Cardinal Sigitas TamkevičiusLithuanian Cardinal, Former Soviet Prisoner of Conscience & Champion of Religious Freedom

Wix eCommerce | This Clothing Gallery Evolved Online When COVID-19 Hit

Name: Wix eCommerce | This Clothing Gallery Evolved Online When COVID-19 Hit
Uploaded: 2020-05-21T18:20:22+00:00
Duration: 1 min 55 s
Channel: Cardinal Sigitas Tamkevičius
Description: In this first‑person narrative, the founder of evolv, a Somerville‑based clothing gallery, recounts how the mandatory COVID‑19 shutdown forced the…

21 May 2020 · 2 min

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1:55

In this first‑person narrative, the founder of evolv, a Somerville‑based clothing gallery, recounts how the mandatory COVID‑19 shutdown forced the business to pivot from a local brick‑and‑mortar boutique to a fully integrated online store using Wix. The speaker emphasizes evolv’s brand identity—bringing a Soho‑style, music‑infused fashion experience to Somerville, with a team of personal stylists who can anticipate trends. Leveraging Wix’s tools (curbside pickup, inventory synchronization, collections, SEO, and mobile notifications), they migrated their entire inventory online, achieved roughly 30% week‑over‑week online sales growth, and expanded their reach globally. The narrative ends on an optimistic note, expecting the physical store to reopen while the online channel continues to thrive.

Chapters

I went from selling to my town to selling nationwide in one week. It's a whole new business now. Some people just feel we're a clothing store. We're so much more than that. We always say we bring soho to Somerville. We've become that destination where people from all over the world are coming here and they know about us and we have that reputation. Everyone here is a personal stylist. We have backgrounds in fashion. We can predict the trends before they hit the runways. I used to be a DJ playing all over New Jersey and New York City. So music has always been part of the puzzle here at evolv. We want to create that vibe. People walk in and they just feel what we do. There was the mandatory shutdown here in New Jersey. We had to close the doors on the store. It was heartbreaking. The last thing you want to do is see your dream closed. We digressed for a moment, then lifted our head up and went from brick and mortar, which I knew all my life, to online. In the beginning, it was was come to our store. Now we were telling people, go to our website. We brought our vibe to our website. Something that transcends beyond the store. We've always used WIX for a platform, but never really dove in. Know everything that WIX offered us. Curbside pickup. Our online orders, collections, things that we've never been able to do before. Everything in the store, all of our inventory, is now integrated to our website. So once it sells on the website, inventory comes right off, which is great. Week over week, were probably growing online, probably 30%. Now with the new SEO, we're able to reach customers everywhere. I could be home having dinner. I'll get a notification on my phone through my WIX app. And my whole family knows once they hear that notification, like, hey, there's an online sale. The future looks great. Things are gonna be much better when we're opening up. Cause our clients will be back. Our online will be thriving as it is now. We'll just keep moving, keep evolving.