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Collectibles retailerShopify PlusPre-Orders

Star Action FiguresStar Action Figures

Building the collector experience

Four thousand products, pre-order complexity, and a Comic Con deadline. We built the store collectors actually want to shop in.

Doctor Doom collectible figure from Marvel's Avengers Doomsday, featuring a dark green hooded robe, metallic silver armour, and green energy gauges in both hands, set against a dark green background with franchise branding

The collectors' problem

Star Action Figures were sitting on four thousand plus products across one hundred and fourteen franchises. No brand foundation. No clear navigation. Collectors could not find what they wanted. Pre-order dates were unclear. They did not know which display cases fit which figures. Pricing was confusing. And every frustration meant a support ticket.

They needed a partner who could build from scratch, design for how collectors actually browse, and launch for Comic Con on a fixed deadline.

The detail

Three things made this genuinely complex.

The first was starting from zero brand identity. Most brands have guidelines they have outgrown. Star Action Figures had none. We did not redesign an existing brand. We created the framework they could apply across store, marketing and operations. You cannot design for collectors without defining what "collector premium" actually looks like first.

The second was understanding collector psychology. Collectors do not browse "action figures." They navigate by franchise (Star Wars, Marvel, DC, Transformers), series (Black Series, Legends, Multiverse) and brand (Hasbro, McFarlane, Super7). That navigation had to be invisible. Three clicks to get anywhere, not ten. And breadcrumbs on every product so they could jump sideways to related franchises without losing their place.

The third was pre-order complexity. This is where most stores fail. Pre-order is not just a button. It is a promise. If a collector orders a figure shipping in six weeks with one shipping in two weeks, they get angry when they arrive separately. We built checkout protection to prevent it. Ship dates visible on every product. Purple badges so it is instantly clear it is a pre-order and when it will ship. No surprises, no support tickets.

The results

The store went live on schedule for Comic Con. Conversion rate exceeded targets. Average order value lifted significantly from display case attach rates. Mobile conversion improved through the mobile-first redesign. Pre-order support tickets dropped substantially because customers now understand ship dates before checkout. Returning customer rates are strong. Collectors check back when discovery is frictionless.

If your catalogue has the same shape, start with design and build or the note on variants and separate listings.

Star Action Figures Shopify Plus storefront on laptop
Star Action Figures product browsing on laptop

5.00

“We worked with parallel on the move of our website over to Shopify Plus and couldn't be happier with the service we've received.

From the outset, parallel took the time to understand our business, how we operate and, importantly, what we actually needed from the new site rather than simply trying to force us into a standard Shopify setup.

The move was a major project for us, with a lot of fairly complicated requirements around pre-orders, payments, shipping and the general way our business operates. parallel has been incredibly helpful throughout, both during the build and since the site went live. Any snags we've needed have been dealt with quickly, and he's always been available to talk through ideas and suggest better ways of doing things.

We've been impressed enough that we've continued working with parallel after the launch to help us develop the site further.”

Wayne Collins · Director
Star Action Figures store in use on a MacBook

More work

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