Menu
In the apparel and sportswear market, the demand for customization is increasingly high. VIRUS International, a Taiwanese company on Shopify+, is well aware of this. They have chosen Zakeke to streamline the production of custom items, which has helped them grow their conversions and sales while saving time and resources in the process of printing customized apparel.
Since 2010, Virus International, started by a Taiwanese founder, has become a key player in athletic wear, known for its innovative fabrics. Focusing on sports like CrossFit and weightlifting, Virus provides compression clothing that cools and improves recovery. Their products are for everyone from Olympians to everyday athletes, living up to the slogan, “Expressing the passion that defines you,” by making sure their custom gear helps people perform their best.
“Virus international has been a brand since 2010. We are primarily known in CrossFit. Weightlifting, powerlifting, MMA, jujitsu, water sports, water, stand-up paddleboarding, outrigger canoe, all of these very technical sports that require your apparel to not get in your way. Our slogan is expressing the passion that defines you. We really care about catering our product to those who need it most.”
Melanie Lin – Global B2B Sales & Partnerships Director at VIRUS International
THE CHALLENGE
Before integrating Zakeke, customizing apparel, especially for individual requests, presented significant challenges due to the intricate process of back-and-forth design adjustments. Initially focusing on wholesale and large team orders, the demand for personalized items like polos for large offices surged, leading to partnerships with screen printers to fulfill these requests.
However, as individual customers began seeking personalization for just one item, the complexity and cost of fulfilling such orders escalated. Each custom piece required meticulous mock-up adjustments and design fine-tuning, sometimes extending discussions over three weeks for a single item.
This painstaking process, while ensuring customer satisfaction, demanded a substantial investment of time and effort from the team, highlighting the urgent need for a more efficient solution.
“For people who know in the industry to get one piece printed is very expensive to get one piece done custom. It’s a lot of work, right? Especially with the mock up getting the design and everything. And to a customer who may not understand how this process works, it’s quite a lot of work. It took me sometimes two or three weeks just to talk to a customer, just to design one piece then. We needed to find an application that would allow us to solve this problem all while also saving a lot of time and energy from myself and my team.”
Melanie Lin – Global B2B Sales & Partnerships Director at VIRUS International
THE SOLUTION
Zakeke’s integration with Shopify has simplified VIRUS’ customization process, making it a seamless addition to business operations. Its compatibility with Shopify enables businesses to easily set and manage customization parameters, ensuring a smooth transition from design to print while maintaining high-quality standards.
This tool has proven effective in global expansion, despite regional challenges, by offering straightforward customization options and responsive support, demonstrating its value in enhancing business processes and customer satisfaction.
“This solution allowed us to save all that time on making sure the printing can be done correctly and all the design, the lead up getting the order in the Zakeke integrates perfectly with Shopify. It’s so easy on the backend on my side to go in and adjust the settings of making sure the customization options are correct and match our production processes.”
Melanie Lin – Global B2B Sales & Partnerships Director at VIRUS International
Zakeke’s integration has revolutionized the printing process, enabling precise execution of every technique without the need for manual intervention. Once an order is placed, the system automatically provides the printer with detailed instructions, including placement and color specifications. This eliminates the complexity previously managed manually, significantly enhancing operational efficiency.
“With Zakeke, we just received the order. It has the printing instructions for our printer. They know where to put it. They know what color to print it on. It’s easy. I don’t have to say anything anymore. And I used to be doing all of that by myself.”
Melanie Lin – Global B2B Sales & Partnerships Director at VIRUS International
THE RESULTS
The integration of Zakeke has enabled a significant reduction in production times, slashing the previously lengthy two to three-week process of back-and-forth communication with customers to just half.
This efficiency gain allows customers the convenience of personalizing their orders directly from their computers or mobile devices, streamlining the entire customization process.
“Zakeke allowed us to basically cut the time in half. So before it would take me about two or three weeks going back and forth with one customer, and now the customer can just do all of that on their computer at home, even on the mobile.”
Melanie Lin – Global B2B Sales & Partnerships Director at VIRUS International
The strategic use of Zakeke’s features has catalyzed a significant upturn in sales for Virus, yielding 1,223 orders over two years directly attributed to the application. This surge not only highlights the application’s role in facilitating upselling through customization but also underscores the convenience it offers – allowing customers to place orders on the go, even from their mobile phones.
The resultant growth in order volume, escalating from a mere one or two daily to an impressive 10 orders per day, necessitated an adjustment in delivery timelines due to the increased demand. This shift underscores the high regard customers have for Virus’s quality products, as well as the direct impact of Zakeke on enhancing sales and order frequency.
“We grew our orders to about 50 to 60 orders every few days through this application. It was awesome. If anything, we started having to tell people “Hey, it’s going to take a bit more time to get your orders out because it went from only maybe one or two a day to all of a sudden, like 10 orders a day” and because people love Virus product. It’s very high quality.”
Melanie Lin – Global B2B Sales & Partnerships Director at VIRUS International
Since integrating Zakeke two years ago, VIRUS has seen notable success, adding 23 of their staple products to the customization platform. This strategic move has enabled customers to personalize their purchases by adding names, flags, and choosing their preferred colors and fonts for text.
“We started with the Zakeke over about two years ago. So back in like 2021, 2022, and I just looked at my data since we’ve offered the Zakeke we’ve onboarded about 23 different products from our staple line, and we allowed customers to customize their name, put their flag and also choose what color and what font they want for their text. We wanted to keep it simple.”
Melanie Lin – Global B2B Sales & Partnerships Director at VIRUS International
Get customers to create personalized versions of your top products. Drive sales and AOV up, even without paid campaigns to your store.
14-day free trial – No CC required