Mimi Vintage
A live online store for a one-of-a-kind vintage boutique in Herzliya: from Instagram-only sales to a Shopify store on its own domain.
From Instagram DMs to a live store
Mimi Vintage is a vintage clothing boutique run by Mia Pfeffer from a studio in Herzliya. Every piece is handpicked and exists in a single unit, and until now everything was sold through Instagram messages. I took the shop from a social account to a full Shopify store on mimivintage.com: the storefront and navigation, the domain, the policies a payment provider requires, and the way customers reach Mia after they buy.
Selling through DMs works, until it doesn’t
More than a design job
Selling through DMs works until it doesn't: the same questions over and over, items held for people who never paid, and money moved by hand. Going online wasn't only a design job either. The domain was registered elsewhere, and the store couldn't take payments until a credit card company reviewed and approved the site.
A clean store, the personal touch kept
A clean store where every one-of-a-kind piece can be found, bought and paid for in a few taps, on the brand's own domain. After checkout, the order confirmation sends customers to Instagram to arrange pickup or delivery, so Mia keeps the personal touch her customers already know.
Live, approved, and findable
A live store on mimivintage.com, approved by the credit card company, with card checkout, shipping and pickup, a full set of policies in English and Hebrew, contact details where a reviewer expects them, and a home page that Google shows with a bilingual title.
Simple shopping, the brand in front
A vintage store is small and personal, so every decision tried to keep the shopping simple and the brand in front.
Photos lead
Product images are large and real, shot in Mia's studio, so the condition of each piece is shown honestly before a word is read.
Pay on the site, talk on Instagram
Checkout handles payment, and the order confirmation adds a "Message us on Instagram" step with the order number for arranging pickup or delivery.
A calm mobile menu
All Items opens as an accordion on tap, so the categories don't push the rest of the menu off the screen.
A footer people actually use
Four empty default columns became Customer care and Connect, with the phone and the studio address linking straight to a call and to the map.
Getting approved to take payments
In Israel, a store can't charge cards until a credit card company reviews the site. The first review came back with three issues: no business address, no phone number, and no product liability clause. I fixed each one where a reviewer looks for it.
Contact details everywhere
Address and phone in the footer, the terms and the contact page.
Policies written for a vintage shop
A refund policy based on Israeli consumer law, with a 14 day cancellation window, a capped cancellation fee, return shipping on the customer and no exchanges, since every piece is one of a kind.
Product liability in Hebrew
Written for second hand pieces sold as is, as pictured in each listing, instead of copying the reviewer's generic example.
The site was resubmitted with the fixes and the credit card company approved it, so the store now takes card payments directly on mimivintage.com.
Findable in English and Hebrew
The domain had been bought through a website builder and still pointed to an empty site. I pointed it to the new store without transferring the registration, kept the existing email records untouched, and set mimivintage.com as the main address. Then I verified it in Google Search Console, submitted the sitemap, and gave the home page a title and description in English and Hebrew, so the store can be found as both "Mimi Vintage" and "מימי וינטג'".
Launching is more than designing
Launching is more than designing
The storefront was the easy part. Domains, payment approval and legal pages are what actually stand between a small business and its first online sale.
Keep what already works
Mia's customers love talking to her, so the store handles the payment and leaves the conversation on Instagram, instead of forcing a new habit.
Write for every reader
A payment provider reads a site differently from a shopper, and putting the right details where a reviewer expects them matters as much as the layout.
Thanks for reading!
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