The Challenge
A well-established UK online retailer with a broad product catalogue and a global customer base was growing — but not as fast as it should have been. The marketing was ad hoc, the checkout experience was losing customers, and the website required constant maintenance that stretched the internal team beyond capacity.
There was also a retention gap: nearly all marketing effort went into acquiring new customers, with little structure to bring existing buyers back.
Our Approach
We embedded as an extension of the client’s team — handling everything from strategy and marketing to day-to-day developer tasks — so the client could focus on product and sourcing while we handled the digital infrastructure.
- Redesigned and rebuilt the full eCommerce platform on Shopify, improving site speed, mobile responsiveness, and overall UX across the product catalogue
- Streamlined the checkout process — fewer steps, multiple payment options, and clearer progress indicators — to reduce the drop-off that was costing the client sales every day
- Integrated upsell and cross-sell features throughout the product and cart pages, increasing average order value without increasing ad spend
- Added real-time inventory sync to prevent overselling and reduce customer service queries caused by stock mismatches
- Implemented a comprehensive SEO strategy targeting product-specific and category keywords — growing organic traffic significantly over 12 months without proportional ad spend increases
- Launched Google Shopping Ads and Meta Ads campaigns targeting sports enthusiasts by interest, behaviour, and past purchase intent
- Set up email marketing automations covering new arrivals, abandoned cart recovery, seasonal promotions, and post-purchase follow-ups
- Produced content marketing assets — buying guides, equipment comparisons, and coaching tips — to drive organic traffic and establish authority in the niche
- Provided a dedicated developer resource for daily operations — product uploads, website updates, bug fixes, and performance improvements — so internal teams weren't pulled into technical tasks
- Integrated backend tools to automate stock and order management, cutting manual processing time and reducing errors
- Set up automated sales and marketing reporting, giving leadership clear visibility into what was working without manual data pulls
- Implemented Google and Facebook remarketing campaigns to re-engage past visitors and past customers, with seasonal promotional pushes timed to demand peaks
The Results
Within 12 months, organic traffic had grown by 125% through SEO alone. The checkout redesign reduced cart abandonment by 29%, and upsell integration pushed average order value up by 38% — improvements that compounded across every new customer the marketing brought in.
The dedicated developer model turned out to be as valuable as the marketing itself. When technical tasks have a fast turnaround, you ship improvements faster — and in eCommerce, speed of iteration compounds directly into revenue.
"We had good products and loyal customers — we just didn't have the systems to grow. Having a dedicated team handling everything from the website to the marketing has been the difference."
— Head of eCommerce, UK Sports Equipment Retailer (name withheld under NDA)