Elephant Room and Prosper Digital make APAC history at Shopify Build Awards

Lioness Fashion’s rebuilt Shopify storefront lifted sales 113 per cent within six weeks, helping Elephant Room and Prosper Digital secure a global Shopify Build Award.

The Australian agencies jointly won the Merchant Impact category for scaling the fashion label’s direct-to-consumer channel and improving its online shopping experience. They are the first APAC agencies to receive a Shopify Build Award.

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From wholesale-first to 95 countries

Elephant Room began working with Lioness Fashion in 2018, when direct-to-consumer sales made up less than 10 per cent of total sales. The label’s WooCommerce site remained secondary to its established wholesale business.

The agency moved Lioness Fashion to Shopify and introduced paid media across Meta and Google. It also supported the brand’s Klaviyo and SMS migration, technology optimisation and international ecommerce strategy.

Lioness Fashion now dispatches to 95 countries. Brian Nguyen, chief financial officer at Lioness Fashion, said: “Elephant Room added value to the business. They took that first dollar and showed us how to efficiently spend it for our online channel.”

Six weeks, five major lifts

Prosper Digital joined more recently to rebuild the storefront for Lioness Fashion’s next growth phase. The agency moved the retailer to a lightweight Shopify 2.0 theme and completed a conversion rate optimisation redesign.

Within six weeks of launch, the new storefront recorded:

• a 113 per cent increase in sales;
• a 130 per cent increase in orders;
• a 74 per cent increase in conversion rate;
• a 93 per cent increase in add-to-cart rate; and
• a 132 per cent increase in completed checkouts.

The redesign added upgraded collection and product pages, swatches, quick-add tools, image zoom and a fit guide. It also introduced buy now, pay later messaging and a redesigned cart drawer with free-shipping thresholds and upsells.

Jacob Osborne, founder of Prosper Digital, said: “This is what happens when specialist agencies work together in a client's best interest.”

Global recognition for Australian agencies

The 2026 Shopify Build Awards were announced at a Shopify event in Toronto late last month. The awards recognise work combining technical innovation, customer experience and commercial impact.

Adam Sharon-Zipser, managing director at Elephant Room, said the award reflected the agencies’ long-term work with Lioness Fashion. “To be recognised globally by Shopify for this work is a proud moment for the entire team.”

Hannah Udina, head of partnerships ANZ at Shopify, said: “The Lioness story is a great example of what’s possible when the right partners bring their passion and expertise to help a brand grow, expand, and make commerce better.”