iELM-Case-Study-img-1024x596
    All case studies

    iELM grew sales and scaled internationally with this digital strategy

    iELM, a children’s fashion brand, scaled to 14 countries and boosted sales by 94% with end-to-end support from Zitec across digital marketing, eCommerce, and cloud services.

    94%

    sales increase

    +300,000

    customers served

    14 countries

    business expansion

    The Overview

    Founded in 2013 in Sweden, iELM began as a small family-run business designing high-quality, weather-resistant children’s clothing. Today, the brand operates five production lines and employs nearly 200 people in Romania, and serves over 300,000 customers across 14 countries, including Germany, France, the UK, and the US.

    The Market

    With growing international demand and a strong foothold in functional children’s apparel, iELM saw rapid growth. But expansion came with challenges: entering new geographies required localized marketing, seamless logistics, proper technology infrastructure, and a unified customer experience across markets.

    The Challenge

    iELM’s initial digital marketing strategy was unable to support the pace of its growth. As the company expanded into multiple markets, it faced:

    • Fragmented digital marketing execution and limited data visibility

    • Platform limitations tied to Magento 1 and AWS

    • High operational complexity due to local delivery, payment, and user behavior differences

    The leadership team needed a strategic partner that could align marketing activities with business objectives, support platform modernization, and prepare the business for scalable growth.

    “Zitec has been our strong partner for almost six years, showing steady professionalism and extensive knowledge in everything they do. They are always finding the right solutions, at the right time, at a reasonable expense.”

    Marius Dragan
    CEO and Founder, iELM

    The Solution

    Zitec restructured iELM’s digital strategy to focus on their growth, throguh actions like:

    Digital Marketing Strategy Overhaul

    Zitec restructured iELM’s digital strategy to focus on their growth, throguh actions like:

    • Google & Facebook Ads tailored to each market

    • SEO and organic social media expansion

    • Influencer marketing campaigns to build trust

    • Community management aligned to brand voice

    • Budget reallocation to prioritize high-impact channels with ROI tracking

    eCommerce Platform Modernization

    Zitec migrated iELM’s platform from Magento 1 to Magento 2, addressing performance and security concerns.

    • Automation of internal workflows (AWB generation, order processing)

    • Upgraded security through dedicated audits and implementation

    • Integrated marketing tools to support campaign execution and analytics

    Cloud Infrastructure Migration

    As a Google Cloud Premier Partner, Zitec managed the full migration from AWS to Google Cloud:

    • Architecture & design of the new infrastructure

    • Environment setup and testing

    • Deployment of scalable, secure infrastructure with:

      • Global Load Balancer for low-latency access

      • Managed Instance Groups for auto-scaling

      • Advanced security protocols (IAP, OS Login)

    The setup provided a foundation for future BI capabilities via BigQuery and Data Studio integrations.

    ielm-child-outdoor

    The Process

    • Initial audit of marketing performance and technology stack

    • Stakeholder workshops across tech, business, and vendor teams

    • Iterative rollout of the platform and campaigns

    • Continuous support and optimization

    Throughout, Zitec provided iELM full transparency on the total cost of ownership and tested all assumptions before implementation.

    The Impact

    • 94% sales increase following the new digital strategy

    • 500% monthly sales growth (EUR 1M/month) with only a 20% increase in promotional spend (2019 data)

    • 300,000+ customers served across 14 countries

    • Full platform modernization completed with minimal downtime

    • Positioned for future growth with scalable, secure, and cloud-native infrastructure