A digital strategy that's music to stakeholders ears - D'Addario transformed their digital presence by focusing on customer experiences and long-term loyalty.
D’Addario is a globally recognized manufacturer of musical accessories, including strings, reeds, drumheads, and instrument care products. Founded in New York with a rich family history in string-making dating back to the 1600s in Italy, D’Addario has grown into one of the most respected names in the music industry, known for innovation, quality, and craftsmanship. Beyond product excellence, the company has been a pioneer in digital transformation within the manufacturing space. As one of the first in its industry to embrace direct-to-consumer (D2C) e-commerce, D’Addario has set a benchmark for how traditional B2B companies can evolve in a digital-first world. D'Addario prides themselves on personalizing customer experiences at scale, serving global markets, and introducing high-demand custom products. D’Addario’s digital journey is influential to how recognized brands can grow both B2B and B2C global sales using digital.
D’Addario, a leading manufacturer of musical accessories, needed to scale its digital commerce strategy to support both B2B and D2C sales. Their legacy e-commerce system was homegrown, lacked multilingual capabilities, and was inefficient in managing global transactions. As the company expanded into European markets, they needed a robust digital commerce platform that could handle multi-currency, multi-language transactions while also supporting a seamless B2B experience for retailers, distributors, and affiliates. Additionally, as the company sought to grow its direct-to-consumer (D2C) channel, they needed a platform that could provide data-driven insights, personalized shopping experiences, and streamlined promotional capabilities.
In an era where customer expectations for digital experiences are rapidly increasing, D’Addario recognized that a modernized approach to e-commerce was necessary to remain competitive. By addressing these challenges head-on, D’Addario positioned itself as a forward-thinking leader in digital commerce.
D’Addario selected Optimizely as their digital commerce platform in 2016 to modernize online sales, but also to support their global strategy of D2C selling. The decision was driven by the platform’s ability to support:
Unified content and commerce: Combining CMS and commerce functionality in one system to allow for seamless content updates and promotions.
Multi-currency & multi-language capabilities: Essential for expansion into European markets.
Flexible B2B & D2C support: A single platform to serve both their Inner Circle B2B portal and growing D2C website.
Data & experimentation: With recent implementations of Optimizely Data Platform (ODP) and Web Experimentation, D’Addario is now focused on optimizing conversions through A/B testing and personalized experiences.
Operational efficiency: Self-service capabilities for both internal teams and B2B buyers, reducing the need for extensive customer service support.
As digital commerce continues to shift toward AI-driven personalization and real-time data insights, D’Addario’s investment in experimentation and data analysis helps catapult them to category leaders. Optimizely’s ability to provide automated segmentation ensures that D’Addario can deliver highly relevant content to customers at every stage of their buying journey. This approach helps them act on first-party data and reduce their dependence on third-party data sources to enable effective marketing.
Danielle Mayo
Global Director of Digital Platforms and Consumer Experience, D'Addario
D’Addario has seen exceptional results by partnering with Optimizely for end-to-end digital commerce transformation.
10x Growth in total online sales: From 2019 to 2024
Scalability in global markets: Successfully launched multiple European country sites without major development overhauls.
B2B self-service expansion: Increased adoption of Inner Circle by retailers, freeing up sales teams to focus on strategic up-sell opportunities.
Operational efficiency: No significant increase in customer service staffing despite rapid D2C growth.
Most importantly, the combination of CMS and Commerce through one platform has helped D’Addario usher in agile e-commerce development to deliver site updates as quickly as customers require. D’Addario’s ability to scale digital operations without adding significant headcount enables bottom line ROI growth. As more brands prioritize self-service portals and automated workflows, D’Addario’s early investment in serving B2B and B2C serves as a benchmark for other manufacturers looking to modernize their operations.
When speaking about operational gains, Danielle added, “We’ve been able to scale our e-commerce operations without adding unnecessary overhead. The ability to create promotions, manage pricing, and experiment with new features through Optimizely has been a game changer.”
Enhanced loyalty program: Over 500,000 members, seamlessly integrated across all sales channels.
Experimentation & personalization: Ongoing A/B testing to improve conversion rates and customer journey optimization.
Optimized checkout experience: Streamlined with saved credit cards, additional payment methods, and frictionless purchasing.
With customer expectations evolving rapidly, manufacturers must prioritize hyper-personalized experiences to drive engagement and retention. D’Addario’s experimentation strategy leverages AI-powered insights to test and optimize elements like pricing, promotions, and on-site interactions. As digital commerce moves toward individualized shopping experiences, this data-driven approach positions D’Addario at the forefront of the industry. By focusing on personalization, they can build deeper connections with their customers while improving long-term brand loyalty.
Danielle Mayo
Global Director of Digital Platforms and Consumer Experience, D'Addario
Lastly, D’Addario found Optimizely’s customer support model uniquely beneficial to their growth.
Ashlyn Fulton, Senior Digital Content Manager at D’Addario, shared this about experimentation with Optimizely: “The onboarding for experimentation has been great. They’ve given us a clear timeline, set up meetings, and provided both technical and strategic onboarding. It makes the process so much smoother.”
Danielle emphasized the importance of Optimizely’s accessibility: “I want to be self-sufficient. Now, Optimizely makes it possible. I don’t feel like I must wait days for a simple answer—I know exactly who to go to.”
Danielle added: “At Opticon, I saw how everything connects. It’s no longer a bunch of disjointed tools—we can see how our strategies align across the Optimizely One platform. That level of clarity is invaluable.”
As demand for real-time customer support and proactive issue resolution grows, D’Addario’s partnership with Optimizely reflects a broader shift toward highly responsive and accessible vendor relationships. By ensuring their team can receive immediate and expert guidance, they remain agile, productive, and growth-oriented.
Major platform upgrade: Moving to the latest version CMS 12 and Commerce 14 enables access to new features that can increase sales.
Expansion into custom products: Launching the guitar accessory “Custom Strings” as a new D2C offering (an output of increased capacity for product development)
Deeper use of AI & data: Leveraging ODP for advanced segmentation and customer engagement automation.
Checkout & UI redesign: Enhancing the user experience through experimentation-driven improvements of navigation and product detail pages.
Danielle Mayo
Global Director of Digital Platforms and Consumer Experience, D'Addario
D’Addario’s partnership with Optimizely has enabled them to evolve from a fragmented e-commerce operation to a scalable, data-driven, and customer-centric digital commerce powerhouse. Their ability to rapidly expand into new markets, drive significant D2C growth, and optimize the online shopping experience through personalization and experimentation positions them as a leader in digital commerce for the music industry.
As digital commerce becomes increasingly AI-driven, D’Addario’s proactive investment in experimentation, data, and omnichannel engagement reinforces their leadership in the space. By leveraging advanced segmentation, real-time personalization, and a global strategy, they are setting new industry standards for what a manufacturer’s e-commerce experience should look like.
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