Rental on Shopify Plus for baby retailer OiOiOi
OiOiOi is a Swiss company with a refreshing idea: instead of buying baby clothes, parents can rent them. The service promotes sustainability, reduces waste and makes life easier for growing families .
For us, this was more than just another project. It was the chance to help shape a completely new kind of business model - closer to SaaS than classic e-commerce - and support OiOiOi’s expansion beyond Switzerland into the wider European market.
The challenge
OiOiOi’s ambitions were big: expand across Europe, introduce a subscription-based model and make renting as intuitive as buying - while also educating customers about this new way of consuming.
Their existing Shopify setup wasn’t built for this. Shopify’s default checkout doesn’t support subscription plans with local European payment methods, and the standard account pages couldn’t handle the complexity of:
- managing multiple plans
- exchanging items
- tracking rental history
- downloading invoices
- restarting cancelled subscriptions
In short: they needed a completely custom account portal and a redesigned website that clearly explained the rental concept while making it effortless to use.
Our approach
1. Redesigning for a new business model
Together with designer Laura, we rethought large parts of the website to reflect the logic of renting instead of buying.
We focused on:
- a new homepage with clear monthly and yearly plans
- plan comparison pages
- intuitive product pages with size and colour selection
- filters tailored to rental use
- UX that explains why renting makes sense
The goal was simple: make a complex model feel natural.
2. A custom account structure
Most of the work went into the account portal, which became the heart of the experience.
Inside their account, customers can now:
- view and manage active plans
- see inactive or cancelled subscriptions
- restart a plandownload invoices
- manage a wishlist (via Wishlist King integration)
- exchange items and initiate returns
This was a fully bespoke flow, built specifically around OiOiOi’s rental logic.
3. Making Shopify + subscriptions work together
Because Shopify checkout couldn’t support OiOiOi’s needs, we integrated Firmhouse as the subscription and payment engine.
We set up a full API-based connection between Shopify and Firmhouse, enabling things like local payment methods, subscription checkout and synchronised orders and fulfilment.
Customers log in via Shopify but see all Firmhouse data, such as plans, items and invoices, in one unified environment.
The result
The new platform successfully supports both OiOiOi’s business model and their European expansion.
Customers can now easily choose a plan, select and swap baby clothes and manage subscriptions like a membership. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, OiOiOi benefits from a scalable subscription infrastructure, a smooth checkout via Firmhouse and Shopify fulfilment integration.
Most importantly, the website now clearly communicates a new way of parenting: one that’s more sustainable, flexible and stress-free.
By redesigning the UX, building a custom account portal and connecting Shopify with Firmhouse, we helped turn an innovative idea into a practical, scalable reality.
