO. If I had it to do over again, I would choose SYSO again. For years I was dreading moving my webshop and when I finally took the plunge and chose SYSO, I was disappointed that I had not done it much sooner. Mariko is really good at her job!
Thank you Mai!
We started this project in the first half of 2022. We were then just able to move the products from Mijnwebwinkel. In previous years, moving from Mijnwebwinkel was often an extremely slow, extensive, manual job. When Cuteness moved its webshop , the products still had to be manually tagged and checked.
The moving process has now been somewhat evaluated again. The shops we are now moving will be completely tagged and redirected. As an owner you therefore have to do much less. But Mai, I know that's a lot of work and you did a fantastic job! You quickly understood the system and went for it. That's nice to see.
Thank you also for your trust regarding the branding . Partly because of this freedom, I have been able to create something that completely suits you. It was great fun to illustrate again.
Good luck and have fun with your wonderful business. I am a fan and would like to continue following Cuteness !
