Business & Finance
Adorn Cosmetics Founder Sues Adobe After Website Upgrade Claims Cost Millions and 30% Sales Drop
Briony Kennedy, the founder of Melbourne‑based ethical beauty brand Adorn Cosmetics, is suing Adobe over a 2021 website upgrade that she says cost the company millions, increased debt and forced her to sell her family home. Kennedy, who started Adorn Cosmetics in 2008, built the brand into a successful make‑up and skincare business with an annual turnover of $6 million at its peak. In 2021 she moved the company’s website from a basic platform to Adobe’s Commerce Platform, hoping to expand its digital reach and increase sales. Kennedy says Adobe promised revenue growth of between 34 % and 94 %. She agreed to a contract that cost $15,000 per month. The upgrade, which was expected to take three months, reportedly took nine months to complete and was plagued by delays and high staff turnover at Adobe. Kennedy claims that essential features were not properly configured, that the project was “an absolute s***show”, and that the new website caused a 30 % drop in sales. She also alleges that she lost more than $1 million on Facebook and Instagram advertising campaigns that failed to drive traffic to the site. With the monthly platform costs continuing, Kennedy says the financial strain forced her to reduce her workforce from 15 employees to four and sell her family home. After abandoning Adobe, she rebuilt the company’s website using Shopify last year, but the business was already dealing with substantial debt. Following unsuccessful mediation talks, Kennedy has initiated legal action against Adobe, seeking compensation for the losses she claims ran into millions of dollars. Despite the setbacks, she reports a recent surge in orders and has decided to speak publicly to warn other small businesses about the risks of expensive technology upgrades.