CQL Acquires Riess Group: Read the Press Release
CQL Acquires Riess Group: Read the Press Release
Beauty brands move fast, and so do we. With decades of commerce experience, CQL helps leading skincare, cosmetics, and wellness brands build immersive digital experiences, unify online and in-store retail, and convert highly engaged audiences driven by social trends and influencers. Our strategy-first approach blends UX, content, and technology to help beauty brands stand out in a category defined by creativity, competition, and constant change.
As more beauty companies scale globally and invest heavily in mobile, social commerce, and subscriptions, Shopify has become the platform of choice. Brands that switch to Shopify are seeing dramatic efficiency gains, saving up to $11M in total cost of ownership, while gaining a platform built for speed, resilience, and nonstop growth. With 99.99% uptime, lightning-fast checkouts, and the ability to power everything from flash sales to international expansion, Shopify gives beauty brands the freedom to innovate without constraints.
CQL brings that power to life. We partner with beauty brands and their creative teams to launch high-conversion storefronts, integrate loyalty and reviews, connect retail POS, and activate social-driven journeys that turn influencers into revenue. Whether launching a new brand or scaling a global favorite, we help beauty companies grow beautifully.
Online Global Beauty Purchases in 2024, 19.2% of Total Industry Revenue (Shopify)
Percentage of Mobile Orders in Beauty & Personal Care Industry (Digital Silk)
Conversion Increase with Hyper-Personalization Like Subscriptions & Loyalty (McKinsey & Company)
Gen Z & Millennials Making Cross-Border Beauty Purchases in the last 12 months (eMarketer)
CQL & e.l.f. Beauty partner together to help e.l.f. achieve its vision of delivering a seamless customer experience across channels. CQL supports e.l.f.’s internal team as part of a staff augmentation approach to achieve their expansion and new feature goals, including updating e.l.f.’s back-end systems, migrating KEYS Soulcare and Well People from Salesforce Commerce Cloud to Shopify, integrating over 15 third party apps, and providing international delivery functionality.
CQL certified Salesforce Commerce Cloud architects and developers work in collaboration with the e.l.f. development team on on-going development efforts, new sites, updates, maintenance and new features.
The partnership has resulted in project launches such as upgrading e.l.f.’s site from Site Gen to the PWA Kit, providing international delivery functionality for e.l.f. using EshopWorld, adding a Europe site (with German localization), and updating e.l.f.’s OMS, ESP, and Payment Gateway.
Well People has been making award-winning beauty from premium, plant-derived ingredients long before it was cool. Now they’re setting trends with a digital transformation that provides a foundation of growth and innovation. CQL partnered with the Well People brand through two digital evolutions, first migrating from Magento to Salesforce Commerce Cloud and recently migrating to a modern, scalable Shopify Plus platform. The move simplifies operations, accelerates speed to market, and reduces total cost of ownership to empower Well People to grow rapidly within the unified e.l.f. Beauty ecosystem.
CQL partnered with e.l.f. Beauty to evolve its KEYS Soulcare brand from an SFRA site with React-driven pages to a modern, scalable Shopify Plus architecture. The migration streamlines operations, accelerates speed to market, and reduces total cost of ownership, giving KEYS Soulcare a more flexible and efficient foundation for growth within the e.l.f. Beauty ecosystem. Rooted in Alicia Keys’ philosophy of holistic wellness, KEYS Soulcare invites customers to embrace beauty that nurtures both SKIN + SOUL. The new Shopify experience reflects that same spirit by being inviting, empowering, and built to inspire connection while providing the technology foundation to scale seamlessly across channels and deliver unified, brand-aligned customer experiences.
As an innovative disruptor, Guthy|Renker is always ahead of the curve, from launching brands “digital first” long before it was a trend, to innovating new technology. Looking for a lower total cost of ownership (TCO) and a reduction in development customizations, Guthy|Renker looked to Shopify as the best commerce platform.
Following an in-depth technical discovery and enterprise-level migration strategy validating the move from Salesforce to Shopify, Guthy|Renker used a 3-phase approach to migrate their brand to Shopify with Recharge Subscriptions. CQL built the system architecture and subscription customizations on Shopify’s bullet-proof foundation, with a repeatable framework to replicate across all Guthy|Renker brands.
We have an amazing ecosystem focused on our core DNA of marketing, focused on products and getting our products to our consumers. Our reliable tech partners including Shopify and Recharge allow us to remain innovative and entrepreneurial. Shopify introduced us to CQL and they’ve been an incredible partner along the way for us in building the solution that we need.
Karthik S.
SVP Growth & Strategy
Guthy | Renker
CQL partnered with 11:11 Beauty to launch Parívie, Paris Hilton’s new skincare brand inspired by her dedication to self-care, innovation, and iconic confidence. CQL provided Shopify consulting, guided design decisions for optimal UX and platform performance, and built the site on an existing Shopify framework modeled after Kind Science. The result is a vibrant, high-glam digital experience that mirrors Parívie’s mission to empower unstoppable, on-the-go consumers with clinically backed, tech-driven skincare solutions that embody luxury, playfulness, and Paris’s ever-evolving energy.
ColourPop is the fast growing, cruelty free makeup brand offering luxury quality formulas at affordable prices and building a passionate, social media driven community. To support ColourPop’s global growth ambitions, CQL provided end to end Shopify platform support, including ongoing maintenance and strategic enhancement.
CQL implemented Shopify Markets to enable ColourPop to expand internationally by localizing currencies, domains, and checkout flows for different regions. In addition, CQL optimized ColourPop’s product information management on Salsify. This work accelerated time to market, improved accuracy, and created a scalable foundation for future growth.
Paula’s Choice is a research driven skincare brand known for pairing science backed formulas with clear, educational guidance that builds deep customer trust. In a co-development partnership, CQL worked alongside the Paula’s Choice team to elevate the brand’s digital experience through UX audits, CRO improvements, and refined content and merchandising enhancements.
Together, the teams optimized the cart and checkout journey, strengthened onsite usability, and aligned the experience with Paula’s Choice’s evidence based philosophy. These efforts delivered powerful results, including a 53.6% increase in conversion rates, a 7.8% reduction in abandoned carts, and a 62.5% decrease in abandoned checkouts, creating a more intelligent and seamless shopping experience for skincare customers.
CQL partnered with the Ageless RX product development team to build Ageless RX’s online health assessment and personalized user dashboard to guide users on their journey to health & wellness.
The goal of the site was not to lead with products, but to lead with education, give customers a complete view of their health and wellness, and inform them of recommended products based on their preventative plan and health goals.
MakeUp Geek was a fast growing beauty brand known for delivering high quality, affordable cosmetics and for educating customers through tutorials, influencers, and social media. As the brand expanded through partnerships with Target, Ipsy, and BeautyBay, they needed a digital partner who could support their long term ecommerce roadmap and bring their creative vision to life.
CQL helped replatform MakeUp Geek to Shopify, streamline their tech stack, and create unique customer experiences including a custom Create Your Own Palette tool, shoppable tutorials, and VIP influencer pages. CQL also provided ongoing strategic support, brand design refinement, and multi channel marketing campaigns that strengthened the brand, improved agility, and positioned MakeUp Geek for sustained growth in a competitive beauty market.
As a leading digital commerce agency and Shopify Platinum Partner, CQL builds stunning, high performing commerce experiences for high-end enterprise brands with complex requirements in both eCommerce and physical retail. With a solution-oriented mindset, we align your business goals with the right mix of technology and partners, guiding when to innovate and how to maximize out-of-the-box solutions. Together, we elevate your brand, accelerate growth, and create seamless customer experiences in-store and online.
