Zambezee
Zambezee is a premium women’s wear fashion boutique founded in 1997 by mother-daughter duo Lorelei Bedford and Natalie Hanley. Located on the Sunshine Coast, they curate the finest local and international designer jewellery and apparel in sizes 6-24 for contemporary and modern women. With nearly three decades of fashion expertise, Zambezee has built a loyal customer base, but they wanted to strengthen the store’s online presence.
To compete effectively against larger fashion retailers online, Zambezee partnered with LION Digital, leveraging a team of senior strategists and Google Ads specialists with decades of combined experience. They needed a strong marketing strategy to win in a challenging market of premium brands, and LION’s team delivered. We helped Zambezee maximise the effectiveness of their Google Ads investment and boost their online sales.
THE OPPORTUNITY
Zambezee faced increasing competition from major fashion brands with substantial marketing budgets. The competitive landscape further intensified when some of Zambezee’s partner brands launched direct-to-customer channels. As a result, the store needed to stand out in search results against both large retailers and brand-owned stores.
The existing Google Ads structure lacked the structure needed to compete effectively in this environment. They required a comprehensive restructure to align advertising efforts with customer demand and available budget.
WHAT WE DID
LION Digital’s team, led by Google Ads specialist Mark Johnson and senior strategist Simon Gellibrand who brings over 20 years of experience in digital marketing, designed a tailored solution for Zambezee. They conducted extensive keyword research to identify high-value search terms aligned with Zambezee’s premium positioning and analysed search behaviour to understand how customers discover designer jewellery and apparel online.
“Zambezee had a 200K-SKU catalogue and a loyal customer base, but needed to compete with much larger fashion retailers online,” says Mark Johnson, Google Ads Specialist at LION Digital. “By aligning user personas with high-intent searches, structuring campaigns by product category and brand, and matching spend to stock availability, we increased visibility and drove measurable sales growth.”
A clear account restructure also made seasonal budget shifts easy, such as pulling spend from winter jackets in summer. Many audited accounts still rely on a single Performance Max campaign pushing budget to thousands of the same products year-round, regardless of seasonality.
The team completely restructured the Google Ads account, organising campaigns by product category and brand. It’s essential for precise budget allocation and performance tracking across different segments. The goal was to capture high-intent shoppers searching for specific brands and product categories represented at Zambezee.
To better match customer search intent, we developed advanced ad creatives that reflect Zambezee’s boutique positioning and lead shoppers to relevant landing pages. Each campaign directed customers to curated product selections, creating a seamless journey from search to purchase.
We also reconsidered the budget planning framework. To ensure advertising spend is aligned with product availability, we synchronised our ad budget with Zambezee’s stock planning and inventory intake cycles. It allowed us to maximise conversion opportunities when new collections arrived.
RESULTS
LION Digital delivered strong, sustained performance throughout 2025.
Zambezee achieved 7.9x ROAS across the full year, with revenue growing 35% year over year. Average Order Value reached 3.2x, reflecting successful upselling strategies.
Our campaigns dominated search visibility. More than half the time when potential customers searched for relevant products, they saw a Zambezee ad. Our campaigns consistently appeared ahead of competitors, achieving a 45% outranking share and driving superior click-through rates.
Individual campaign performance exceeded expectations. The hero brand campaign delivered 9.3x ROAS, while the “All products” campaign achieved 9.6x ROAS. These results further prove the effectiveness of our segmented approach and targeted optimisation strategies.
8.9x
ROAS
35%
Revenue growth YoY
3.2x
Increase in AOV
By focusing on high-intent audiences and maintaining strong search visibility, LION Digital helped Zambezee achieve sustainable growth and protect its position in an increasingly competitive market. Ultimately, this case study is a good example of how a strategic campaign approach, aligned budget planning, and refined targeting can help boutique retailers successfully compete against larger companies.
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