For Lanikai Bath and Body, customer feedback plays an important role in building trust with shoppers. The Hawaiian-inspired bath and body brand has been using Fera for several years to collect and showcase reviews both online and in store through Shopify, helping customers discover authentic experiences from others.
In this case study, we’ll look at how Lanikai Bath and Body uses Fera to make customer reviews a valuable part of its shopping experience.
About Lanikai Bath and Body
Founded in 2007 in Kailua, Hawaiʻi, by longtime friends and business partners Brook Gramann and Gloria Garvey, Lanikai Bath and Body was created to reflect the beauty, lifestyle, and spirit of their hometown.
Inspired by Hawaiʻi’s flowers, fruits, botanicals, and beach lifestyle, the brand creates luxurious Hawaiian-inspired bath and body products using high-quality natural ingredients. Its fragrances are designed to capture the authentic essence of the islands in a light, modern way.
Nearly two decades later, Lanikai Bath and Body remains headquartered in Kailua on Oʻahu, where it continues to handcraft its products and support the local community while sharing a little aloha with customers around the world.
What were a couple of challenges you were trying to solve before using Fera?
Challenge 1:
'One of our biggest challenges before using Fera was simply getting customer reviews consistently. As a small business, we interact with customers through two very different channels—our retail store in Kailua, Hawaiʻi, and our online store. While we receive wonderful feedback every day in person and through emails, converting those positive experiences into public reviews was difficult.
Prior to Fera, requesting reviews was largely a manual process. We didn't have an efficient system for following up with customers after purchase, and many satisfied customers simply never took the extra step to leave a review. This meant we were missing valuable social proof that could help new customers feel confident purchasing from us.'
Challenge 2:
'Another challenge was creating a consistent review experience across both our online and in-store customer base. We wanted a way to showcase authentic customer feedback and build trust with shoppers who may be discovering our brand for the first time. Without a streamlined review platform, collecting, displaying, and managing reviews required significantly more time and effort than we could realistically dedicate as a small business.'
What were the major pain points of your process prior to using Fera?
'Ultimately, our biggest pain points were low review participation, lack of automation, and not having an easy way to capture the positive customer experiences we were already creating every day.'
What other methods/strategies did you try in order to address those issues before using Fera?
'Before using Fera, we tried several methods to encourage customer reviews. In our retail store, our staff would occasionally ask customers to leave reviews after positive interactions, and we would mention reviews in conversations and follow-up communications. Online, we included requests in email communications and order follow-ups, but the process was largely manual and inconsistent.
We also relied heavily on word-of-mouth referrals, social media engagement, and customer feedback received through email and direct messages. While these channels generated valuable feedback, they didn't translate into visible reviews that prospective customers could easily see when shopping online.
The biggest challenge was that all of these efforts required significant time and manual follow-up, making it difficult to maintain a consistent review collection process. As a result, many happy customers never left reviews, despite having positive experiences with our products and brand.'
How does Fera help your team or company achieve its objectives?
'Fera has helped us achieve one of our key objectives: building trust with new customers through authentic customer feedback . Over the last several years, our review content has increased significantly , giving prospective customers greater confidence in our products and brand.
As a business with both a retail store and online presence, customer reviews are an important part of our marketing and conversion strategy. Fera's automated review collection process has helped us consistently gather and showcase customer experiences while saving our team valuable time. We believe the increased volume and visibility of reviews has strengthened customer trust, improved the online shopping experience, and contributed to increased sales and conversions.'
What features do you wish Fera had? How can we improve?
'As a small business, we're still catching up on many of Fera's newer features and capabilities. At this point, we haven't identified any major gaps or features we'd like to see added. We appreciate that Fera continues to innovate, and we're looking forward to exploring more of the platform's recent enhancements as we continue to grow.'
What, if any, future plans do you have in terms of using Fera?
'We plan to continue using Fera and expanding how we utilize the platform as new features and capabilities are introduced. As a growing business, we're always looking for ways to better engage customers, showcase authentic feedback, and strengthen trust throughout the shopping experience.'
Do you have any advice for other users or those looking to use it?
'For businesses considering Fera, our advice is simple: it's worth it. Customer reviews are one of the most powerful tools for building credibility and increasing buyer confidence, and Fera makes the process easy and effective.
The platform has helped us consistently collect and display authentic customer feedback while saving valuable time through automation. It's become an important part of our Shopify store and overall marketing strategy.'
