Turn your Shopify store into an Ecommerce Growth Machine.

1. Can we actually afford to scale?

   Most brands answer this with ROAS, which tells you almost nothing. I start with contribution margin per order, then layer in how much a customer is worth over 6 and 12 months, so we know exactly how much you can pay to acquire someone and still make money.

   From there we model what happens to cash, stock and margin at 1.5x and 2x spend. If the numbers don’t hold, we fix the economics (pricing, AOV, repeat rate) before we turn up the ads.

2. What CAC should we tolerate?

   There’s no universal right number. Your CAC ceiling is whatever your first-order margin, plus the margin from repeat orders, can carry within the payback window your cash flow allows. I work it out from your real contribution margin, repeat rate and time between orders, not a benchmark someone quoted on LinkedIn.

   Then we set targets by channel and by product, because a customer whose first purchase is your hero product is often worth far more than one who came in on a discounted bundle. Your team gets a clear ceiling to bid against, and the reasoning behind it.

3. Which products deserve more attention and ad spend?

   Your bestsellers aren’t always your best products. I rank your range by margin after discounts, returns and fulfilment, and by what customers go on to buy next, so we can see which products bring in customers who come back.

   That usually reveals a small set of gateway products worth pushing hard in ads, email and on-site merchandising, and a tail that’s quietly costing you money. We then shift budget, homepage space and stock planning to match.

4. What channels do we focus in on, short and long term?

   Most brands spread themselves across too many channels at once. I look at where you are now (margin, cash, team and brand awareness) and pick the one or two channels that can pay back quickly, alongside the slower-building channels like SEO, content and partnerships that make growth cheaper over time.

   You get a sequenced plan rather than a wish list: what to do this quarter, what to start building now for next year, and what to deliberately ignore for the moment.

5. How do we grow lean AND deliver a better customer experience?

   Lean and great customer experience aren’t opposites. A lot of cost in an ecommerce business sits in things customers don’t value: excessive discounting, avoidable returns, where-is-my-order queries and tools nobody uses properly.

   I find those leaks and redirect the money into the parts customers actually notice, like clear product pages, honest delivery promises, helpful post-purchase emails and a reason to come back. The right technology and automation often do more here than extra headcount.

6. How do we get a clearer view of our unit economics?

   Many founders know revenue and ROAS to the penny but can’t say what they make on an average order. I build a simple unit economics model from your store, ad and finance data: product cost, shipping, fulfilment, payment fees, discounts, returns and marketing, per order and per customer.

   It becomes the single view your team uses to make decisions, set up in a profit tool or a straightforward dashboard, so you’re reviewing profit every week rather than discovering it at year end.

7. Who does the work? Me? Our team? An agency?

   The honest answer is usually a mix. I look at what your team can realistically own, where an agency or freelancer adds genuine specialist value, and where the founder’s time is best spent, and where it isn’t.

   I then help you brief, hire and manage those people, and set up reporting that keeps everyone accountable to the same numbers. As a fractional director I work alongside your team, so the knowledge stays in the business.

8. Which channels create profitable customers vs cheap first purchases?

   A channel that brings in cheap first orders can look brilliant in your dashboard and still lose you money if those customers never come back. I split your customers into groups by the channel they first came through and track what each group spends over time, not just on day one.

   That usually changes where the budget goes. Discount-led affiliates and some Meta audiences often look worse than they first appeared, while search, partnerships and email-led acquisition look better. You end up putting money into the channels that bring customers who keep buying.

9. What happens to cash flow if and when we scale?

   Growth eats cash. Ad spend goes out today, stock has to be bought months ahead, and much of the profit from a new customer arrives with their second and third orders. Plenty of good brands have grown themselves into a cash crunch.

   I model your cash position month by month at different growth rates, so you can see how much spend, stock and payback time you can afford, and when you’d need funding, better supplier terms or a stronger repeat rate to keep going.

10. What does “healthy growth” actually look like for our business model?

    Healthy growth for a subscription brand looks very different from a fashion label or a high-ticket, once-a-year purchase. I define it for your model: the margin, repeat rate, CAC payback and channel mix that mean each new customer makes the business stronger, not just bigger.

    We turn that into a handful of numbers your team reviews every week. When they’re on track, you can scale with confidence. When they slip, you know early, and you know which lever to pull.

From there, as an independent ecommerce consultant, I provide the recommendations and insights you need to better manage growth performance in-house. For 4 or 5 brands, I serve as their Fractional Ecommerce Director, helping their teams progress.