# D2C and ecommerce: Grow on contribution margin, not on platform ROAS.

Meta says 4x, the bank account disagrees. A third of COD orders come back. WISMO is half the inbox. We run acquisition on blended numbers, build the retention flows, cut RTO and take support and ops off the founders.

For: D2C and ecommerce brands.

Works with: Shopify, Klaviyo, Meta, Google Ads, Gorgias, Shiprocket, Razorpay, Amazon.

## Heard in the brand's Slack this week

Growing a brand means running a media buyer, a CRM team, a support desk and a warehouse at once.

> "ROAS looks great in Ads Manager. The bank account disagrees." (Founder, month end)

> "Thirty percent of COD orders came back RTO last month." (Ops lead)

> "Where is my order? Half the inbox, every day." (Support)

> "The creative that worked in March is dead." (Performance marketer)

> "Shopify says 40 in stock. Amazon sold 52." (Inventory, panicking)

> "We launch Friday. The PDPs aren't written." (Brand manager)

## The order journey, ad to second order

Where margin leaks between the first click and the repeat purchase, and what we change.

### 1. Discover

- **Today:** Spend is split across Meta and Google, optimised to each platform's ROAS. Creative fatigue shows up as a bad week.
- **With us:** Budget set on MER and new-customer CAC, a creative pipeline that ships new angles weekly, and influencer seeding that's tracked.
- **Tools:** Meta, Google Ads, TikTok, Google Merchant Center
- **We track:** MER and new-customer CAC

### 2. Visit

- **Today:** PDPs carry a line of copy and three photos. The site is slow on mobile and nobody's sure why conversion dipped.
- **With us:** PDPs that answer the questions behind returns, a faster storefront, and CRO tests that run continuously with clear results.
- **Tools:** Shopify, Google Analytics, Microsoft Clarity
- **We track:** Conversion rate

### 3. Buy

- **Today:** Carts are abandoned, COD is the default and fake or impulse orders go straight to the warehouse.
- **With us:** Abandoned cart and browse flows, prepaid nudges, and COD orders confirmed by WhatsApp before they ship.
- **Tools:** Klaviyo, GoKwik, Razorpay, WhatsApp
- **We track:** Prepaid share and cart recovery

### 4. Deliver

- **Today:** NDRs pile up in the courier panel, RTOs eat the margin and inventory drifts between Shopify and marketplaces.
- **With us:** NDRs worked daily with the customer, couriers chosen by pincode performance, and stock synced across every channel.
- **Tools:** Shiprocket, Delhivery, Unicommerce, Amazon
- **We track:** RTO rate

### 5. Support

- **Today:** WISMO, returns and exchanges arrive by email, Instagram and WhatsApp, answered when someone gets to them.
- **With us:** Order status answered automatically, returns and exchanges handled by a support team in one helpdesk, with refunds that don't need a founder.
- **Tools:** Gorgias, Zendesk, WhatsApp, Instagram
- **We track:** First response time and tickets per order

### 6. Repeat

- **Today:** Email is a weekly discount blast. Subscriptions are an idea for next quarter.
- **With us:** Post-purchase, replenishment, winback and VIP flows in Klaviyo, subscriptions where the product suits it, and cohorts reported monthly.
- **Tools:** Klaviyo, Recharge, Judge.me
- **We track:** Repeat purchase rate and 90-day LTV

## What we take on for brands

### Performance marketing on MER

Meta, Google Shopping and Performance Max run against blended numbers and contribution margin, with a weekly creative pipeline behind them.

- Meta and Google, run together
- Weekly creative testing
- Budget by new-customer CAC

### A store that converts

Shopify builds and redesigns, PDPs that answer the real questions, faster pages and a CRO roadmap with tests that actually conclude.

- Shopify and headless builds
- PDP and landing page copy
- Speed and CRO

### Retention flows

Klaviyo and WhatsApp flows for welcome, abandoned cart, post-purchase, replenishment and winback, built around your margins and cohorts.

- Lifecycle flows and segments
- SMS and WhatsApp
- Subscriptions and loyalty

### Support and ops in India

A team for WISMO, returns, exchanges, NDRs and marketplace listings, working in your helpdesk and courier panels seven days a week.

- Helpdesk and social DMs
- NDR and RTO calling
- Catalogue and marketplace upkeep

### Systems behind the store

Inventory synced across Shopify and marketplaces, orders flowing to your ERP or Tally, and a P&L view by SKU and channel.

- Inventory and order sync
- ERP and accounting links
- SKU and channel margin dashboards

### A brand that earns repeat

Identity, packaging, unboxing and social that make people remember you after the first order, and look forward to the second.

- Identity and packaging
- Launch and drop campaigns
- Social and UGC

## We already speak D2C.

Your team won't need to explain MER, NDR or a winback flow.

MER - Blended ROAS - CAC payback - Contribution margin - AOV - LTV - Cohorts - Creative fatigue - Advantage+ - Performance Max - PDPs - CRO - Abandoned cart - COD - RTO - NDR - WISMO - Winback flows - Subscriptions - BFCM and sale days

## Built around the systems you run

- **Storefront:** Shopify, WooCommerce, GoKwik, Shopflo
- **Acquisition:** Meta, Google Ads, TikTok, Google Merchant Center
- **Retention:** Klaviyo, WhatsApp, Recharge, Judge.me
- **Support:** Gorgias, Zendesk, Instagram
- **Shipping and inventory:** Shiprocket, Delhivery, Blue Dart, Unicommerce, EasyEcom
- **Marketplaces and money:** Amazon, Flipkart, Nykaa, Razorpay, TallyPrime

## The numbers we'd move together

- **MER.** Total revenue over total marketing spend. The number platform dashboards can't inflate.
- **New-customer CAC.** What it costs to win a first-time buyer, and how many months until they pay it back.
- **Contribution margin.** What's left per order after product, shipping, payment fees, returns and ads.
- **RTO rate.** Orders shipped that come back undelivered, by pincode, courier and payment method.
- **Repeat purchase rate.** Customers who order again within 90 days, by cohort and first product.
- **Tickets per order.** Support load per order, which falls as WISMO is automated and PDPs improve.

## What changes in the first quarter

| Today | With us |
| --- | --- |
| Budgets set on platform ROAS | Budgets set on MER and new-customer CAC |
| COD orders ship unchecked | COD orders confirmed before dispatch |
| WISMO answered by hand | Order status answered automatically |
| Weekly discount email | Lifecycle flows by cohort |
| Stock checked across tabs | Inventory synced across channels |

## Outcomes we deliver for brands

- [Retention and repeat](https://legendarygrowthsolutions.com/solutions/retention): Flows and subscriptions that make the second order happen.
- [Customer support](https://legendarygrowthsolutions.com/solutions/customer-support): WISMO, returns and NDRs handled seven days a week.
- [Reporting and dashboards](https://legendarygrowthsolutions.com/solutions/reporting): Contribution margin by SKU and channel, every morning.

> **Start with a store audit.** We read your ad accounts, Shopify, Klaviyo and courier data and show you where margin is leaking, ranked by what it's worth.

## Questions

### Do you only work with Shopify brands?

Shopify is the most common, but we also work with WooCommerce, headless stores and brands that sell mainly on Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra or Nykaa.

### How do you measure ad performance?

On MER, new-customer CAC and contribution margin, with platform ROAS as a signal rather than the goal. You see the same numbers we do every week.

### Can you really bring RTO down?

Usually, yes: confirming COD orders before dispatch, nudging to prepaid, working NDRs the same day and choosing couriers by pincode performance all add up.

### Do you run support seven days a week?

Yes. The support team works in your helpdesk, courier panels and social inboxes on a rota that covers weekends and sale days.

### We already have an agency for ads. Can you take on the rest?

Of course. Many brands start with retention, support or ops, and keep their ad agency. We share numbers with them so everyone works from the same dashboard.

## Other industries we work in

- [Insurance](https://legendarygrowthsolutions.com/industries/insurance)
- [FinTech and wealth](https://legendarygrowthsolutions.com/industries/fintech)
- [Legal](https://legendarygrowthsolutions.com/industries/legal)
- [Cannabis retail](https://legendarygrowthsolutions.com/industries/cannabis)
- [Beauty and wellness](https://legendarygrowthsolutions.com/industries/beauty-wellness)

[Book a store audit](https://legendarygrowthsolutions.com/contact?interest=growth-audit&industry=d2c) or email hello@legendarygrowthsolutions.com. Markdown twin of https://legendarygrowthsolutions.com/industries/d2c.