David's Bridal Revolutionizes Wedding Retail with AI-Powered 'Aisle to Algorithm' Strategy

David's Bridal Officially Launches on Shopify in the US & Canada, Creating a Next-Gen Omni-Channel Retail Experience From "Aisle to Algorithm

Leading Bridal Retailer Completes its In-Store & Online Shopify Migration; Delivering Real-Time Inventory Access, 'Endless Aisle' in-Store Touchscreen Shopping & a Reimagined Point-of-Sale Journey, Taking the Next Step in David's Tech-Powered Evolution KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa., August 20, 2025 (Newswire.com) - David's Bridal, Inc. ("David's"), the nation's leading bridal and special occasion authority, announces the official completion of its migration to Shopify, the leading global commerce company, to power the next era of its digital transformation under its "Aisle to Algorithm" strategic pivot. Moving into a tech-driven, asset-lite retail model, David's has integrated with Shopify to lead a new era in bridal, special occasion and everyday fashion, seamlessly bridging online and in-store systems to drive smarter operations, deliver standout customer experiences, and enhance efficiencies to shape the future of the retail and ecommerce industries. This pivotal transformation enhances third-party vendors' opportunities to distribute via David's online marketplace, taking advantage of the retailer's 90% bridal market reach, as well as the expansion of David's "Endless Aisle" interactive shopping experience across stores including its new boutique retail concept, Diamonds & Pearls by David's, both enabled by Shopify's technology. This move underscores David's commitment to innovation as it reinvents the modern bridal and shopping experience, leveraging data, technology, and personalization to better serve today's shoppers. This move comes at a crucial moment as nearly 80% of today's consumers use their smartphones to access a retailer's website while shopping in-store, according to research commissioned by Shopify, which requires a streamlined shopping experience across physical and digital channels. David's has bridged a long-standing gap in the $70B global bridal market, setting a new standard as it continues to transform its 190+ stores into tech-enabled retail hubs over the coming months. Through its migration with Shopify, David's has reimagined the shopping experience both in-store and online, creating a more flexible, modern omnichannel POS system. For the first time in the bridal category, customers can now browse the brand's full inventory through Shopify-powered full-scale digital touch screens and have their items delivered directly to their home. "By fully integrating with Shopify, we're restructuring the entire customer experience for brides from inspiration to purchase, all through a digital, tech-enabled and interactive perspective," said Kelly Cook, Chief Executive Officer of David's Bridal. "We're continuing to take the journey with our brides by creating an unparalleled shopping experience, offering a unified and streamlined journey from start to finish. To make this tech evolution and migration possible, David's also joined forces with Deloitte Digital to provide implementation, consulting and strategy work to power the digital transformation journey. By leveraging Deloitte Digital's global delivery network, the team implemented Shopify's next-generation POS system in David's "store of the future," Diamonds & Pearls by David's. Now open in Delray Beach, FL, with an additional store opening this fall in Burlington, MA, Diamonds & Pearls by David's is an immersive retail environment featuring interactive touchscreens that bring the brand's entire inventory to life for real-time exploration of dresses, accessories, and shoes. By optimizing both the in-store and online experience, Deloitte Digital laid the groundwork for David's robust and scalable omnichannel growth, setting a new benchmark for tech-powered, hospitality-inspired bridal retail. "David's Bridal's successful transformation showcases how enterprise retailers can leverage Shopify to seamlessly bridge online and offline experiences," said Josh Rice, VP Commercial of Shopify. "Their innovative 'Endless Aisle' concept and unified omnichannel approach sets a new benchmark for retail technology in the bridal industry. We're proud to support their 'Aisle to Algorithm' vision and help them deliver exceptional experiences for modern brides." Powered by Shopify's industry-leading platform, David's can: * Provide "Endless Aisle" Shopping: Guests can browse the full catalog - including the exclusive Marchesa and Viola Chan Couture selection - on interactive, full-scale digital touchscreens in-store all Diamonds & Pearls locations, with additional locations coming later this year and 2026. * Enhance Checkout Experience on Davidsbridal.com: Faster checkout and tracking, flexible payment options including Shop Pay, and seamless online-to-offline cart integration deliver unmatched convenience * Streamline Inventory Across Channels: Real-time visibility across stores and online ensures better availability and fewer stockouts. * Unify Data + Platforms: A centralized hub for catalog, pricing, promotions, and inventory reduces operational complexity and improves agility. * Optimize Costs & Maintenance: Automatic feature updates and built-in compliance mean no on-premise servers or manual patching required. * Elevate Associate Experience: An intuitive backend empowers staff with future updates to POS across the fleet, faster onboarding, real-time customer insights and more efficient returns and exchanges. "At Shopify, we're proud to empower innovative retailers like David's Bridal with technology that not only unifies in-store and online experiences, but also harnesses the power of AI to personalize every step of the customer journey," said Matt Cohn, Technical Chief of Staff of Shopify. "Their migration to Shopify marks a transformative leap-enabling greater agility, deeper insights, and memorable, data-driven interactions. We're excited to support David's Bridal as they set a new standard in modern retail." "David's Bridal's migration to Shopify has accelerated their omnichannel transformation," said Rohan Dharmadhikari, Digital Retail Commerce Lead of Deloitte. "Our close collaboration enabled rapid feature deployment, seamlessly integrating AI tools, and an easy adoption of third-party apps. Using Shopify's flexible platform, David's Bridal now delivers a personalized, unified shopping experience, setting a new standard for innovation and operational excellence in bridal and special occasion retail. David's continuous digital transformation, the company continues to lead innovation in the bridal industry. It delivers an experience that reflects the evolving expectations of modern brides, whether they're adding to their cart online or trying on their dream dress in store. To learn more about David's, visit davidsbridal.com. For additional assets, please see media kit here. ### About David's Bridal With over 70 years of experience dressing people for all of life's special occasions, David's Bridal exists for magical moments. Since its "Aisle to Algorithm" strategic pivot, David's has evolved from iconic bridal retailer to wedding technology company, media powerhouse, and marketplace platform transforming how people plan, shop, and celebrate life's biggest moments. At the center of David's technological and retail evolution is Pearl by David's, Pearl Planner and Pearl Media Network - the all-in-one digital wedding destination connecting consumers with everything from AI-powered planning tools, inspiration and vendor directories, expanded retail categories and leading content, while enabling brands tap into David's unmatched market reach to authentically connect with consumers through media across the web, social, podcast, streaming, video, in-store and more. Under the Pearl Media umbrella is Love Stories by David's, the top wedding media brand taking a digital-first approach to wedding content and inspiration with over 20M viewers per month across content platforms, including the wedding industry's sole podcast network, streaming TV and Snap Discover channels, and largest YouTube and TikTok channels, and a library of over 30,000 real wedding videos. Each video comes equipped with wedding data and details, contributing to a marketplace of over 60,000 wedding professionals to help couples better dream about, research and plan their big day. With more than 190 stores across the US, Canada, and franchise locations in Mexico, David's Bridal offers the convenience of one-stop shopping for every magical event in her life, including weddings, Quinceañera, graduations, proms, communions, or simply making the world her runway and beyond. To learn more about David's, sign up for Pearl Planner, and connect on social media through Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, Facebook, X, TikTok, and LinkedIn.

David's Bridal Builds a Platform for Life Before and After 'I Do' | PYMNTS.com

The company that built its reputation helping brides find the perfect dress now wants to help them navigate everything that comes after, from showers and bachelorette weekends to anniversaries and family milestones. The wedding becomes the entry point into a long-term relationship, one that positions David's as a partner to the newly married woman in her role as household chief financial officer. David's "aisle to algorithm" reinvention is already visible. Just weeks after announcing a bridal and special occasion storefront on Amazon, the company revealed a foundational replatforming on Shopify, designed to unify its in-store and online systems into a single operating model. That step enables David's to lean into an asset-light future, one where digital screens create an "endless aisle" inside its over 190 stores, real-time inventory keeps shoppers from hitting dead ends, and its own site supports faster, more flexible checkout options. But technology is just the scaffolding. The real story is how David's plans to transform its role in the $70 billion global bridal market. "We dominate this market, but we can help her even more," President and Chief Business Officer Elina Vilk told Karen Webster. "We have the data, we have the partners, and we can start to think about this as a platform." The goal is not just to future-proof the business but to build something "so much greater" than the gown, she said. What used to orbit around a single gown now spans every touchpoint along a bride's 18-month journey. The average bride cycles through eight to 30 outfits before the big day. Each event, from the engagement party to the shower to the rehearsal dinner to the honeymoon, creates demand for new looks, services and inspiration. David's launched its Pro Planner AI to help manage those decisions, breaking down 300 tasks into a timeline paced to the wedding date. It's an answer to what Vilk called the "unparalleled anxiety magnified by social media," where every moment is visible, and every photo lives forever. That constant churn of decisions is where David's sees its future. The gown is just one of many purchases. The company's marketplace, fueled by partner products, allows it to serve brides across budgets and aesthetics without relying solely on its own design pipeline. As Vilk put it, David's will have "done our job right when we have so much more inventory from our partners than we do from ourselves." The marketplace is one piece of a broader flywheel. Last year's acquisition of Love Stories TV gave David's a media platform for brides. Layering a retail media network on top lets David's surface products at the right moments, tied to event timelines and customer signals captured through its Diamond loyalty CRM. The result is a connected system. Media fuels discovery, the CRM personalizes offers, and the marketplace turns intent into purchase. Because bridal decisions are "high involvement," the content-to-commerce loop keeps brides coming back, Vilk said. If the marketplace is the digital brain, Diamonds & Pearls is the experience layer. The new boutique format blends curated physical retail with interactive technology. Digital screens let brides and stylists mix and match from thousands of dresses across David's and its partners, pulling up inspiration reels on demand. The goal is to augment the in-store experience with technology that solves problems in real time, showing how a hand-beaded gown might work in a rustic barn wedding, or how a silhouette could be adapted for a beach ceremony. The Florida pilot proved the concept, and more locations are on the way. The "sexiest tech" is not flashy, but functional, Vilk said. It's about helping brides see what's possible and making decisions easier in a process defined by complexity. Underneath the romance is a strategy to use the wedding as the launchpad to a longer relationship. Brides already think like CFOs of their households, managing budgets and trade-offs for one of the biggest spending events of their lives. David's wants to keep that relationship alive after the wedding, extending into anniversaries, family celebrations and beyond. The loyalty program is the connective tissue, Vilk said. Diamonds not only personalizes shopping in the moment; it lays the groundwork for future extensions into payments, wallets and financial tools. The bigger ambition is for the bride to be more than just a one-time customer. She's the foundation of a lifetime platform. At its core, David's mission hasn't changed. It's still about making sure every customer, from the bride to the mother of the bride to the bridal party, feels good in the moment, no matter their budget. What has changed is the scale of the vision. With its "aisle to algorithm" strategy, Vilk said that David's isn't competing with bridal shops. It's reinventing what it means to be in the bridal business. By weaving together media, marketplace, stores and loyalty into a single platform, David's is making the wedding not the end of a transaction but the beginning of a relationship.