Welcome Back to The Ecom Edge!
Ep 6: The Retention Issue: Hot Dogs, Human Moments & High-Tech Moves

👋 Hey Friend,

If you’ve been feeling like Q2 showed up and immediately tossed you into a blender of broken flows, soaring CAC, and Slack pings labeled “URGENT”—welcome. You’re not alone. But good news: this issue is here to ground you.

Because when everything’s changing (again), what actually works hasn’t.

👉 The brands thriving right now aren’t chasing every shiny object. They’re doubling down on what matters most: making people feel seen, valued, and excited to come back.

This issue is packed with practical tactics and a little inspiration to help you do exactly that.

Let’s get into it. 🚀

The brands winning in 2025? They’re the ones that are memorable.

Today we’re unpacking:

• Why retention is your most underutilized superpower

• A hot dog story that can change everything (yes, really)

• 8 ways to make customers feel seen, known & loved

• Trending 3D & AR

Let’s dig in. 🍴

🔁 Retention Is the New Acquisition
(Unless Your Site Delivers)

With CAC rising and pixels crumbling, your next growth lever isn’t in cold traffic—it’s in the customers you already have.

Getting someone to buy once? That’s expensive.
Getting them to buy again? That’s profitable.

But here’s the real unlock: retention isn’t just about emails and discounts—it’s about how your customer feels after they buy.

If you're not:

• Celebrating repeat customers

• Customizing the post-purchase experience

• Creating moments that feel personal and thoughtful

…then you’re leaving money (and loyalty) on the table.

📊 77% of consumers say the experience a brand provides is just as important as the product itself. - Salesforce

🧠 7 Retention Plays You Can Run Without a Dev (or Fancy Tools)

Retention isn’t about complicated tech stacks—it’s about showing up consistently, personally, and meaningfully.

Here’s how any brand can start today:

• ✅ 1. Say Their Name in Email & SMS
  Use simple merge tags in Klaviyo or Attentive to greet customers by name.
  Examples:
  

  • “Hey , we’ve got something new for you.”

  • “, your favorites just restocked.”
    
    

  🧠 Why it works: Personalized messages get opened and clicked more. People like seeing their own name—it’s science.
  
  

• ✅ 2. Show Love for Repeat Purchasers
  In your order confirmation emails or flows, include a line like:
  
  “This is your 3rd order—thank you for being part of our journey.” You can create a simple Klaviyo flow split by # of orders, or just write multiple blocks for 1st-time vs. repeat customers.
  
  

  🎁 Bonus: Add a small discount or free shipping code for their next order if they hit a milestone.
  
  

• ✅ 3. Use Product-Specific Follow-Ups
  Send an email 10–30 days after a purchase with a message like:
  
  “Still enjoying your [Product Name]? Here’s how other customers are using it.” Include review quotes, UGC, or a cross-sell product.
  
  
  📧 Bonus: Drop in a restock reminder or offer a reorder with 1 click.
  
  

• ✅ 4. Make Your Thank You Pages Work Harder
  Use Shopify’s basic thank you page to:
  

  • Invite them to join your SMS list

  • Offer a discount for sharing a photo or leaving a review

  • Link to a “how to use your product” blog or video
    
    

  🧠 Pro Tip: Even without dev help, this is high-intent real estate that often gets ignored.
  
  

• ✅ 5. Celebrate Small Milestones in Plain Text
  Send a simple, non-promotional email that says:
  
  “You’ve been with us for 1 year—thank you.” “You placed your 5th order. We noticed. 🖤”
  
  No flows needed—just a calendar reminder and a CSV export. It’s the message that matters.
  
  

• ✅ 6. Create a “Welcome Back” Moment On-Site
  Can’t dynamically show names? Use Shopify’s announcement bar or homepage text to say:
  
  “Welcome back to our OGs—loyal customers get 10% off with code STAYLOYAL.” Rotate it monthly. Keep it feeling exclusive.
  
  📦 You could also: Add this to the order packing slip with a handwritten note or sticker.
  
  

• ✅ 7. Cross-Sell Thoughtfully in Order Confirmations
  Instead of upselling at checkout (when people have buyer hesitation), try the confirmation email:
  
  “Here’s what most customers add to their next order…” Use Shopify product links or a product block in Klaviyo—no logic or dev work required.
  
  🎯 Just be human. Think: helpful friend, not pushy salesperson.

🌭 The $2 Hot Dog That Changed Everything

In 2010, Eleven Madison Park was already a world-class, Michelin-starred restaurant—but it was a $2 hot dog that helped cement it as the best restaurant in the world.

During a busy lunch service, Will Guidara overheard a group of guests lamenting one thing they missed during their trip to NYC: a classic New York street hot dog.

He could’ve smiled and moved on. Instead, a lightbulb went off.
He ran out the door, bought a hot dog from a cart, and convinced his skeptical chef to plate it like fine dining—with swirls of ketchup and mustard, a quenelle of relish, and a flourish of sauerkraut.

They served it right before the final savory course: a honey lavender-glazed duck, aged for two weeks and perfected over years.

But guess which dish the guests remembered most?

“That hot dog,” Guidara said, “was the highlight of their meal—and their entire trip to New York.”

They freaked out. They told the story for years.
And that moment sparked what Guidara would later call:
Unreasonable Hospitality.

👤 The Dreamweaver Role, Explained

After the hot dog moment, Will Guidara created a new role at Eleven Madison Park: the Dreamweaver.

This wasn’t someone in marketing. Or operations. Or service. This was a person whose only job was to listen, notice, and create personalized moments for guests that would turn a great meal into a legendary experience.

Whether it was remembering a guest’s favorite wine, surprising them with their hometown dessert, or getting a marriage proposal just right—the Dreamweaver was there to make people feel seen.

In ecommerce, you don’t need a job title to act like a Dreamweaver. You just need a mindset:

• Pay attention to the details

• Look for patterns

• Go out of your way to deliver small, unforgettable gestures

This isn’t about scaling personalization with tech. It’s about making someone’s day in a way they’ll never forget.

Because the truth is, people don’t rave about “excellent transactional efficiency.” They rave about the moment that made them feel something.

💡 So, What’s Your Hot Dog?

You don’t need a big budget to create unforgettable moments. You just need to listen, act, and show up in ways your customer didn’t expect—but will always remember.

This is the magic of ecommerce Dreamweaving:

• 🛍️ Did a customer mention it's their birthday?
  🎁 Slip a surprise sample into their next order.
  

• 📩 Do you know they've purchased 5 times now?
  💌 Send a thank-you note from your founder.
  

• 📦 Are you solving a support issue?
  🍪 Include a little extra when you ship that replacement.

It’s not about how much it costs—it’s about how it makes them feel.

💛 How to Make Customers Feel Seen,
Known & Loved (Digitally)

📦 1. Personalized Packaging That Tells Them “This Was Packed Just for You”

• Include handwritten thank-you notes signed by a team member.

• Add custom touches that reference what they bought or why—“Hope you love your third pair of [Product Name], you’re officially a VIP.”

• Print name-specific inserts: “Packed for Emily—with love.”

🛠 Tool Ideas: Stampy for handwritten-style notes, Loop for personalized returns, PostPilot for printed mailers.

💌 2. Use First-Party Data to Create Moments That Matter

• Know their first purchase anniversary? Send a celebratory email or a discount code.

• Did they abandon cart multiple times? Send a “Still thinking about this?” message—but make it playful and kind.

• Use order history to send highly tailored product recommendations, not just “bestsellers.”

🧠 Pro Tip: Use Klaviyo, Attentive, or Because to trigger site experiences and emails based on customer behavior or milestones.

 🎁 3. Surprise & Delight (AKA Micro-Magic)

• Drop in an unexpected freebie. Doesn’t need to be expensive—just thoughtful.

• Upgrade shipping silently and send a cheerful “You just got upgraded!” email.

• Sneak a sticker, magnet, or pun-filled card that matches their purchase (and your brand tone).

🧁 Example: “You’re clearly a cookie-scented candle kind of person. We see you.”

👂🏻 4. Customer Support That Actually Supports

• Train your team to respond like a best friend, not a bot.

• When something goes wrong, offer more than a solution—offer empathy and a little something extra (discount, gift card, even just kindness).

• Follow up after resolution to ask how it’s going or how their experience has been.

💬 Try this line: “We’re so glad you gave us the chance to make it right. You matter to us.”

🧾 5. Call Back to Past Conversations or Orders

• If they’ve emailed before, mention it. (“P.S. Loved chatting with you last month about your pup, Charlie.”)

• Repeat customers? Say: “You’ve been with us since 2022—and we see you.”

📬 Bonus Idea: Send an email titled “You've been with us for ___ days—and here's a little thank you.”

🧪 6. Invite Customers Into the Brand Story

• Ask their opinions on new product designs or names.

• Feature UGC from real customers. Not influencers—actual fans.

• Highlight customer stories on your website or socials: “Meet Sarah. She’s been with us since launch. Here’s her story.”

📸 Bonus: Use “Real Ones” as a content series title.

🪩 7. Create "Moments" That Feel Like IRL Magic

• Send birthday postcards or even short Loom videos for high-LTV customers.

• Create a loyalty tier that's not just points-based—but story-based.

• Launch “surprise sales” just for your most engaged customers, without promoting it publicly.

✨ Think: “We don’t do this often. But we did it for you.”

🫶🏻 8. Use Emotionally Intelligent Messaging Across Touchpoints

• Avoid robotic phrases like “Your order has shipped.”

• Try: “🎉 It’s on the way! We’re kinda excited for you.”

• Infuse warmth, empathy, and playfulness into all your flows—from abandoned cart to order confirmation.

🖋 Voice tip: Write every email like it’s to one friend, not a mass list.

📈 What’s Trending This Week:
3D & AR Are Here (and They’re Actually Working)

What if your customers could try before they buy—right from their phone?

According to Shopify, brands using 3D and AR product displays are seeing up to a 250% increase in conversion rates. This isn’t just shiny tech for the sake of it—it’s real impact, especially for visually-driven products like apparel, furniture, and beauty.

🛍️ What It Looks Like in the Wild:

• Letting customers spin a shoe 360° to see the stitching detail

• Previewing a couch in your actual living room using AR

• Virtual try-ons for sunglasses, rings, or makeup shades

🧰 Tools to Start (No Hollywood Budget Required):

• Shopify’s 3D Warehouse for simple 3D uploads

• Threekit or ARitize for more complex integrations

• Or DIY: Grab a $20 turntable from Amazon, shoot a 360 video on your phone, and upload it to your product page

🔍 Is This for You?

3D/AR might be a perfect fit if:

• Your product benefits from detailed visuals

• You sell home goods, apparel, accessories, or tech

• Your customers frequently ask, “But what does it look like IRL?”

🎥 Start Small, Win Big:

• Choose your best-selling or most returned product to test

• Add a 3D or 360° view to the PDP

• Promote the experience in ads and email (“See it in your space before you buy!”)

✨ Trust is built when shoppers feel confident. And confidence comes from clarity. That’s what 3D/AR delivers.

🔥 In Case You Missed It: Maximize Retention = Maximize Growth

Our latest webinar might just change how you think about growth.

I teamed up with Nick (Skio) and Sai (Social Snowball) to break down the real retention tactics driving results for top Shopify brands in 2025.

Here’s what we covered:

• The 3 most important levers for driving long-term LTV

• How to personalize loyalty experiences without writing code

• Why 90% of subscribers join on their first purchase—and how to optimize for that moment

• A plug-and-play affiliate model that drives 3–5% of GMV (without paid ads!)

• How Because customers are lifting conversion by up to 25% using cart-level and loyalty messaging

🎯 Big takeaway: Retention is your secret weapon. Don’t just win a sale—win a customer for life.

💭 Final Thought: You Have Everything You Need

The tech is cool. The tests are helpful. But the most powerful tool you have? Making people feel like they matter.

That’s what turns clicks into customers—and customers into fans.

Now go be a Dreamweaver. 🌟

Until next time,
— Marc