Apparel Monkey Digital Platform

Apparel Monkey: Building a Bespoke E-commerce Platform Around the Business

Bespoke Web Development | API Integration | E-commerce | Automation | CMS Development | Analytics

Apparel Monkey needed more than a new website.

With a growing product range, multiple suppliers, complex product data and an increasing need to streamline the way customers and groups place orders, an off-the-shelf e-commerce platform would have meant adapting the business around the technology.

We took the opposite approach.

7 Degrees Media designed and developed a bespoke e-commerce platform around the way Apparel Monkey actually operates, bringing product management, supplier integrations, customer ordering, group portals, analytics and marketing tools together within one connected system.

The Challenge

Apparel Monkey supplies personalised workwear, uniforms and branded clothing to businesses, organisations, clubs and groups.

Behind what appears to the customer as a straightforward online shop sits a significant amount of complexity.

Products originate from multiple suppliers, each with their own product information, imagery, variations, sizing, colours and availability. At the same time, Apparel Monkey needs the flexibility to manage its own content, create dedicated customer and group experiences and retain control over how products are presented and sold.

The challenge was not simply to build a better-looking website. It was to create the infrastructure capable of supporting the business behind it.

Building Bespoke, Not Working Around a Template

Rather than starting with an existing e-commerce theme and attempting to modify it around Apparel Monkey, we developed the platform specifically for the business.

This gave us control over the customer experience, administration system, product architecture and integrations from the outset.

The result is a platform where the front-end website and the systems behind it have been designed as one product.

A comprehensive bespoke CMS gives the Apparel Monkey team control over key areas of the website without requiring development knowledge. Pages, website content, navigation, imagery, product information, categories and other important elements can all be managed centrally.

This means the website can continue to evolve alongside the business rather than becoming restricted by the original build.

Advanced Supplier API Integrations

One of the most important elements of the project was tackling product data.

Managing a large clothing catalogue manually would create a considerable administrative burden, particularly when supplier information changes.

We developed advanced API integrations that allow supplier product information to be imported and processed directly within the Apparel Monkey platform.

Rather than simply pulling information into the website and displaying it untouched, the system is designed to translate external supplier data into Apparel Monkey's own product structure.

This allows product information, variations, imagery and associated data to be managed far more efficiently while giving Apparel Monkey greater control over the final customer experience.

It reduces duplication, removes significant amounts of manual product administration and creates an infrastructure capable of handling a much larger catalogue as the business grows.

Integrated Group Portals

Not every Apparel Monkey customer needs the same buying experience.

Clubs, organisations, teams and businesses may have their own approved clothing ranges, branding requirements or products available specifically to their members or employees.

To support this, we developed integrated group portals within the wider Apparel Monkey platform.

These provide dedicated areas where customers can access products relevant to their organisation without requiring Apparel Monkey to operate completely separate websites or disconnected systems.

It creates a much simpler experience for the end user while giving Apparel Monkey a scalable way of supporting more organisations through the same central platform.

Delivery and Operational Integration

E-commerce does not stop when somebody presses the checkout button.

The platform has been designed to connect the customer-facing website with the operational processes that follow an order.

Delivery functionality and supporting integrations have been built into the wider system, helping information move through the platform efficiently and reducing the need to repeatedly transfer data between separate systems.

Wherever possible, the principle has been simple: if information already exists somewhere within the system, somebody should not have to enter it again.

That approach reduces administration while also lowering the opportunity for human error.

An Extensive Bespoke CMS

A bespoke website should not mean relying on a developer every time something needs changing.

The Apparel Monkey CMS was developed to give the team extensive control over the platform while keeping day-to-day management straightforward.

The administration system brings together product management, categories, content, imagery, navigation, customer-facing pages and wider website settings within one environment.

Importantly, the CMS has been built around Apparel Monkey's requirements rather than forcing its team to navigate features and terminology designed for thousands of completely different businesses.

The result is a system that feels like Apparel Monkey's own software because, effectively, it is.

Analytics Built Into the Platform

Understanding what customers do is just as important as getting them onto the website in the first place.

Analytics therefore formed part of the development process rather than being treated as something to add after launch.

The platform incorporates analytics and performance reporting alongside integrations with tools including Google Analytics and Google Search Console, creating greater visibility over how people discover and use the website.

This gives Apparel Monkey the ability to understand which products attract attention, how customers navigate the site, where traffic originates and how organic search performance develops.

More importantly, that information can feed directly back into future marketing and development decisions.

The website is not treated as a finished product. It becomes something we can continually measure, learn from and improve.

Built With Search in Mind

SEO was also considered throughout the structure of the platform.

With potentially thousands of products, categories, variations and customer journeys, the technical architecture of an e-commerce website can have a major impact on its ability to perform organically.

The platform has therefore been developed with search visibility, site structure, metadata, indexation and performance in mind, supported by Google Search Console monitoring and ongoing optimisation.

This creates the foundations for Apparel Monkey to build organic visibility alongside its wider digital marketing activity.

One Connected Digital Platform

Perhaps the most important part of the Apparel Monkey project is not any single feature. It is the way those features work together.

Supplier data feeds the product catalogue. The catalogue powers the main e-commerce experience and dedicated group portals. The CMS gives the Apparel Monkey team control over how that information is presented. Orders connect into operational processes and delivery. Analytics provide insight into how customers interact with the platform while search data helps guide future optimisation.

Rather than assembling a collection of disconnected plugins and third-party systems, we have created a digital platform around the needs of the business.

And because the core system is bespoke, new functionality can continue to be developed as those needs change.

More Than a Website

For us, the Apparel Monkey project represents exactly what bespoke development should achieve.

It is not about building custom technology simply for the sake of it.

It is about looking at how a business works, identifying where technology can remove friction and developing something that makes the operation simpler for the team while creating a better experience for the customer.

The result is an e-commerce platform designed not just for where Apparel Monkey is today, but for where the business wants to go next.

Services delivered by 7 Degrees Media: Bespoke website design and development, e-commerce development, supplier API integration, automated product importing, bespoke CMS development, group portal development, delivery integration, analytics implementation, Google Analytics integration, Google Search Console integration, technical SEO, UX development and ongoing platform development.