• This checklist is designed to help you grow your e-commerce brand profitably from 6 to 7 figures.

• Think of every item as a growth lever that you can pull.

• Check all of the boxes/activities that your brand is already doing. Keep track of the rest, aim for 100% completion

• Success = Focusing on the right things, at the right time

Golden Level Growth Infrastructure Checklist for D2C & E-commerce brands

Growth Pillar 1: Acquisition

Your journey from six to seven figures starts here

Think of "Acquisition" as the ignition key to your growth engine. It's the critical phase where you attract, engage, and nurture your customers, ultimately driving your brand towards newfound heights of profitability.

Item 1: Acquire The Right Customers: 

It’s not just attracting any customers; it’s about attracting the right ones - the ones that are more likely to become your biggest spenders, the ones that will keep on purchasing again and again, the ones that will increase the lifetime value of your entire customer base, the ones that will their friends about your brand, the ones willing to write a 5 star customer review.

Growth Checklist:

• Identify Star / VIP customers (big spenders)

• Know where they are coming from (platforms / channels)

• Learn from them (what are they buying, why, when)

• Focus on acquiring new ones

Item 2: Know Your Customers:

Dive into the power of surveys to tap into your customers needs, pain points, and preferences. Mine gold from customer reviews, extracting valuable insights for when it’s time to create that new batch of high converting ads. Then refine every touch point along the customer journey to increase the lifetime value of your customers. Use tools like Lifetimely to keep track of all the important customer metrics

Growth Checklist

• Survey your customers

• Analyze customer reviews & gather insights

• Improve all touch points based on insights (emails, website, lps, ads)

Item 3: Know Your Content: 

Have a clear content direction, know what type of content converts and why. Test hooks, angles, images vs videos, user generated content, and see what works based on key metrics such as click-through rate, cost per acquisition, and return on ad spend. Plan for all your content needs at least 2 weeks ahead, keep on refreshing your ad creatives as often as you can (2 weeks is already a long time). Use ad spy tools like Foreplay to keep track of your competitors' ads.. 

Growth Checklist

• Have a clear content direction

• Know what and when to A/B test

• Have the capacity to create all of the necessary content pieces

• Know your competitors content strategy & keep an eye on them

Item 4: Acquisition Tactics: 

Break down your acquisition funnel in phases so you know which type of creative, hooks, and angles work at each phase. The type of content that you show to people who know nothing about your brand has to be different than the type of content that you use for retargeting campaigns.

Your campaign structure should be divided by funnel stage, and you should be testing different landing pages for each phase. If it get’s difficult to keep track of all your content assets visualize your funnel by using a tool like Figjam 

Growth Checklist

• Break down acquisition funnel by phases (before, during, after)

• Have different types of creative for each phase

• Have different types of campaigns for each phase

• Test different landing pages per phase

• Visualize your funnel

Item 5: Leverage Distribution: 

Discover how knowing the complementary products and services your customers use can unlock new avenues for growth (customer surveys are a great way to find out about this). List potential brand partnerships that can amplify your reach (complementary vs competing products). 

Harness your customer base for user-generated content (UGC), referrals, and valuable product reviews. (you can create UGC videos, gain new referrals, and gather more customer reviews by writing a few simple emails to your most valuable customers. 

Growth Checklist

• Know complimentary products/services your customers use

• List possible brand partnerships

• Leverage customer base for UGC, referrals, and product reviews

Growth Pillar 2: Average Order Value

When it comes to boosting your e-commerce brand from six to seven figures, one crucial metric to focus on is your Average Order Value (AOV). A higher AOV simply means more revenue per transaction.

Test price variations, understand your economies of scale, and introduce enticing tiered offers or premium products. Introduce product/service bundles, spread them throughout your website, and leverage them in email campaigns. 

Increase quantities per purchase and offer discounts to incentivize bulk buys. Integrate this approach into your website, product pages, cart, and email promotions.

Understand your VIP customers by knowing what they buy, why they buy it, and when they buy. Replicate their success and amplify their impact across emails, website content, landing pages, and ads.

Item 1: Pricing: 

In your journey to seven-figure success, pricing plays a pivotal role. Start by testing various price points, whether it's raising, lowering, or bundling shipping with prices. Understand your product costs at different scales. Then, consider introducing tiered offers or premium products to cater to diverse customer preferences. 

Growth Checklist

• Test changing prices (up, down, bundle shipping with increase in price)

• Know your economies of scale (product costs)

• Introduce tiered offers or a tiered / premium product

Item 2: Bundling:

Bundling is your AOV ally. Create enticing product/service bundles, feature them prominently on your website, and incorporate them into email marketing. Experiment with different bundle types to maximize sales.

Growth Checklist

• Introduce product/service bundles

• Make bundles available throughout website

• Make bundles available on email flows & campaigns

• Test different bundle types

Item 3: Quantities: 

Encourage customers to buy more by offering enticing incentives such as discounts, buy-one-get-one-free deals, free gifts, or exclusive benefits for larger purchases. Promote these offers prominently on your website, especially on product pages and in the shopping cart. 

Extend the message through email marketing to remind customers of the value they gain from increasing their order quantities.

Growth Checklist

• Incentivize the purchase of multiple items at once - (discounts, 2x1, free gift, benefits) - Add & save

• Promote this throughout website (especially product pages and cart)

• Promote on emails

Item 4: Star Customers: 

Understand why your top customers love your brand, find out about their specific pain points, find out what are the specific products they are buying (survey them, read their customer reviews). Then try to replicate their experience for new customers by offering the same products, showing the same landing pages, content, ads, and offers. 

Growth Checklist

• What are they buying, why, when

• Promote these products (emails, website, lps, ads)

• Replicate star customer experience (how did they become a star customer & why)

Growth Pillar 3: Retention

Customer retention isn't just a goal; it's the backbone of sustainable success. Good customer retention is crucial because it nurtures long-lasting relationships with your existing customers. By keeping them engaged, satisfied, and coming back for more, you tap into a reliable stream of revenue. 

Retained customers are more likely to become brand advocates, spreading positive word-of-mouth and attracting new business.

Item 1: Email + SMS:

Effective email and SMS strategies are the lifeblood of customer engagement and conversions. Ensure email flows span the entire customer journey, from discovery to checkout. Strategically position email collection popups on your homepage, product pages, and at checkout for an ever-growing contact list. 

Keep the engagement consistent with at least four monthly one-time email campaigns. These tactics fuel customer engagement and retention, driving your e-commerce brand's success.

Growth Checklist

• Have email flows set up throughout your customer journey

• Have email collection popup set up (home, pdp, checkout)

• Send at least 4 one time email campaigns per month

Item 2: Retargeting: 

Create funnel-focused retargeting campaigns that span both email and paid ads, ensuring they align with each stage of the customer journey. Craft creatives that resonate with your audience's needs and segment your audiences effectively. Additionally, visualize the entire customer journey to pinpoint opportunities for retargeting optimization.

Growth Checklist

• Funnel-focused retargeting campaigns throughout customer journey (email + paid ads)

• Funnel-focused creatives

• Funnel-focused audiences

• Visual map of full customer journey

Item 3: Off-Site: 

Craft funnel-focused retargeting campaigns that span both email and paid ads, aligning them with specific stages of the customer journey. Ensure your creatives, audiences, and efforts all revolve around funnel-focused strategies. 

Visualize the complete customer journey to optimize your retargeting initiatives.

Growth Checklist

• Use QR codes inside packages (promos, referrals, reviews, how-to videos, brand intro videos)

• Have flyers inside packages

• Have great packaging

Growth Pillar 4: Conversion Rate Optimization

To thrive in e-commerce, turning visitors into customers is paramount. That's where Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) comes in. This requires updating your website and product pages with specific items to increase your conversion rate. Introducing upsells, cross-sells, and making sure that you are preventing cart and checkout abandonment. 

Item 1: Website General: 

Start by defining your brand's unique appeal—why customers choose you over competitors. Offer guarantees like free shipping and easy returns. Provide diverse payment options, including "buy now, pay later" solutions. 

Set a minimum for free shipping and sprinkle your site with sections of social proof, featuring satisfied customers, endorsements, and even celebrity associations. Consider adding live chat for immediate customer support. These elements build trust and confidence, crucial for conversions and e-commerce success.

Growth Checklist

• Have a strong why / brand depth (why do customers buy from you and not your competitors?)

• Have a set of guarantees (free shipping, returns, others)

• Have various payments options (including buy now pay later)

• Have a minimum free shipping amount

• Have multiple sections with social proof (customers, as seen on, authority, celebrities) both videos and images

• Live chat (optional)

Item 2: Page Specific: 

On product pages, craft custom landing experiences (PDPs) enriched with upsell opportunities, integration options, customer reviews, video testimonials, and FAQs. Optimize the cart with a user-friendly slider and cross-selling features. 

Streamline the checkout process by testing the minimum information needed to complete a purchase, and fine-tune your email collection popups for improved conversions. 

Growth Checklist

• Product pages: Custom landing PDPs, upsell & product integrations, customer reviews, video reviews, faqs

• Cart (slider cart + cross-sell)

• Checkout (test min info required to make a purchase)Test changes/improvements to the email collection popup

Item 3: Cross-sell / Upsell:

Implement cross-selling offers in the cart section to entice customers with complementary products. On product pages, include upsell opportunities, encouraging customers to consider premium options. Extend these tactics through your customer journey via email flows.

By strategically offering cross-sell and upsell opportunities, you can significantly enhance your sales and revenue, all while enhancing the shopping experience for your customers.

Growth Checklist

• Include cross-sell offers (cart section)

• Include upsell offers (product pages)

• Include cross-sell & upsell offers in email flows throughout your customer journey

  
  
  

Item 4: Prevent Abandonment: 

Abandoned carts can be a significant hurdle in e-commerce. Start by identifying critical drop-off points in your sales funnel, breaking them down by source to pinpoint issues. Implement a cart abandonment email flow to reengage potential customers who didn't complete their purchase. 

For those who haven't made a purchase yet, set up a welcome email flow to nurture their interest. To further rekindle abandoned cart opportunities, initiate paid ads retargeting campaigns. 

Growth Checklist

• Identify critical drop-off points. Breakdown by source

• Set up cart abandonment email flow

• Set up welcome email flow for non buyers

• Set up abandonment paid ads retargeting campaigns

  
  

Growth Action Studio provides growth marketing as a service for D2C & E-Commerce brands to help them grow & scale profitably. 

Book Your Free Introductory Call. We’ll find out the best way to help your business grow. Plus we’ll identify 1-3 critical areas ripe for optimization, and chart the course for potential gains.