BACKGROUND:

Stick & Ribbon – https://www.stickandribbon.com – founded by Sally Longden in 2009 as a Nottingham based independent ladieswear boutique, have been empowering women through fashion for over 15 years.

In mid-2025 Sally took the bold step of evolving her business into a digitally curated destination for women’s style and fashion, and approached Thrive Online Group UK, via our relationship with Catena Network, to take the reins working with her as her retained digital agency.

CHALLENGE

With a new strategic direction for the business, and Sally’s transition from a well-understood physical retail model into the digitally unknown, our role was to cost-effectively begin transforming a website that had historically played a secondary role to the in-store experience.

THE GOALS

• The new look, feel, and functionality of the website needed to retain and begin growing the strong interpersonal connection customers had experienced when purchasing from Stick & Ribbon in-store.
• The approach had to be incremental: step-by-step delivery, supported by clear reporting and performance tracking, to ensure client confidence as the digital relationship developed.
• We needed to plan and implement a complete overhaul of the website’s tier-one navigation to significantly improve usability and overall user experience (UX).
• The Events and Styling sections of the website needed rebuilding and restructuring to function as standalone services, rather than being positioned as purely online sales content.
• The website required improved technical stability, alongside substantial behind-the-scenes optimisation, to ensure smooth user journeys, robust security, and seamless transactional functionality.
• A long-term SEO strategy needed to be introduced to gradually attract new customers across the UK.
• A sales-support structure was identified as required within the site to gently guide customers towards relevant brands and products at appropriate moments, using considered banners and clear calls-to-action.
• Data capture and subscription mechanisms were to be implemented to support future marketing activity across additional digital channels.
• A rolling monthly improvement plan had to be established to allow ongoing enhancements to the website’s look, feel, and performance.

SOLUTION:

The solution was to leverage the full breadth of our in-house expertise.

Our design and development teams led and continue to lead the transformation, supported by a newly refined hosting package to ensure performance, security, and scalability. Our PPC and SEO specialists are engaged in an advisory capacity throughout the process, ensuring best-practice technical and marketing considerations are embedded directly into the design-led work from the outset.

A phased rollout approach is adopted for the website, with an evolving section by section plan in place. Each completed iteration naturally informs and enables the next phase of development, allowing continuous improvement without disruption to the live business.

THE RESULT

Stick & Ribbon remains a retained client, with Thrive Online Group UK continuing to strategically manage and develop the website, ranging from day-to-day maintenance and optimisation through to long-term digital strategy and platform evolution.

Client Testimonial

Sally Longden – Stick & Ribbon

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

“From the first meeting, I realised that Thrive Online Group UK were more than just a team to “sort out” our website. I believe they go that extra step to truly understand your business and have great pleasure in watching your business grow with small or large tweaks behind the scene. I would definitely recommend the Thrive Online team to anyone who is looking for extra support for their online offering.”

CONCLUSION:

Through strong relationship management, a deep understanding of client needs, and consistent delivery against agreed objectives, Thrive Online Group UK continues to strengthen the Stick & Ribbon brand in-market while maximising return on digital investment.

The result is a visually appealing, user-friendly, and commercially effective e-commerce platform that supports both immediate performance and long-term growth.

To view the live project, visit: https://www.stickandribbon.com/

We are thrilled with the outcomes achieved so far and would like to thank Stick & Ribbon for placing their trust in Thrive Online Group UK to manage and grow their online ecosystem and brand presence.