Mi Tienda de Arte
Sustainable strategy with impact on e-commerce
22.3 million euros in billing. 318,000 orders to sell 2.63 million products of its 73,000 inventory items. Nearly one million monthly users in 39 countries around the world.
This is the incredible business data with which the e-commerce Mi tienda de arte closed 2022. Data that's astounding, but not as much as knowing what’s behind this business: The people who have managed to get a family store in the historic center of León to make the leap to digital, to grow and reach more people in more countries. And all this, without losing sight of what had brought them there: A purpose, strategic decisions and teamwork.
Víctor Juárez shared with us that his grandfather used to tell him that past successes don’t guarantee future successes. That’s why at Mi tienda de arte they haven’t stopped looking for the next steps to continue growing in an honest and sustainable way.
In this search, almost two years ago, during the summer of 2021, one of the paths they chose was to work strategically on their branding. Growth? Authenticity? Sustainability? The match between Mi tienda de arte and Soluble was instantaneous, so we set to work on turning their brand into an asset that would impact the business' growth.
After many weeks, many months and a lot of work, the first part of this project has finally seen the light of day with the rebranding of Mi tienda de arte, which has joined its international version, becoming Craftelier in all markets, and the redesign of its e-commerce. It's time to share what it's been like behind the scenes. And this is just the beginning.
One brand: two names and two e-commerce
From the moment we started, our goals were crystal clear. To work on the brand to facilitate business growth, help them connect with more people and, in the process, make the team's work easier, especially in internationalization.
The starting point had some complexities. On the one hand, the digital origin of this brand was mitiendadearte.com. At that initial moment, the objective was to be the platform where you could find all kinds of materials for lovers of crafts and fine arts.
Another of the elements that made the situation of Mi tienda de arte complex at that time was the internationalization through Craftelier, a brand with a name that was more easily adaptable to the new markets they were entering. Its website craftelier.com kept all the codes of the Spanish version, only changing the language to English, although it was also available in French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch and Polish.
One same brand that had two different names and two different e-commerce platforms, what else were we going to find? Learning about it required a deep dive: Interviews, surveys, team workshops and market research. These listening exercises allowed us to make the first strategic analysis and identify which elements helped and which could hinder the growth we were looking for.
The purpose that drives us
After meeting the founding and current team, talking to customers and also understanding the environment in which Mi tienda de arte was located, we realized that what really moved the brand was a purpose that was present from the first day they opened the store in downtown León: to remove the barriers that separate people from their creativity, giving them the freedom to create from authenticity and without fear of imperfection.
This would be the core of their strategy, which was accompanied by the rest of the necessary elements to complete their rebranding with positioning, personality, pillars, a concept...
But, in addition to the strategic platform, during this first phase we obtained several learnings that would become essential to take the next steps. For example, the fact that the audiences we were targeting were more differentiated by their interests and concerns than by the place from which they bought or the language in which they spoke. We also saw the value of their extensive catalog in terms of the number of items and variety within each typology. It was equally revealing to understand that, organically, the brand was consolidated with a personality and positioning that was close to a particular public within the whole spectrum of arts and crafts followers. However, this focus on scrapbooking and its universe did not reflect the totality of the brand.
Bold steps for a sustainable brand
So as important as it was to finish establishing the strategic tools that should guide us in the rebranding and brand restructuring work, was to decide what role brand architecture had to play in order to guarantee the growth we were looking for.
That’s how we came to the first conclusion: Mi tienda de arte and Craftelier were a single niche brand for a very specific audience and, with the exception of the name, they shared everything else.
The other major conclusion was that we needed a brand that would address the ambition and real purpose of the team. We needed an umbrella brand that would capture the essence that has made them one of the most inspiring digital projects in the country. A brand that would become a space from which to address the different niches.
These conclusions meant taking bold steps.
The first one was to address the rebranding of Mi tienda de arte and Craftelier as a single niche brand.
The second was to generate a new brand that would answer the needs of another niche of creators.
And the third was to accompany Mi tienda de arte's team in this evolution towards an umbrella brand that would house these niche brands, an ecosystem of growth and, most importantly, the freedom to create.
