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About AnnSummers
A brand that has led its category for over 40 years - and has no intention of slowing down
Ann Summers is the UK's leading name in lingerie and sexual wellness. Synonymous with female empowerment, the brand has built a loyal following across both retail and ecommerce over four decades - operating two distinct digital brands in Ann Summers and Knickerbox. As a brand that trades on trust and experience, the quality of the digital journey matters deeply. Customers expect a seamless, confidence-inspiring path from discovery through to delivery - and every friction point in that journey has a direct commercial cost. The Commerce Team Global works as an embedded development partner within Ann Summers' technology function - running a structured, phased release programme on Salesforce Commerce Cloud designed to continuously raise the bar on what the platform can do for the customer.
The Challenge
A brand growing faster than its platform
Ann Summers' ecommerce operation is complex by nature - two storefronts, a broad product catalogue spanning thousands of variants, global trading requirements, multiple third-party integrations, and a customer base with high expectations and zero tolerance for a broken journey.As the business evolved, so did the demands placed on the platform. Existing integrations needed replacing or extending. The product catalogue required architectural changes to support better discoverability and merchandising. The delivery and returns experience — a critical moment in any fashion transaction - needed a complete overhaul to meet customer expectations and operational requirements.At the same time, the technical health of the platform needed attention. Legacy code, unresolved bugs and analytics gaps were quietly eroding both performance and confidence. The challenge was to move fast on all of these fronts simultaneously - without disrupting a live, trading platform.
Why a phased programme was the right approach
Rather than tackling everything at once - which would have introduced unacceptable risk to a live trading environment. The CommerceTeam Global structured the work into a series of focused, sequenced releases. Each phase built on the last, delivered independentlywithout disrupting trading, and was scoped to protect Ann Summers from the risk of a big-bang approach. Customers benefited sooner. Risk was controlled throughout
The Programme
Four areas of focus. One connected programme of work
The programme spanned catalogue architecture, system integration, delivery and returns transformation, and platform stabilisation - each work stream interlocking to create a platform that is faster, more reliable, and more capable of delivering the experience Ann Summers customers expect
Catalogue Architecture
A foundational restructure of how products are organised and surfaced - improving how customers discover products, how the brand controls merchandising across both storefronts, and how product data flows accurately to every connected channel and marketing platform
Systems & Integrations
Connecting the right data to the right places. Bringing together order information from retail and digital channels, resolving critical failures in cross-border trading infrastructure, and ensuring the analytics layer accurately reflects customer behaviour so decisions are made on real data
Delivery & Returns Experience
A comprehensive transformation of the post-add-to-basket experience - from how delivery options are presented at checkout, to how customers track their order and manage returns. Every touchpoint in the delivery journey was rebuilt to be clearer, faster and more confident-inspiring for the customer
Platform Stability & Quality
Systematic resolution of the issues that quietly cost conversion. Bugs in core customer journeys, legacy code creating risk, and tracking gaps undermining confidence in the data the business relies on. A stable platform is the foundation everything else is built on
Customer benefits
What changed for the customer
Every decision in the programme was grounded in a single question: does this make the experience better for the customer? The answer shaped what was built, how it was sequenced, and what success looked like
Finding the right product, faster
Changes to the catalogue architecture mean products are more discoverable -cleaner URLs, better search indexing, and more accurate recommendations all reduce the time between a customer arriving on site and finding what they came for
Knowing exactly how and when their order will arrive
Customers now see carrier names, logos, prices and estimated delivery dates at checkout - based on their actual address. A delivery countdown widget on product pages and an estimated delivery date in the confirmation email means expectations are set clearly at every step, not just at checkout
Tracking their order without leaving the site
Rather than being redirected to a carrier website, customers can now track their order within the Ann Summers experience - keeping them within the brand and reducing the anxiety that comes with not knowing where a parcel is
Returning items simply and confidently
The returns experience is now embedded within the Ann Summers site - customers can select items, choose their preferred return method and receive labels or instructions without leaving the brand environment. Returns are as considered and confidence-inspiring as the original purchase
Never missing a product they want
Customers can now register for back-in-stock alerts on specific out-of-stock variants -receiving a notification the moment their chosen item becomes available.This turns a lost sale into a future purchase and keeps customers engaged rather than sending them to a competitor
A journey that just works
The resolution of bugs affecting add-to-cart, cart editing and checkout - alongside improvements to payment method handling - means fewer customers hitting invisible walls in their journey. The experience is smoother, more reliable, and more likely to convert
The Results
A platform that keeps pace with the brand
The programme delivered across every dimension that matters - not just features shipped, but genuine improvements to the experience customers have with the AnnSummers brand online. The platform is now more stable, more capable, and better positioned to support the next phase of growth
- Product discoverability - improved through catalogue restructure, cleaner URLs and better feed accuracy across all marketing channels
- Delivery confidence - customers now see accurate, real-time delivery information at every touchpoint from product page through to confirmation email
- Friction in the returns journey - a branded, embedded experience replaces redirects to carrier websites
- Platform stability - core customer journeys protected, legacy risk removed and analytics confidence restored
TCTG quickly became a key extension of our technical team. Their deep SFCC expertise and hands-on approach helped us unlock new levels of performance, speed and flexibility. We are overall happy with the support services that the team have given us.
Jeannette Copeland — Technology Director, Ann Summers
Is This You?
This engagement is relevant if your platform needs to keep pace with your ambitions
- You have a live ecommerce platform and a roadmap that never seems to move fast enough
- Your delivery and returns experience is letting down an otherwise strong brand and product
- You have integrations that aren't working as they should - and the cost of that is showing up in lost orders or poor customer data
- Your analytics can't be trusted, which means your decisions can't be either
- You have technical debt that nobody wants to own but everyone knows is slowing you down
- You need a development partner who operates as part of your team - not a supplier who turns up, delivers and disappears
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