A fashion business may start very simply: a good product, an Instagram account, and messages from customers asking about the price, size, and colour. The problem begins when this method succeeds; every new order means another chat, more details to collect, and a size, colour, and address to confirm. As orders increase, the very approach that helped you get started can become the exact thing that makes growth harder.

Watch the full success story of Al Aliah Abayas.

This is almost exactly what happened with Al Aliah, the abaya brand founded by Amira Al-Faraj in 2018. It started by taking orders manually via WhatsApp and Instagram, with each conversation taking at least two minutes to collect product details, size, colour, shipping, and delivery information. As orders grew, this approach became increasingly difficult, prompting Al Aliah to transition to an integrated online store that streamlined the buyer journey.

Today, you can explore Al Aliah Store and see the experience just as the customer lives it.

However, what is remarkable about Al Aliah's journey is not just the move to an online store, but what came after. From streamlining order management to recovering hesitant shoppers, enhancing the storefront, and offering diverse payment methods and promotions—there is a set of strategic decisions that any fashion store can learn from.

1. Do not use direct messaging as an order management system

WhatsApp and Instagram are vital channels for customer communication, but there is a clear difference between using chat to answer an enquiry and relying on it to run the entire checkout process. In Al Aliah's early days, Amira manually gathered product details, size, colour, shipping, and delivery information from every single customer. As orders grew, this turned into a heavy burden for her and the team.

Moving to an online store shifted these details from chats into a structured checkout journey, centralising order management, invoicing, shipping, and product data in one place. The goal here is not to abandon social media, but to give each channel the role it excels at.

If you sell via social media, do not measure your success solely by the number of orders you can handle today; ask yourself: What would happen if that number doubled? Keep chat for customer support and answering questions, while making product selection, sizing, colour options, data entry, payment, and shipping part of a clear journey that customers can complete on their own.

Apply it to your store: Learn how to manage orders from receipt to final customer delivery.

Learn more about when selling via Instagram and WhatsApp becomes a barrier to growth.

2. In abayas, hesitation does not always mean the customer has changed their mind

Choosing a fashion item is not an automated decision. A customer might love an abaya, select it, add it to their bag, and then pause; they might need time, want to compare options, or simply get distracted before completing the order. Al Aliah treated this stage as an opportunity to re-engage, using abandoned cart recovery campaigns to reconnect with shoppers who had not finalised their purchase.

A customer who has added an item to their cart has demonstrated a far higher level of intent than someone merely browsing the store. Therefore, before constantly spending money to acquire new customers, it is worth looking at those who have already reached an advanced stage in the buying journey without completing it.

And do not always start with just a reminder. Begin by asking: Why did the customer drop off here? Do they need clearer sizing information? Was the shipping cost revealed too late? Do they need time to decide, or do they simply need a gentle nudge?

Apply it to your store: Learn how to manage abandoned carts and recover orders in the Salla Help Centre.

3. Do not make discounts your only type of offer

Al Aliah leveraged promotions and bundles as essential tools to drive the store's growth—a tactic particularly worth noting in the fashion industry, as an offer does not always have to mean slashing the price of the item itself. You can bundle complementary products, design occasion-based offers, or increase the average order value by pairing an item with another piece that adds genuine value for the customer.

Before launching a new discount, ask yourself: Can I make the offer more valuable rather than just making the product cheaper? Start with products that customers frequently buy together, seasonal occasions when purchasing behaviour shifts, and complementary items. Sometimes, the way products are bundled together is just as compelling as the price point itself.

Apply it to your store: Learn how to create and manage special offers in your store.

4. A smooth checkout is central to the abaya shopping experience

Al Aliah introduced flexible payment options like Tabby and Tamara into the store's checkout journey. The value of this step lies not in adding as many payment methods as possible, but in reducing friction at the exact moment the customer decides to buy. Flexible payment options become even more vital when the cart value increases or when a customer purchases multiple pieces.

Review the payment stage from the customer's perspective, not from the backend settings of your store. Are the available options clearly communicated? Can they find a payment method that suits them? Are there any unexpected fees or details appearing at the final step?

Apply it to your store: Learn how to enable and manage the right payment methods for your customers.

5. An abaya storefront is not a one-and-done project

One of the notable details in Al Aliah's journey is that they purchased three different templates to continually refine the store. The number itself is not what matters; it is the mindset behind it: the storefront was never treated as something built once and left untouched.

This is particularly crucial in fashion; it is an inherently visual product, collections and seasons evolve, and what a customer needs to see today may change in a few months. So, instead of simply asking, "Is my store design pretty?", ask a much more important question: Does it help the customer shop?

Check the clarity of your categories, how products are showcased, how easy it is to navigate to key collections, and what the customer sees first on mobile devices, then enhance the experience based on what you find. Aesthetics matter for a fashion store, but great design goes beyond making a product look good—it makes discovering, selecting, and purchasing it effortless.

Apply it to your store: Discover theme customisation options to elevate the shopping experience.

What tied these decisions together?

Looking at Al Aliah's overall journey, no single move drove their growth on its own. The challenge began with manual operations, followed by building a more streamlined ordering journey. Next came other vital needs: winning back hesitant shoppers, crafting better offers, simplifying payments, and refining the store's visual design and user experience.

This is perhaps the most important takeaway from their story:

Store growth does not always stem from driving more traffic; it comes from optimising what happens once a customer arrives.

If you run an abaya store, examine your customer journey today, stage by stage: Where do they come from? What do they need to make a choice? Where might they hesitate? What happens if they abandon their order? And what would bring them back again?

You might not need an entire store overhaul; you may simply need to identify the next step that truly deserves improvement.

See the experience for yourself: Browse Al Aliah Abayas Store, and observe how categories, products, and payment options are presented throughout the shopping journey.

Source: ⁠Al Aliah Abayas Success Story – Salla

Explore Salla's tailored solutions for abaya stores.