A Premium, Conversion-Led Shopify Website Redesign for Ayesha Depala, a Dubai Fashion Label, Built From a 21-Store CRO Audit
Ayesha Depala is a Dubai designer fashion label selling online through Shopify and in its Dubai boutique. In late 2022, Gateway Marketing Digital planned and directed a premium, conversion-led Shopify website redesign for the label, with the strategy led by Ambreen Hasan and the build implemented by Ayesha’s own developer to our specification. The project ran from a 21-store CRO audit to a live, fully tested store in about eight weeks.
Client Overview
Ayesha Depala sells sustainable designer ready-to-wear to premium shoppers in the UAE, the GCC and internationally.
She hired us in October 2022 as her e-commerce marketing partner, ahead of new collection launches. The first job was the website: audit the store, set the redesign strategy, direct the build and quality-test every page before launch.
Objective
Our Approach
A CRO Audit Against the Best in Fashion E-commerce
We reviewed the store page by page against 21 leading fashion stores, looking at everything between the first visit and the checkout. Every gap became a specific recommendation, ranked by how close it sat to the purchase, so the changes most likely to win sales came first.
A Premium, Conversion-Led Redesign Strategy
Ambreen Hasan set the direction: a warm, editorial look that matches a designer label, with trust built before the sale. We rebuilt the homepage strategically around credibility, with brand promises, social proof, press and the designer story up front. We restructured the navigation so each new collection has its own entry point, and rebuilt the product pages to answer every buying question and keep attention on Add to Cart.
We also specified the tools that turn browsers into buyers: WhatsApp chat for UAE shoppers, a first-order offer and an email capture connected to the brand’s email flows. Ayesha’s developer then built it to our specification on a newer, more flexible Shopify theme.
Quality Testing Before Launch
We ran three full QA rounds before go-live, each with an itemised fix list, and tested the full purchase path end to end. Testing caught the issues that quietly cost sales, in the cart, sizing and offers, and every one was flagged for fixing before go-live. After launch we ran a mobile pass to keep the buy buttons front and centre on small screens.
What We Built
The Results
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a CRO audit for a Shopify store?
It is a page-by-page review of everything between the ad click and the checkout: navigation, product pages, trust signals, mobile layout and offers. Our audit for Ayesha Depala benchmarked 21 leading stores and turned the findings into a prioritised change list. The value is in the prioritisation, so the fixes closest to the purchase go live first.
How do you increase the conversion rate of a Shopify store?
Build trust before asking for the sale, answer every buying question on the product page, and remove anything that distracts from Add to Cart. These were the three principles behind the redesign strategy we built for Ayesha Depala from a 21-store audit. Most stores lose sales quietly, through missing information and friction, not bad design.
What should a luxury fashion website include?
A premium look that matches the product, trust signals up front, and product pages that cover fabric, fit, delivery and returns. Our redesign for Ayesha Depala put all of these in place across the homepage, collections and product pages. A full-price buyer needs to believe the brand before she browses the collection.
How long does a Shopify website redesign take?
A focused redesign of an existing Shopify store can go live in six to ten weeks with a clear brief. Ayesha Depala’s took about eight weeks from our audit to launch, including three full QA rounds. Most of the time goes into testing cart, sizing, offers and payments, because that is where a redesign wins or loses sales.