Audit the numbers
We work out your real profit per order and the most each new customer can cost you.
Strategy
Growth strategy and market research for ecommerce brands
We act as your marketing director. We audit your numbers, talk to your customers and write a plan that says what to spend on each channel, what to sell and when. Anthony Stratton leads it himself.
The problem we fix
Most brands have suppliers for each channel. Nobody owns the plan.
Each agency reports on its own channel. The founder is left to decide where the next pound goes, often without the numbers to do it. Here is the number most brands are missing (example, made up):
| One order | Amount |
|---|---|
| Order value | £60 |
| Product and delivery | £30 |
| Most a new customer can cost | £30 |
| Meta: cost per new customer | £24 |
| Google: cost per new customer | £38 |
Meta wins a new customer for £24, under the £30 limit. Google pays £38, so each first order loses £8. The next pound goes to Meta. We set the limit from your own numbers, repeat orders included.
How we do it
What we do, step by step.
The details change for every brand. These steps do not.
Talk to your customers
We run surveys and interviews to learn why people buy, why they do not, and the words they use.
Write a 12-month plan
One plan covers each channel, the monthly budget, the sales calendar and stock.
Run it every week
We set the tests, check the results and move budget to what is working.
Case studies
Brands we have done this for.
Each story shows the numbers before and after we started.
Bier Company
£9MRevenue from £2.6M of ad spend
A craft beer gift and subscription brand. We cut Christmas ad spend, turned a £265k Q4 loss into a £507k profit and helped prepare the business for its sale.
Payoneer
274Survey responses, plus 30 interviews
A global payments company. We ran research across North America, Israel and Asia Pacific, with 30 interviews and 274 survey responses, to rank what wins new sellers and marketplace partners.
Village Enterprise
+70%Online donations, year on year
A US charity ending extreme poverty in rural East Africa. A growth plan, better sign-up offers and a small ad budget raised online donations by about 70% year on year.
Your industry
Growth strategy by industry.
Margins, buying habits and seasons differ by industry, so the plan does too.
Why one team helps
A plan only works if someone runs it.
We do not hand over a document and leave. The same team writes the plan and runs the ads, emails and website work that follow it.
See how we workFAQ
Common questions.
What is a fractional marketing director?
A senior marketing lead who works for you part-time. You get the experience of a marketing director without the cost of hiring one full-time.
What research do you do?
Customer surveys, customer interviews, competitor reviews and a look at your reviews and support tickets. We use what we learn to write ads, emails and website copy.
Do I need to use your other services?
No. Some brands take the plan and run it with their own team. Most ask us to run some or all of it.
Who does the work?
Anthony Stratton leads every strategy himself, with channel specialists alongside him.
Guides
Read more on this.
Longer guides on this topic, written by Anthony.
Strategy
The hidden cost of managing five marketing suppliers yourself
Each specialist is right about their own channel. None of them is responsible for whether the business grows. That job falls on the founder, and it is the most expensive cost nobody invoices.
Read it StrategyHow to split your ecommerce marketing budget across channels
Set your total marketing budget from your profit after the costs of each sale, then split it between Meta, Google, email, creative and tests. A worked example and a calculator.
Read it StrategyWhy ecommerce brands get stuck at £2M a year, and how to grow past it
A £28 cost per sale that became £42 as the budget tripled. Why brands stop growing at £2M a year, and the 5 changes that start growth again.
Read it
Want help with Growth strategy?
Tell us about your brand when you book. Anthony reads it before the call, so you start with your numbers, not introductions.
- No sales pitch
- No obligation
- You own every account