eCommerce growth for DTC operators

Shopping feed quality, Performance Max with disciplined asset groups, lifecycle retention loops, attribution that survives iOS privacy. Built on $350M+ in managed spend across consumer brands, with Sandeep's $50M+ APAC/EMEA portfolio depth on the international side.

By John Williams · Updated 2026-05-20 · 9 min read
$350M+ managed spend
$50M+ Sandeep's prior portfolio
100+ int'l accounts
$5K minimum monthly

Who actually does the work

John Williams on paid + technical SEO, Kristy Morgan on lifecycle + brand consistency, Sandeep Muley on international portfolio orchestration + measurement. Read the full team page.

eCommerce performance work has gotten harder, not easier. iOS privacy broke last-click attribution. PMax made channel-level optimization a black box. Margin pressure means you can't outspend competitors anymore. The agencies that win the next decade are the ones with deep feed + measurement + retention craft. That's what we sell.

DTC + retail paid-media portfolio

Real client work across consumer-direct, mid-market retail, and enterprise OEM. The patterns shown below are documented strategies from each brand’s public marketing.

Portfolio · Paid media

Saatva — DTC mattresses

Direct-to-consumer luxury mattress. Long consideration window; value-based bidding tied to LTV; Performance Max with feed-only asset groups; Shop + retargeting layered.

saatva.com →
Portfolio · Paid media

W.F. Young / Absorbine — equine CPG

Direct-to-consumer + retail-driving CPG paid media. Shopping feed quality across vet + tack-shop channels; product-launch demand-gen; brand + category search across the Absorbine + Silver Honey lines.

absorbine.com →
Portfolio · Paid media

General Motors — automotive

Multi-rooftop OEM with national + dealer-network paid search across Chevy, Buick, GMC, Cadillac. Vehicle Listing Ads, Performance Max with feed-driven asset groups, MCC-level orchestration.

gm.com →
Portfolio · Paid media

Chevrolet — VLAs + dealer network

Vehicle Listing Ads + dealer-locator paid search across the Chevy lineup. Dynamic inventory feeds + dealer-specific landing pages + ZIP-level offer rotation.

chevrolet.com →
Portfolio · Paid media

Eventbrite — local events platform

Two-sided marketplace: organizer acquisition + attendee discovery. Branded + category search; PMax with feed-driven event listings; geo-tuned dayparting around event start times.

eventbrite.com →

The DTC framework

Free Buddy + Merchant Center audit

Buddy connects to your Google Ads + Merchant Center, grades feed quality (item-level disapprovals, attribute completeness, image specs), and identifies the structured-data gaps Shopify (or your platform) didn't fill. Free.

Feed quality lock-in

Title structure (brand + product + key attribute), high-quality images at the right aspect ratios, complete GTINs/MPNs/identifier attributes, accurate availability + price, structured product data on the PDP that Google can re-crawl. This is 30% of eCommerce paid performance.

PMax structure

Asset groups themed by intent (high-margin SKUs, new launches, evergreen, clearance) — not by category. Feed-only when product imagery is the strongest signal. Full asset groups when brand storytelling adds. Search themes used as audience signals, not as keyword targets.

Retention layer

Email + SMS lifecycle flows (welcome, abandonment, post-purchase, win-back). Segment-level paid retargeting (lapsed customer audiences vs new). The biggest near-term lift in most DTC accounts is retention, and it's the cheapest revenue you'll find.

Attribution that survives iOS

Server-side GA4 + GTM. Conversion API (Meta + Google) for first-party signal. Enhanced Conversions on the Google side. Looker Studio dashboards that show channel-level contribution, not just last-click ROAS.

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Frequently asked

Do you do Shopify-specific work?
Yes. Shopify is the most common DTC stack we see. We tune the Google Merchant Center feed export, fix the structured data the Shopify theme outputs (rarely complete out-of-the-box), and integrate with the conversion API for first-party data signal back to Google Ads.
What's your stance on Performance Max for eCommerce?
PMax is the default for eCommerce now. We use feed-only asset groups when product imagery is the strongest signal. We use full asset groups when there's brand storytelling worth feeding the bidder. We split asset groups by intent (high-margin SKUs, new launches, evergreen) — not by product category.
How do you measure eCommerce ROI?
Revenue, contribution margin, customer LTV. Not ROAS. ROAS is a useful proxy but it punishes new-customer acquisition. We bid on a target margin per conversion, not a target ROAS, when the data supports it.
Do you work on retention?
Yes. Email + SMS lifecycle flows, post-purchase journeys, win-back, segment-level paid retargeting. The biggest near-term lift in most DTC accounts is retention, not acquisition.
What about Buy On Google or Amazon?
Both have a place. Buy On Google is mostly a structured-data + feed problem. Amazon is its own discipline (sponsored products, sponsored brands, DSP). We can scope Amazon work but our primary expertise is on Google + Microsoft + Meta + LinkedIn.
Can you help with international expansion?
Yes. Sandeep ran international portfolios across APAC, EMEA, and the Middle East at his prior agency. International eCommerce is hreflang + currency + payment method + ad localization, not just translated copy.

Talk to a strategist

Tell us where you are. We respond within one business day with a written take. No demos, no slide decks, no pitch.

John, Kristy, or Sandeep will reply. One of the three of us will respond personally within 1 business day. No SDR queue.
We respond within 1 business day. No spam, ever. Read our privacy notice.
Paid Search → PMax + Shopping + Search work together. Same operator, integrated bidding. SEO → Product schema, faceted navigation, buying-guide content hubs. AI Marketing → Buddy generates creative variations, vision pre-flights catch disapprovals. Local Business → Local fulfillment + Buy On Google for AZ retailers.
AI disclosure: This page was drafted with AI assistance and edited by a human. Public-brand benchmarks (Nike, Reebok, Blue Nile) are cited as observable industry examples and do not imply a client relationship.

Free Merchant Center + Google Ads audit. No credit card.

Buddy grades feed quality, identifies structured-data gaps, and surfaces the PMax asset-group structure that's leaking margin. Same agent the team uses internally.

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