Company Overview
In the fast-paced world of high-street fashion, “relaxed glamour” isn’t just a style—it’s a business philosophy. For Mint Velvet, a brand founded 16 years ago by three friends with a vision for “fashion that makes sense,” staying true to that philosophy meant evolving its digital backbone to match its physical growth.
Today, with over 55 physical stores and a burgeoning international online presence, Mint Velvet’s journey from a House of Fraser concession to an omni-channel powerhouse offers a masterclass in digital transformation.
The Challenge: Breaking Out of the “Black Box”
Before 2023, Mint Velvet faced a common retail hurdle: a restrictive integration layer that acted as a “black box”. According to Paula Abisolo, Omni-channel Delivery Lead at Mint Velvet, the legacy system lacked transparency and autonomy.
- Lack of Flexibility: The team couldn’t make internal changes quickly, hindering their ability to be agile.
- Opaque Operations: Critical data flows were difficult to map, requiring a rigorous discovery phase to “detangle” the architecture.
- Slow Time-to-Market: New technology additions were often met with long timelines and high costs.
“We didn’t have the ownership or the autonomy to make changes internally… it was like a black box.” — Paula Abisolo.
The Solution: A Rapid 3-Month Migration to iPaaS
To regain control, Mint Velvet partnered with Patchworks to implement a modern iPaaS (Integration Platform as a Service). This wasn’t a standard rollout; the project was expedited due to leadership changes and business needs, moving from discovery to go-live in just three months.
The architecture centred on connecting Shopify (the brand’s e-commerce engine since 2022) with their ERP system, ensuring that every refund, fulfilment, and price update moved seamlessly across the business.
The ‘”Dream Team” Approach
Paula emphasises that the project’s success relied on “getting the right people on the bus”. The collaborative effort included:
- Two Delivery Leads.
- A QA Lead and a Development Lead.
- A Corporate Lead and ERP experts.
- Patchworks’ Professional Services team
The Results: Scalability Under Pressure
The true test of any retail technology is Peak Trading. With Patchworks in place, Mint Velvet moved from “worrying about the plumbing” to enjoying seamless operations during the busiest times of the year.
Operations normally
almost doubling 76,000+ during peak
Concurrent flows
Total managed flows
within Patchworks
Beyond the numbers, the business achieved:
- True Autonomy: The team can now prioritise and manage flows internally.
- Agile Growth: The integration layer allows them to “bolt on” or remove technology components as the business evolves.
- Real-Time Synchronisation: Stock availability and catalog data are now more accurate across all channels.
Lessons from the Frontline
Reflecting on the 18 months since go-live, Paula shares key insights for other digital transformation experts:
- Scrutinise Complex Flows: Gift card propositions and complex system integrations require extra time and testing.
- Isolate Environments: Staging and production should ideally be kept separate to avoid technical friction during deployment.
- Prioritise UAT: While technical QA is vital, ensuring robust User Acceptance Testing (UAT) from a business perspective is critical for long-term adoption.
The Future: AI and the Customer-First Roadmap
For Mint Velvet, technology exists to serve the customer. As they look toward the next two years, the roadmap includes leveraging AI—not just as a buzzword, but as a tool for efficiency and education.
“We have a responsibility as technologists to… be role models,” says Paula. By educating internal teams and experimenting with AI embedded in their Platform-as-a-Service tools, Mint Velvet is ensuring that their technology continues to enable, rather than block, the “relaxed glamour” their customers love.”
Paula Abisolo
Omni-Channel Delivery Lead
Would you like to explore how specific integration flows, like the gift card proposition mentioned by Paula, can be optimised to prevent common errors in a retail tech stack?
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