How Swee Lee Grew Online Sales 50% With Shopify Omnichannel

Overview

Swee Lee has curated musical instruments, gear, and lifestyle merchandise across Southeast Asia since 1946. As market demand rose, they launched an online channel on Magento in 2012. By 2017 they were handling tens of thousands of SKUs but faced pain points in fragmented stock management and heavy back-end coding that slowed them down.

The Challenge

Without a unified POS system, Swee Lee relied on multiple third-party inventory tools. Staff had to cross-reference stock manually across stores and online. Customization on Magento required constant developer support, draining resources and stalling expansion plans.

The Solution

Swee Lee moved toShopify Plusin 2017, adoptingShopify POSand integrating it with their ERP and PIM systems. Retail outlets were equipped with iPads at checkout and iPhones in the sales floor using POS Go hardware. Staff could check real-time stock and even ship items from the warehouse directly to customers.

For cross-border growth, Swee Lee used Shopify Plus’s Expansion Stores feature to clone their Singapore storefront across six additional countries. They replicated themes, adjusted localized settings, and launched each new site in a matter of weeks.

Results

• 50% year-over-year increase in online revenue
• 17% year-over-year growth in POS sales
• Real-time management of 60,000 SKUs
• Six new international stores launched
• Resolution times cut from days to minutes
• Launch of click-and-collect and in-store appointments

By unifying online and offline channels on one platform, Swee Lee scaled rapidly without sacrificing operational control or brand consistency. This move gave them real-time visibility and freed their teams to focus on customers instead of code.