Executive Summary
This case study explores how Cotopaxi, an innovative outdoor gear company, enhanced its online search experience by leveraging Google Cloud's Vertex AI Search for Retail using Nimstrata's Retail Cloud Connect Shopify solution.
About Cotopaxi
Founded in 2014 by Davis Smith, Cotopaxi has built a reputation for colorful, high-quality outdoor gear that emphasizes sustainability. Their signature Del Día backpack—made from repurposed materials and unique in every iteration—exemplifies the brand's commitment to innovative design and environmental responsibility.
The Product Discovery Challenge
Modern ecommerce platforms, even Shopify, face a complex challenge: surfacing the most relevant products to the right customers at precisely the right moment. Traditional search solutions, even those deeply invested in AI development, still struggle to deliver intuitive, context-aware experiences that could truly understand customer intent.
The Evolution of Search Technologies
Ecommerce search has undergone a remarkable transformation over the last several decades:
Early solutions relied on rigid SQL-like queries
Advanced platforms introduced full-text search engines with fuzzy matching and spell checking
Current AI-powered solutions utilize natural language processing (NLP) and large language models to deliver truly intelligent search experiences
The Shopify Ecosystem
The Shopify App Store was launched in 2009 to provide merchants with an ecosystem of third-party applications designed to enhance and customize their online stores. Initially, it featured a modest selection of apps developed by Shopify partners, but it has since grown into a comprehensive marketplace with thousands of apps spanning various categories such as marketing, sales, customer support, inventory management, and more.
There are several product discovery solutions available on the Shopify App Store, but none have performed as well as Google Cloud’s Vertex AI Search for Retail. Cotopaxi migrated to Google Cloud from their legacy search solution, Fast Simon.
Vertex AI Search for Retail
Vertex AI Search for Retail is the only solution that equips retailers with the ability to offer Google-quality search functionality on their own ecommerce storefronts. Google Cloud offers this comprehensive product discovery platform with three key components:
Search Results: Algorithms analyze written or spoken user queries and return the most relevant products based on keywords, product attributes, user intent, and historical user behavior.
Category Merchandising: Categories, or Collection pages on Shopify, organize products into easily navigable sections. Product discovery platforms can dynamically sort results to ensure the most relevant and appealing products are prominently displayed.
Recommendations: Many product discovery platforms use machine learning algorithms that collect user behavior data and then suggest products to prospective customers. Common model types include, “Frequently Bought Together,” “Others You May Like,” and “Recommended for You.”
Implementation: Build vs. Buy
After an initial search quality and relevance evaluation of Google’s Vertex AI algorithms, Nimstrata and Cotopaxi were planning to build a custom integration between Cotopaxi’s back end systems and Google Cloud. However, the upfront costs and ongoing maintenance of a custom installation quickly became an expensive capital outflow for an untested solution.
Instead, they installed Nimstrata’s Shopify App, Retail Cloud Connect, a turnkey solution that:
Syncs their Shopify product catalog in real-time
Simplified complex catalog attribute mapping
Offered a customizable theme integration pattern
Provides low-latency global serving infrastructure
Catalog Sync
A particularly challenging aspect was mapping the unique colors of Cotopaxi's Del Día backpacks. Nimstrata's solution streamlined this process, meeting Google Cloud's specific color family requirements with minimal manual intervention.
Theme Installation
Retail Cloud Connect includes three drag-and-drop Shopify Online Store 2.0 App Blocks to activate search, collections, and recommendations with no code. However, Cotopaxi has a fully custom storefront and has invested significant effort into perfecting their merchandising experience. Matching their existing designs was essential for implementation success.
While Nimstrata offers no-code components, the App Blocks can also be deployed as customized packaged components that any custom storefront can render. The Nimstrata team quickly matched the CSS and Collection page requirements, preparing a version ready for testing within 72 hours.
The Results
Performance Metrics
29.23% increase in search term relevance
44.78% higher conversion rate from search
97.94% of search keywords return accurate results
Customer Perspective
Doug Small, Senior Ecommerce Manager at Cotopaxi, emphasized the transformative nature of the implementation:
"Nimstrata provided exceptional, white-glove service throughout the entire process of implementing Google Vertex AI. They went above and beyond to ensure everything was tailored to our specific needs and completed in a timely manner.
Since the implementation, we've seen an increase in our search conversion rate while also reducing costs by moving away from our previous solution. Nimstrata has gone above and beyond our expectations during the implementation and onboarding process. The team ensured we were set up for success and could leverage Vertex AI to the fullest."
Summary
Cotopaxi's success story illustrates how advanced AI technologies are continuing to shape ecommerce, enabling brands to create more intuitive, personalized shopping experiences that directly translate to improved business performance.
Nimstrata and Vertex AI Search for Retail exceeded Cotopaxi’s expectations by becoming one of the quickest external vendor implementations in the company’s online history. Google Cloud’s search algorithms increased their search relevance rating by 29.23% and conversions from search by 44.78% while offering the same look and feel of their existing branding across their website.
Getting Started
If you're interested in learning more about implementing Google Cloud’s Vertex AI Search for Retail on your Shopify store, you can request a demo, begin a free trial, or email hello@nimstrata.com with any questions.
If you're a new Google Cloud customer and want to try these solutions for free, new customers currently receive $300 in general-purpose free trial credits AND $600 in Recommendations AI credits.
