Friar Tux
The omnichannel transformation that elevates your style.
Overview
Friar Tux began in 1974 with its first store in Lakewood, California, and has since expanded across Southern California and Las Vegas, Nevada. The company has consistently evolved by seamlessly integrating in-store and online rental and purchasing options, providing an exceptional customer experience across all touchpoints.
Challenge: Two Brands, One Goal
Friar Tux, alongside its online-only brand, Stitch & Tie, faced the challenge of launching vastly improved eCommerce storefronts for both brands. The primary goals included:
- Building improved, customer-friendly eCommerce experiences for both Friar Tux and Stitch & Tie.
- Ensuring seamless connectivity between the new online storefronts and back-office logistics and operations to ensure streamlined order management and inventory tracking.
Solution: A 360 Commerce Rollout
Friar Tux partnered with XCentium to implement a 360 commerce rollout using Salesforce Commerce. Key aspects of this solution included:
- Salesforce Commerce Platform: The solution leveraged Salesforce Commerce, enabling a unified eCommerce platform that supports both Friar Tux and Stitch & Tie brands.
- Agility and Scalability: The implementation allowed for rapid deployment of new features from the company’s eCommerce roadmap, ensuring continuous growth and adaptability.
- Seamless Integration: Salesforce Commerce seamlessly integrated with Friar Tux’s back-office systems, connecting order management, inventory control, and logistics across all channels.
Outcome: A Unified, Agile eCommerce Experience
The partnership with XCentium empowered Friar Tux to achieve:
- Improved User Experience: Enhanced eCommerce storefronts for both Friar Tux and Stitch & Tie, providing easy navigation, a seamless rental and purchasing experience, and intuitive design.
- Operational Efficiency: Streamlined integration between the front-end eCommerce systems and back-office logistics, improving operational efficiency and inventory management.
- Rapid Feature Rollout: The flexibility of the Salesforce Commerce platform ensured that Friar Tux could quickly implement new features and enhancements as the business grew.
Friar Tux’s partnership with XCentium to roll out Salesforce Commerce has led to a more robust and scalable eCommerce solution, ultimately enhancing the company’s ability to serve customers and manage its operations more effectively across both its traditional and online storefronts.
- Increase in Bookings
- 190%
- Decrease in reshipments
- 20%
- Increase in Revenue
- 155%
- Increase in Site Visits
- 40%
Augmenting the Physical Stores
As part of their eCommerce transformation, Friar Tux integrated key features designed to bridge the gap between their physical stores and online storefronts, providing a seamless shopping experience for both in-store and online customers. Key features include:
- In-Store Pickup
- Customers can now select in-store pickup as a shipping method, with a list of participating locations available for pickup, enhancing convenience for local shoppers.
- Event Location Selection
- When adding products from the Product Detail Page (PDP), customers are prompted to select their event location. If the event is outside Friar Tux’s service area, they are offered an equivalent product or catalog from Stitch & Tie, expanding product availability.
- Share Code Lookup
- Friar Tux supports share code lookup via phone, email, or event information (e.g., event date, organizer's last name, or customer’s first or last name), making it easier for customers to find their rental information.
- Stitch & Tie, however, requires customers to manually enter the share code, without lookup support.
- Guest Event Registration
- Friar Tux enables guest event registration, which allows customers to register for events without requiring an authenticated account on the storefront.
- Stitch & Tie only supports event registration for users who have created an account, offering a more restrictive experience.
- Women’s Category
- Friar Tux now supports a women’s clothing line, expanding its range to cater to a broader audience.
- Pinterest Integration
- Friar Tux has integrated Pinterest into its Salesforce B2C platform, allowing the brand to connect directly with customers on this popular visual discovery engine.
- Facebook Server-Side Tracking Ads
- The platform now supports server-side tracking for Facebook Ads, enabling more accurate ad performance tracking and insights.
- Cart Look Builder
- Friar Tux can now support up to 15 products in the cart builder from share codes, offering greater flexibility for customers customizing their rentals.
- Appointment Scheduling
- The appointment scheduler component has been made reusable and is now incorporated in multiple locations across the site, streamlining the booking process for customers.
These features contribute to Friar Tux's goal of creating a seamless omnichannel experience, ensuring customers can easily transition between online and in-store interactions while enhancing the overall shopping experience.
Commerce made-to-order
Stitch & Tie undertook a massive overhaul of its eCommerce ecosystem and needed a reliable storefront that could handle both rental and retail use cases seamlessly.
Outcome: Omnichannel Transformation for Friar Tux
The launch of Friar Tux's new eCommerce platform, built on Stitch & Tie with Friar Tux-specific styling, has led to a significant omnichannel transformation. This improvement has empowered customers to enjoy a highly flexible, convenient, and personalized shopping experience. Key outcomes include:
Seamless Online and In-Store Experience
Customers now have the flexibility to shop online or visit a physical store for higher-touch service. They can pick up orders in-store or have them shipped directly to their homes.
Rentals can be conveniently returned either by shipping them back or dropping them off at the store.
Larger Product Mix
The new platform caters to a broader customer base, especially in the Southwest U.S., offering a wider selection of products, including both rentals and purchases.
Customers can build custom looks using a combination of rental and purchased items, allowing for a personalized shopping experience.
Enhanced Fitting Algorithm
The improved fitting algorithm simplifies the ordering process by minimizing the need for re-shipments, ensuring that customers receive the correct sizes and styles on the first try.
This is particularly beneficial for key decision-makers such as brides and grooms who can now complete fittings online with ease.
Increased Online Fittings
The platform has seen a notable increase in online fittings, reducing the demand for in-store labor while enhancing the service experience for customers.
Mobile Optimization & AI-Powered Fittings
The new user experience is fully mobile optimized, offering an easy-to-use interface for customers shopping from smartphones or tablets.
AI-powered online fittings enhance the customer experience by providing more accurate and personalized size recommendations.
Operational Efficiency and Back-Office Optimization
In addition to improved customer-facing features, the platform provides operational efficiencies through back-office optimization, streamlining internal processes and reducing overhead.
The transformation has positioned Friar Tux to meet modern consumer expectations for an omnichannel approach, boosting customer satisfaction, improving operational efficiency, and enhancing overall service delivery.
XCentium delivered on their promise of an omnichannel transformation which has greatly accelerated our business. The seamless integration of online and in-store has significantly improved our customer engagement and satisfaction. Streamlined operations and insightful analytics have also empowered our team to make better data-driven decisions.

Jake Reinig VP, Information Systems, Friar Tux
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