Ecommerce and D2C brands · Retail
Stop paying more for the first order than the first order is worth.
The dashboard says 3.8x return on ad spend. The bank account says something else. Meta counts a view from four days ago and Google counts the same order again. Neither knows what the product cost to make, pick, pack and ship back when it came home in a returns bag.
Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.
In one paragraph
Ecommerce marketing is arithmetic before it is creative: what a customer costs to acquire, and what they are worth before the second order. Sales is the part most agencies skip, from abandoned checkouts and subscription cancellations to wholesale and corporate accounts. GullySales works on both, the acquisition arithmetic and the orders that stall after the cart.
Most brands do not have a traffic problem. They have a second-order problem. The first sale is bought at a loss on the understanding that the customer comes back, and then nothing is built to bring the customer back. Meanwhile Amazon takes a growing share of the revenue and keeps the customer's email address. So the brand buys more traffic, discounts harder, and wonders why a good month leaves nothing behind.
Last updated 5 Oct 2026.
How buyers decide
How ecommerce and D2C brands are chosen.
A first-time customer rarely goes looking for your brand. The shopper sees a video on Instagram or TikTok and does not buy. Two days later they search the brand name to check whether it is real, and read reviews on the product page and on Reddit. Then they look for the same product on Amazon, because delivery is free and returns are painless. If your listing there is worse than your site, or missing, you have paid for a sale someone else fulfilled.
What closes the order is boring and specific. The price with shipping shown before checkout. Whether the size guide is believable. How returns work. Whether a real person answers a question about a sensitive skin ingredient. For considered purchases such as furniture or a mattress, the gap between first visit and order runs into weeks, and email is what carries the customer across it.
The second purchase is decided differently again. It comes from a product that worked, a post-purchase message that arrived when the box was opened, and a reorder prompt timed to when the product actually runs out. Brands that treat the first order as the finish line buy the same customer twice. Wholesale buyers are a separate audience altogether, and they judge you on margin, minimum order and whether your brand sells through without a discount.
The problem
What usually goes wrong for ecommerce and D2C brands.
What owners tell us on the first call, in their words.
“The platforms report a profit and the accounts show a loss”
Meta and Google each claim the same order. Nobody has put the cost of goods, shipping, payment fees and returns against a cohort of customers to see what an order actually left behind.
“Every customer is a first-time customer”
The repeat rate is low and nobody knows the real figure. The email list is large and gets a campaign when someone remembers, with no flow running after a purchase.
“The ad account is starved of creative”
One video is working, it has been running for eleven weeks, and performance falls off every Friday. The founder is shooting the next one on a phone between other jobs.
“Amazon is most of the revenue and we own none of it”
The fees rise, a competitor has tacked on to the listing, and the brand cannot email a single one of those customers because it never had their address.
“Discounting is the only lever anyone pulls”
Sales slow, so a code goes out. Customers learn to wait for it, full-price orders shrink, and the margin that was meant to pay for acquisition has gone.
“Returns are eating the category nobody checks”
One size in one colour comes back again and again. It never shows in the ad report, so the brand keeps buying traffic for a product that loses money on arrival.
“The wholesale enquiries sit in an inbox”
A buyer from a regional chain asked for a line sheet in March. Nobody sent it, because the whole team was pointed at paid social.
What we do
What we do for ecommerce and D2C brands.
Everything included for ecommerce and D2C brands, and the result each part is there to produce.
The real number, per order and per cohort
Cost of goods, shipping, payment fees, returns and advertising set against orders by month of acquisition, so you can see what a customer is worth by day 90.
Result: Spending decisions are made on contribution, not on platform ROAS.
Flows built before any more campaigns
Welcome, abandoned checkout, browse abandonment, post-purchase, replenishment and winback written and set live in Klaviyo, each with its own offer logic.
Result: Revenue arrives from people who already know you, at no extra media cost.
A creative production line
A weekly batch of static and video concepts built from reviews, questions and objections, briefed and produced so the ad account never runs on one tired asset.
Result: The account has something new to test before the winner fatigues.
Product pages that answer the objection
Size guidance, ingredients, shipping cost, returns and the comparison a customer is silently making, written onto the page instead of buried in an FAQ tab.
Result: More of the traffic you already paid for turns into orders.
Amazon and marketplace housekeeping
Listings, images, backend keywords and sponsored ads kept current, with the brand registry and listing hijackers watched rather than discovered months later.
Result: The marketplace stops being a leak you cannot see.
Returns and discount discipline
A monthly look at returns by product, size and colour, and at how much of the month's revenue moved at a discount, with recommendations that sometimes mean dropping a line.
Result: Money stops going to products and codes that never paid.
Wholesale and corporate order follow-up
Line sheets prepared, retail and gifting enquiries answered the same day, buyer outreach on Faire and by email, and every account tracked to a reorder.
Result: A second revenue line grows without another dollar of ad spend.
A report against the baseline
Blended efficiency, contribution margin, repeat rate, flow revenue and wholesale orders, reported against the baseline recorded before we start.
Result: You can tell a good month from an expensive one.
How the result is measured
- Blended marketing efficiency against contribution margin
- Acquisition cost by channel, and first-order margin
- Repeat purchase rate within ninety days
- Revenue from flows against revenue from campaigns
- Abandoned checkouts recovered
- Wholesale and corporate accounts opened and reordering
Recorded as a baseline before work starts, so every later report has an honest comparison.
Every service, written for ecommerce and D2C brands
Each has its own page: what it involves for ecommerce and D2C brands, what you get, and what it is measured on.
- SEOOwn the search they run two days after they watch your ad.
- PPCBuy the click a full-price order can actually pay for.
- Lead generationAnswer the buyer who asked for a line sheet back in March.
- Digital marketingDecide the channel mix on what a customer is worth by day ninety.
- Reputation managementWhat they read before buying is a forum thread, not your testimonials.
- Local SEOSkip this unless you have a shop, a studio or stock on a shelf.
- BrandingYour brand is judged at thumbnail size, beside eight competitors.
- Social media marketingTreat the feed as where you find next month's winning ad.
- Content marketingThe writing that sells most sits on the product page, not the blog.
- Email marketingBuild the six flows before you send another campaign.
- Buyer personasKnow who buys once, who buys again, and who only waits for the sale.
- CRMKeep every customer, wholesale buyer and gifting enquiry in one place you control.
- Follow-up systemsChase the cart, the question and the reorder before the buyer moves on.
- WhatsApp marketingConfirm the order, answer the question and bring the buyer back on WhatsApp.
- WebsitesMake the product page answer every question before the buyer leaves for Amazon.
Worth a page and a campaign of their own
First-order contribution margin · Repeat purchase inside ninety days · Email and SMS flows rather than campaigns · Abandoned checkout and browse recovery · Subscription retention and cancellation saves · Amazon listing quality and sponsored ads · Google Shopping and Performance Max feeds · Creative volume for paid social · Product page and size guide conversion · Wholesale, bulk and corporate gifting orders
Priority campaigns
Campaigns for what ecommerce and D2C brands most want to sell.
Each one planned around when your buyers decide, and measured against the baseline.
Peak season planned backwards from margin
Black Friday and the December run built from what each product can afford to give away, with the inventory, the flows and the creative ready weeks ahead.
Result: The busiest month leaves money behind instead of just volume.
The second-order push
A sequence aimed at the window after the first delivery, offering the product that is actually bought next rather than a blanket discount on everything.
Result: The customer you bought at a loss finally becomes profitable.
Subscription save and win-back
A cancellation flow that offers a pause, a swap or a longer interval before it offers money off, plus an approach to subscribers who left three months ago.
Result: Fewer subscribers leave, and some of the ones who did come back.
Lapsed customer reactivation
A campaign to buyers who have not ordered in six or twelve months, split by what they bought, with a reason to return that is not another code.
Result: A dormant list produces orders instead of sitting there as a vanity number.
Wholesale and gifting season outreach
Outreach to independent retailers and corporate gifting buyers ahead of their buying season, with a line sheet, minimums and lead times ready to send.
Result: Bulk orders come in while the direct channel is quiet.
Beyond search
Where we reach buyers of ecommerce and D2C brands, beyond Google.
Search matters, but it is rarely the only way this industry's buyers find a supplier.
Independent retailers and buying platforms
We prepare the line sheet and work the buyer outreach on Faire and by direct email, then follow each account through to whether it reordered.
Corporate gifting and bulk buyers
Companies buying a hundred units for a conference behave nothing like a consumer. We build a separate enquiry route, a quote format and a follow-up routine for them.
Creators and affiliates
Outreach, briefs and tracking for creators who actually sell, with the FTC disclosure requirements written into the brief rather than left to the creator.
Marketplaces beyond Amazon
Walmart Marketplace, TikTok Shop and category marketplaces each have their own terms and their own economics. We test one at a time and report what it returned.
Customers as proof
A review and photo programme run after delivery, with consent recorded, feeding the product pages and the advertising with something real to show.
Who it is for
This is written for these ecommerce and D2C brands.
- Single-product and founder-led D2C brands
- Apparel, footwear and accessories brands
- Beauty, skincare and personal care brands
- Supplements, food and beverage brands
- Home goods, furniture and higher-value considered purchases
- Subscription and replenishment brands
- Brands selling on Amazon and their own Shopify store
- Wholesale-first brands building a direct channel
- Brands past their first million with no in-house marketing team
Not for
It is not the right fit if.
- You want a guaranteed Google ranking or a guaranteed number of leads. Nobody honest can promise either.
- You need enquiries by next week and have nobody to answer them.
- You want posts and reach reported, not enquiries and orders.
How it works
From your first message to the first report.
No open-ended retainer. Every step gives you something in writing.
First
Your brief
You tell us what you need in a few short steps: your business, what you want, where enquiries come from and how they are handled.
After the brief
A conversation and a written scope
We read it, then talk with whoever handles your enquiries. If you want our help, the scope, the fee and the reporting come in writing, and nothing starts before you have read them.
Before work starts
Baseline recorded
The numbers this work is meant to move, such as enquiries, quotations, orders, visits or renewals, written down so every later report has an honest comparison.
After the baseline
The first fix goes live
The fix we agreed to start with is put in place and measured against the baseline, whether that is a reply, a follow-up, a page, a listing or the handover between marketing and sales.
As agreed
Report against the baseline
What moved, what did not, and what changes next, in plain words. How often you get it is set in writing before work starts.
At renewal
Renew on the numbers
The term ends and you decide whether to continue from the results. The length is agreed in writing before anything starts.
How the work runs for ecommerce and D2C brands
- 1
Work out the actual numbers
The first conversation goes through cost of goods, shipping, returns and ad spend against orders, and tells you what your first order is really worth.
- 2
Stop the losses first
The flows that were never built, the product page that loses the order, and the line coming back in a returns bag. None of this needs more media spend.
- 3
Feed the channels properly
A steady supply of creative, a clean product feed, and marketplace listings that match the quality of your own site.
- 4
Open the second revenue line
Wholesale, bulk and gifting enquiries answered and chased, with line sheets and terms ready instead of being written each time from scratch.
- 5
Report on contribution, not on ROAS
A report on what each channel and cohort left behind after costs, set against the baseline recorded before the work began.
Why us
Why owners pick GullySales over an agency.
Marketing and sales, as one job
Most agencies stop at the enquiry. We also fix what happens after it: the reply, the follow-up, the quote and the CRM.
The person on the first call does the work
No account managers in between. You are never handed to someone you have not met.
A baseline before anything starts
Your numbers are written down on day one, so every later report compares against something honest.
The fee in writing, split three ways
Our time, your media spend and production on separate lines. You always see what goes to us.
No guarantees we cannot keep
The term is agreed in writing and never a default twelve months. We never promise a ranking or a lead count, because nobody controls those.
Hours that fit your day, agreed up front
Which hours we overlap with yours is settled before any work starts, so you know when a reply is coming and when it is not.
#257, 3rd floor, Sri Nanjundeshwara Complex, Nagarbhavi 8th Block, Outer Ring Road. How we work.
Engagement options
Ways to work with us.
Pick the size of commitment that fits. Every option starts with your brief and a conversation.
Option 1
The conversation on its own
A call after you send your brief. It says honestly whether you need outside help, and many fixes are ones your own team can make.
Option 2
One fix, scoped
Start with the fix that matters most, such as reply time or follow-up. The fee is in writing before anything starts.
Option 3
An ongoing programme
We run the work, report against the baseline, and you renew on the numbers. The term and the reporting are agreed in writing first.
Option 4
Guidance for your own team or agency
We plan, brief and check the work of your in-house team or current agency, instead of replacing them.
Your brief
Tell us what you need, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps about your business, what you want and who decides. Most questions are a tap, and you can skip any you would rather answer on the call.
FAQ
Questions ecommerce and D2C brands ask before they call.
Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.
Our agency reports 4x ROAS and we are still losing money. Which is right?
Who would actually run our ad accounts?
Should we be on Amazon at all?
Can you send marketing texts to our US customers?
What if our margins cannot support paid acquisition?
How is the fee set?
How long is the contract?
How soon will we see results?
Who will actually do the work?
What do you need from us?
Notes for owners
Read more about ecommerce and D2C brands.
- How ecommerce businesses can encourage repeat purchasesThe first order is the start. Post-purchase messages, reorder reminders, honest review requests and a clear returns policy bring customers back, and a cohort sheet tells you if it works.
- How to advertise to Gen ZThey are not a taste or a personality. What they share is a way of finding things: search inside the app, check the comments, screenshot it to a friend, and never make a phone call.
- How to promote a new productThree jobs in order: awareness among people who already buy the category, a cheap way to try it once, and the shelf where they look actually having stock. Launch small enough to learn.
- How to build brand awarenessAwareness is repetition in the places your buyers already are. Measuring it needs a baseline, a separate number per medium and a question asked at the counter.
- How to launch a new brandA launch is a sequence, not an event. Decide who it is for and what it replaces, clear the name legally, then build the identity. Media comes last.
Part of Retail. See the other industries in the sector.
Selling a particular product? The e-commerce section has a page for every product category and type of product, from clothing and jewellery to industrial supplies and online courses.
Your next practical step
Tell us what you are trying to grow, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps, mostly taps. Skip anything you would rather answer on the call.