- INSO worked on the Shopify store of SkinShark (theskinshark.com.au), an Australian skincare brand, starting from a theme built by another company — the goal was to fix issues and improve the conversion rate.
- The work ran in two phases: first improving the inherited theme (appearance fixes, more customization options), then recommending and executing a switch to a fast, maintainable theme with SkinShark’s branding seamlessly integrated.
- The portfolio credit reports two outcomes from the theme switch: lower development costs and a 96% increase in conversion rate — both are self-reported (INSO’s own portfolio text, not independently verified), and this page labels them as such.
- Listed skills include Shopify, Liquid, Klaviyo, Shopify SEO, and Shopify Templates — theme-layer engineering plus the marketing and search stack around it.
01 Introduction
Most Shopify engagements don't start from a blank theme — they start from someone else's. INSO's work for Australian skincare brand SkinShark began exactly there: an existing theme built by another company, a brief to fix its issues and improve the conversion rate, and a decision waiting at the end of it — keep patching, or move to something maintainable. This case study is sourced from the public, client-named portfolio credit for that work, published on the Upwork profile of INSO's engineering lead.
One thing to say up front, because this page treats sourcing as part of the deliverable: the credit reports a 96% increase in conversion rate from the theme switch. That number is self-reported — it appears in INSO's own portfolio text, not in a client-authored review — and it is labeled that way everywhere on this page.
02 The client
SkinShark (theskinshark.com.au) is an Australian skincare brand running on Shopify. The engagement's stated goal was direct: work on the existing theme — made by another company — fix issues, and improve the conversion rate.
03 Phase 1: fix the inherited theme
The credit describes the first phase as triage and improvement of what was already there:
- Identify the crucial areas — an audit of where the inherited theme most needed improvement.
- Improve the theme's appearance — visual fixes to the storefront as shoppers see it.
- Add more customization options — giving the SkinShark team more control over the theme without code changes.
04 Phase 2: switch themes
After those improvements landed, INSO's recommendation — per the credit — was to switch to a fast and maintainable theme while seamlessly integrating the SkinShark branding. That ordering matters: the recommendation to replatform came after working inside the inherited theme, not instead of it, so it was grounded in direct knowledge of what continuing to patch would cost.
The credit's listed skills include Shopify, Liquid, Shopify Templates, Klaviyo, and Shopify SEO — theme-layer engineering plus the marketing and search stack a storefront migration has to preserve.
05 The self-reported outcome
The credit attributes two results to the theme-switch decision: it "not only lowered the client's development costs but also resulted in an impressive 96% increase in the conversion rate."
The 96% figure is self-published — it comes from INSO's own portfolio text, not from a client-authored review or an independent measurement, and the credit states no baseline conversion rate and no measurement window. INSO's Goodfair case study is the one built on independently verified third-party sources; this page reports what the public record for SkinShark states, labeled for exactly what it is.
06 The public record
Everything on this page traces to a single public source: the client-named portfolio credit "Shopify Store for SkinShark Australia" (published May 31, 2023) on the Upwork profile of INSO's engineering lead, Oleksandr (Alex) Mashkovtsev, at upwork.com/freelancers/alexmv (checked August 31, 2026).
| Detail | Value | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Portfolio credit | Shopify Store for SkinShark Australia (published May 31, 2023) | Public, client-named |
| Client | SkinShark (theskinshark.com.au) | Named in the credit |
| Starting point | Existing theme made by another company; brief: fix issues, improve conversion rate | Stated in the credit |
| Phase 1 | Identified crucial areas; improved theme appearance; added customization options | Stated in the credit |
| Phase 2 | Recommended and executed switch to a fast, maintainable theme with SkinShark branding integrated | Stated in the credit |
| Reported outcomes | Lower development costs; 96% increase in conversion rate | Self-reported (INSO's own portfolio text; no baseline or window stated) |
| Listed skills include | Shopify, Liquid, Klaviyo, Shopify SEO, Shopify Templates, HTML | Stated in the credit |
The portfolio credit states no engagement dates beyond its own publication date, no hours, no fees, and no team size — so this page claims none. Upwork's public data also does not state which contract this project belongs to, so this page draws no connection between this credit and any contract record.
07 Conclusion
The SkinShark engagement is the "inherited theme" story most merchants eventually live through, documented in public: improve what another team built, learn its limits firsthand, then make the case for a maintainable base and execute the move without losing the brand. The outcome the credit reports — cheaper development and a 96% conversion lift, self-reported — is the argument for making that call deliberately rather than patching forever.
For engagements documented through independently verified third-party sources, see the Goodfair case study; for another client-named credit with the same sourcing discipline as this page, see Andcopenhagen.
Running on a theme someone else built? Tell us where it hurts.
07 Frequently asked questions
- What did INSO do for SkinShark Australia?
- Per the public portfolio credit: INSO took over an existing Shopify theme made by another company with the goal of fixing issues and improving the conversion rate. The team identified the crucial areas needing improvement, improved the theme’s appearance, and added more customization options — then recommended switching to a fast and maintainable theme while seamlessly integrating the SkinShark branding, and executed that switch.
- Did the work actually improve conversion?
- The portfolio credit reports that the theme-switch decision "not only lowered the client’s development costs but also resulted in an impressive 96% increase in the conversion rate." That figure is self-reported — it comes from INSO’s own portfolio text, not from a client-authored review or a third-party verification — and the credit states no baseline or measurement window, so this page presents it as a self-reported claim, not a verified metric.
- Who is SkinShark?
- SkinShark (theskinshark.com.au) is an Australian skincare brand. Its store runs on Shopify.
- Why switch themes instead of continuing to patch the old one?
- The credit describes the sequence: INSO first improved the inherited theme, then recommended the switch to a fast and maintainable theme. As general context about this class of work (not a claim specific to this engagement): a theme another team built often carries accumulated workarounds that make every future change slower, so replatforming onto a maintainable base is frequently the cheaper path over time — which matches the credit’s claim that the switch lowered development costs.
- Where does this information come from?
- One public source: the client-named portfolio credit "Shopify Store for SkinShark Australia" (published May 31, 2023) on the Upwork profile of INSO’s engineering lead, Oleksandr (Alex) Mashkovtsev (upwork.com/freelancers/alexmv), checked August 31, 2026. It names the client, the goal, the two phases of work, the skills, and the self-reported outcomes — and this page states nothing beyond it.