“Both the quality and efficiency of the all-new buybuybaby.com, along with mobile apps, retail store locations, and a registry solution, was a masterful collaboration resulting in an unprecedented launch timeline in the retail industry.”
Industry
Infant & childcare goods
Before Anatta Partnership
After Anatta Partnership
Technology Stack
When Dream On Me acquired buybuy BABY in 2023 amid Bed Bath & Beyond’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy, they faced an enormous challenge. buybuy BABY's 130+ stores had shuttered and its eCommerce site had gone offline. With $1.5B in projected sales for FY23, a fast digital relaunch was crucial to restoring customer trust and capturing revenue.
buybuy BABY would need an entirely new, on-brand eCommerce experience built from scratch—complete with a complex migration to Shopify Plus—within 31 days.
This timeline would be near-impossible for any enterprise retailer, let alone one with millions of customer records, 30,000+ SKUs, and the need to go live expeditiously. Platform migrations of this scale take 6 months to 1 year, but the clock was ticking. And Dream On Me had no room for error.
Massive Data Transfer
Successfully migrated 30,000+ SKUs and 8.3 million customer records from Oracle ATG to Shopify Plus in 31 days.
Optimized User Experience
buybuy BABY’s new site was optimized for both desktop and mobile, offering frictionless shopping with omnichannel integrations, a conversion-optimized checkout process, and a familiar, branded experience.
Seamless Integrations
Implemented 14 key integration points, including ERP, OMS, Marketplace, and Shopify POS. Third-party apps for customer rewards, fraud protection, product reviews, and fulfillment were also functional from launch.
Foundation for Success
The new Shopify Plus store was designed to scale, accommodating buybuy BABY’s high traffic and sales volume from Day 1.
Getting Back to Retail—Fast
With Anatta’s Shopify POS integrations, buybuy BABY was able to quickly turn on 4 retail stores before the 2023 holiday shopping season with 6 additional stores opening in the following 6 months after buybuybaby.com relaunched.
The Challenge
Dream On Me’s acquisition of buybuy BABY on July 21, 2023, came with an unprecedented challenge. How could the buybuy BABY brand regain consumer trust after its 130+ locations just closed and its website was now offline?
To restore core pillars of the business, Dream On Me first publicly announced plans to reopen 11 buybuy BABY stores. The team further determined getting buybuybaby.com back online was a leading priority.
A DTC website would enable previous buybuy BABY customers to begin shopping from the brand again regardless of whether an open buybuy BABY store was nearby. An online presence could also support the momentum buybuy BABY needed to recover market standing.
After meeting with several major platform players, Dream On Me began talks with Shopify to decide if Shopify Plus could serve as buybuy BABY’s new eCommerce solution. But Dream On Me came with an ambitious goal.
Dream On Me wanted to launch buybuy BABY's new Shopify experience and reopen 4 storefronts in just 31 days—open for business before the critical 2023 holiday shopping period. The timeline for an enterprise migration like buybuy BABY's would take 6 months to 1 year. The goal of an updated digital storefront and POS integration for buybuy BABY’s first 4 stores added another layer of complexity.
The scale of the buybuy BABY project was staggering:
With no margin for error and every second counting, buybuy BABY needed a partner who could turn their moonshot into reality.
The Solution
Shopify turned to Shopify Partner, Anatta, recognizing that Anatta’s expertise and flexible operational model were crucial for buybuy BABY’s high-stakes project. While Anatta understood the risky nature of the timeline, equipped with over 15 years of Shopify and DTC experience, Anatta knew their team could deliver.
Following the first discovery call with buybuy BABY and Shopify, Anatta immediately put together an exhaustive roadmap to make the 31-day sprint achievable.
“We listed about 50 risks that we thought could derail this project and then got rid of all but 3 so that we could put focus where it mattered most.” — Toby Hemmerling, COO, Anatta
Anatta’s approach was innovative, pragmatic, and developed over Anatta’s 8+ years of leading Enterprise implementations on Shopify. The framework established by Anatta supported rapid iterating but also baked-in processes for securing stakeholder alignment quickly.
"Default to Default”
Anatta’s extensive experience working on Shopify Enterprise allowed Anatta to understand what Shopify Themes and solutions were best-fit for buybuy BABY’s unique use case while eliminating risk for scope creep.
"Deliberate the Difficult"
Think through decisions with large downstream impacts, such as choosing a 3PL provider, in a matter of days to keep sprint momentum but allow enough time for thoughtful deliberation.
"Make ALL other decisions very fast"
buybuy BABY’s 31-day moonshot left no room for stakeholder misalignment. Anatta established a frequent cadence between stakeholders and the sprint team to remove roadblocks fast. Anatta understood critical decisions needed to be made within hours.
Once the migration was underway, Anatta prioritized transferring buybuy BABY’s essential data. Second, Anatta mapped out user experience features like customer support chat, onsite search, and product reviews. In addition, Anatta began assessing the third-party integrations buybuy BABY would need on Day 1 of the site going live.
Throughout the intense buybuy BABY sprint, Anatta’s agile project management framework allowed fast pivots, addressing risks and challenges as quickly as they came up. Anatta also worked closely with Shopify to overcome technical challenges, including modifying Matrixify API constraints to speed up the large data transfer.
The Results
On September 1st, 2023, buybuy BABY's CTO, Amit Malhotra, showcased the new buybuy BABY website to Dream On Me investors and Anatta in a momentous conference call. Malhotra navigated the site, chatted with customer support, and then successfully placed the first customer order since buybuy BABY went offline. The call erupted in cheers.
Against all odds, buybuy BABY was back in business, ready to serve its customers with a state-of-the-art digital storefront just 31 days after the project began. The full public launch of buybuybaby.com followed shortly after.
Following the successful launch, buybuy BABY leaned on Anatta’s expertise to design and launch a new baby registry feature, a key offering in the childcare product space.
Anatta also continued to play a pivotal role in the reopening of the first 4 buybuy BABY stores. With Anatta’s Shopify POS integration, buybuy BABY’s brick-and-mortar locations opened their doors with enhanced interoperability and buybuy BABY’s classic membership experience accessible online and in-store.
The successful relaunch of buybuy BABY's eCommerce platform marked more than just a technical achievement—it signaled the brand's resurgence in digital retail and beyond. The new Shopify store enabled buybuy BABY to reconnect with its loyal customer base across various channels. Now, buybuy BABY could begin a new chapter well-positioned to drive growth, innovate, and continue its legacy as a trusted name in children's retail.
In the 6 months after buybuybaby.com went public, Dream On Me was able to turn on an additional 6 retail stores leaning on Anatta’s technical support.
Throughout 2024, buybuy BABY has continued to gain traction on the retail and digital front. The brand hosts monthly in-store events for new and expecting parents and is launching collaborations with social media influencers on Instagram and TikTok.
Leveraging the dedication, talent, and industry insights of our in-house digital team, alongside Anatta’s extensive experience in omni-channel platform technologies, and Shopify Plus’ robust platform, we were able to rethink the playbook entirely. This innovative approach ensures a 'clean sleeve' with minimal technical debt, setting a new standard in online retail experiences.
