When we start working with a new ecommerce client, there’s usually a familiar pattern. They’re running ads, ticking boxes across a few channels, but struggling to scale or stabilise their revenue. Nine times out of ten, it’s because they’re missing one or more of the five fundamentals every D2C brand should have in place.

These aren’t just nice-to-haves. They’re the foundation for sustainable growth.

Let’s walk through each of them.

1. A Discovery-Driven Acquisition Channel (for Scale)

If you want to scale, you need to be discoverable. That means showing up where your audience spends their time – and showing up well. A discovery-driven acquisition channel is all about demand generation. You’re not waiting for people to search for your product – you’re actively putting it in front of them in the right context.

Typical examples? Meta Ads and TikTok Ads.

The trick is not just running ads but having a creative testing framework. You need to be able to consistently test new creative at scale. Think of it like fuelling a fire – the moment you stop testing, performance starts to drop.

And to support that, you need a steady pipeline of user-generated content. UGC drives performance in today’s ad platforms, but it’s not enough to get a handful of videos from influencers once a quarter. You need a system that brings in fresh creative assets based on your ad budget and how frequently you’re testing. This is what unlocks scale.

2. An Intent-Based Acquisition Channel (for Stability and ROI)

Discovery channels can get you volume, but without an intent-based channel, your acquisition efforts will always feel shaky. This is your performance safety net.

Google Ads and Bing Ads are the classic examples. You’re capturing users already searching for your product or a related category. These campaigns tend to be more stable, more measurable, and usually more profitable on a last-click basis.

They’re essential for stability and predictable ROI.

Even better, intent channels often give you insights that feed back into your creative strategy. What are people actually typing into search? That’s gold for ad copy, email subject lines, and product page messaging.

3. A Primary Retention Channel (for LTV)

Acquiring customers is one thing – keeping them is where the margins are made. Every brand needs a solid retention engine, and email remains the most powerful tool for driving customer lifetime value.

It’s direct, it’s owned, and it converts. But only if you’re using it properly.

That means segmentation, automations, and campaigns that actually add value. Not just discount blasts. Your email strategy should mirror your buyer journey and give people a reason to come back.

If your retention strategy isn’t driving at least 20-30% of your revenue, you’re leaving money on the table.

4. A Secondary Retention Channel (for Additional Touchpoints)

Once you’ve got your email setup running, it’s time to expand your reach with secondary channels.

This might be SMS, WhatsApp, or push notifications – depending on your market and audience. The goal isn’t to spam customers, it’s to be top of mind in the moments that matter. Used correctly, these channels offer additional, context-relevant touchpoints that keep customers engaged without overwhelming them.

And with the right tracking in place, they can be great tools for reactivating dormant customers or boosting AOV with timely upsells.

5. A Growth Marketing Experiment Process (for Continuous Improvement)

Every high-performing ecommerce brand I’ve worked with shares one thing in common: they treat their store like a living, breathing product. That means constant testing, learning, and improving.

You need a structured process for this.

Start with CRO (Conversion Rate Optimisation), and break it down by stage of the funnel: homepage, product page, cart, checkout. Look for friction points. Then layer in AOV (Average Order Value) optimisation – bundling, upsells, free shipping thresholds.

And don’t stop there. Run regular split tests across multiple channels to iterate on your key metrics. The best brands aren’t guessing – they’re experimenting.

Build a Culture of Data-Driven Collaboration

This is where most brands fall short, even if they’ve nailed the fundamentals above.

Growth is a team sport. That means breaking down silos and sharing data across departments.

Here’s what that might look like:

• The email team shares top-clicked products with the creative team to guide new ad concepts
• The social team shares hook rate data with copywriters to shape more effective messaging
• The performance team shares high-converting headlines with the email team to boost open rates
• The web team shares conversion rate by product with media buyers so they can allocate spend more efficiently
• The insights team shares best-performing days/times to launch campaigns more strategically

When this kind of collaboration happens, you create a culture of optimisation. Everyone is working toward the same KPIs, using the same data.

Map the Full Customer Journey

Even if you’re only managing one channel right now, zoom out.

From the first impression of your creative all the way through to checkout – and beyond – every touchpoint matters. Look at:

• Hook rate (how many stop to watch your ad)
• Watch time
• Click-through rate
• Email opt-in rate
• Product page views
• Add to cart rate
• Checkout completion rate

Once you’ve mapped the journey, you can start to optimise every step. This is the first thing I implement when consulting with any new brand. Why? Because it turns a reactive marketing team into a proactive growth engine.

Rounding it all up

If you’re running an ecommerce brand or managing one for a client, start here:

• Set up your foundational channels
• Create a testing framework for creative and CRO
• Build a culture of data sharing and cross-functional collaboration

Get these five fundamentals in place and you’ll be in the top 10% of D2C brands – not just surviving, but scaling with confidence.