Transformer Table scales to over $100 million after moving to Shopify Plus

As demand for Transformer Table’s well-designed, modular furniture spiked, the startup looked for a way to expand internationally. Shopify Plus and Shopify Markets enabled them to connect with global customers and grow their revenue.

Since moving to Shopify Plus, Transformer Table has achieved:

The Challenge: Becoming a global ecommerce brand

When seven friends from Canada — Zaur Pkhalagov, Soslan Tsoutsiev, Artem Kuzmichev, Alexandre Dore, Holland Wabie, Cedric Deltandre, and Richard Mabley — came up with the idea for a modular dining table for small spaces, they had no idea how big the concept would eventually become.

They started advertising on Facebook in 2016 and directing shoppers to a simple B2C website built on Wix. In 2018, Transformer Table “got a deal” from CBC’s “Dragon’s Den”: $1 million in funding. And in 2019, the Transformer Table became the most successful Kickstarter campaign in Canadian history.

With product demand through the roof and an international audience hungry for their chance to buy, Transformer Table needed a better platform to manage ecommerce transactions and grow their digital presence globally.

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The Solution: Building a global brand with industry-leading business tools

Why did Transformer Table choose Shopify Plus? Co-founder Artem Kuzmichev says, “We saw other businesses switching to Shopify, so the move felt natural. Within one day of switching, we saw better results than we’d ever seen on Wix. It was clear we made the right move.”

Upon switching to Shopify Plus, Transformer Table’s team reported an immediate 67% increase in their site speed. The improved performance was important, especially for keeping mobile users engaged. By maintaining a faster site and using Shopify’s built-in search engine optimization (SEO) tools, the team saw rankings for numerous targeted keywords improve month-over-month as well.

With better brand visibility came more international attention. Shopify Markets enabled Transformer Table to meet that demand head-on. Artem says, “Before Shopify, we were selling internationally, but our content wasn’t tailored to specific markets. Shopify’s Translate & Adapt app helped us localize with translation into different languages and Shopify Markets gave us more control over global sales. The built-in currency converter improved our international shopping experience by automatically converting prices based on exchange rates and allowing customers to pay in their local currencies.”

Shopify Plus and its integrations continue to support Transformer Table’s growth journey. For example, when the company switched to NetSuite ERP, the third-party app NetSuite ERP Connector helped the team seamlessly manage inventory, order, and accounting at scale.

When it comes to making important business decisions and predictions, Artem says, “We trust the analytics that come out of Shopify. It’s easier to trust your servers as a source of truth rather than base your decisions on a specific platform’s reporting.” Transformer Table continues to expand their global presence and Shopify Plus facilitates that growth every step of the way.

The Results: Transformative growth

In just seven years, Transformer Table grew from zero to $100 million in annual revenue. The startup, which began with seven people, now employs over 80 people in their Montreal HQ and another 500 in their manufacturing facility. Daily sales doubled and then tripled after making the move to Shopify Plus and annual revenue continues to grow by more than 45% year-over-year.

The revenue growth fueled by Shopify Plus enabled the brand to expand to over 35 countries. While North America remains Transformer Table’s largest demographic, Artem says that the growth in international markets has been especially exciting. Today, roughly 20% of annual revenue stems from international sales using Shopify Markets, up from 3% pre-Shopify.

“Shopify Markets allows you to easily open a store in different countries and sell there. It’s a lot less work to start selling in Spain or France or wherever you want to sell. It’s easy to make it happen, which is great because our goal is to continue to expand,” Artem says.

As their worldwide notoriety continues to grow, Transformer Table’s explosive growth shows no signs of slowing down.

With Shopify Plus, Transformer Table saw results fast.