Having spent time in the world of growing brands, particularly those built on Shopify, I've learned that the journey from a small idea to a thriving Ecommerce business is about more than just having a great product. That's a good start, but really, it's about a series of strategic choices, a deep understanding of your customer's needs, and a willingness to adapt when things go wrong. Here's a summary of what years of growing brands, researching customer journeys, and learning from past mistakes within the Ecommerce space has taught me about the winners and losers:

1. Your brand is more than a logo, it's a story and a community:

The most explosive growth I've seen hasn't been driven only by clever marketing alone, but instead by brands that create a genuine connection with their audience. They don't just sell products; they sell a lifestyle, a set of values, or a solution to a problem. And the real trick? They do it in a way which conveys a true connection to their audience:

• Gymshark, for example, didn't just sell fitness apparel; they built a community of influencers and enthusiasts who felt like part of a larger movement. At the time of starting in 2012, they leveraged tools that traditional clothing brands weren't as fast to adapt. Their founder, Ben Francis, used well known athletes and influencers within the fitness industry to gain brand recognition as he understood that customers wanted to feel a connection to their brand. He launched extremely successful social media campaigns through Youtubers and Instagram Influencers to showcase his company's products.

• Kylie Cosmetics is not too dissimilar; from day one, the brand leveraged newer technologies such as Shopify Plus to handle the massive traffic spikes and flash sales generated by its social media hype. It also used a similar marketing strategy to Gymshark upon launch in 2015, in this case capitalizing off Kylie Jenner's massive reach in social media. This combination of modern technology and innovative methods to promote brand identity allowed rapid growth of her brand.

• Heinz, a legacy brand, also used Shopify to pivot to a more direct to consumer model almost overnight during a changing market. This showcases how even older companies are able to compete in newer marketplaces provided they are willing to adapt newer technologies and mediums to push their products or services.

Notably, companies like Tesla (for apparel), SKIMS, Red Bull, Lindt, and many more also use Shopify as their main Ecommerce platform.

This focus on brand storytelling and community building is a powerful tactic. It means investing more time and energy into producing high quality content, actively engaging with your audience on social media, and creating a sense of belonging that turns one time buyers into loyal advocates. The ROI on loyal customers in the long term far surpasses quick sales generated by hype or buzz, in turn creating potential for further future growth and reduced cost of ad spend relative to sales. In many cases, it is even possible to revive a dying brand through an overhaul of a site's tech, marketing, and business proposition, provided the company is willing to do so.

2. The Right Technology is a Growth Enabler

The World of Ecommerce in 2025 is rapidly shifting and new standards for what constitutes acceptable UX, SEO, and Pricing are constantly being evaluated. In other words, competition continues to push quality improvements on this front. The rapid expansion and accessibility of sleeker frameworks such as Next.js, Tailwind, Shopify Hydrogen (to name a few) has been an accelerant for these rising standards, brought forth by rapid advancements in AI software's ability to output large sections of code compatible with simple site dev no doubt. Traditional site builders which were massively popular 5-10 years ago are now being phased out if they are unable to quickly adapt to these rapid changes in what constitutes appropriate page load time, site layout, key SEO data and more, companies such as Wix and SquareSpace which have adapted slowly to newer web builders such as Webflow or Framer. The barrier to entry will also continue to decline, allowing those who are less sophisticated with technology to sell and trade products or services at the click of a few buttons. This begins to mark a new era for micro-businesses and local trade, having apps act as enablers to transact freely and cutting down bulky Startup costs or friction which previously acted as a large deterrent.

The main lesson here is to build a tech stack that supports your brand's ambitions and abilities. Allowing archaic systems to keep playing out will slowly chip away at your company's efficiency and cripple your company's ability to act on novel ideas. As you grow, be deliberate about the apps you add, and consider custom development or a headless commerce approach if you need to build unique, complex features that give you a competitive edge. With average TTL times for sites now being around 3 seconds, with even an additional 1-2 seconds showing massive decreases in user conversion and satisfaction, these are the types of innovations that can set your performance apart. Having already established that connecting to your customers is essential, the next most important step is reducing barriers between your user/customer and their desired goal for purchase.

3. Growth is a Continuous Cycle of Optimization and Retention

The most successful brands understand that the work doesn't stop once a customer makes a purchase. In fact, that's often just the beginning.

Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO): Brands like Tushy have seen huge sales increases by simply optimizing a single page. This includes things like A/B testing different layouts, improving product descriptions, and ensuring a fast, frictionless checkout process.

Retention is the New Acquisition: A brand's lifetime value (LTV) is often more important than its customer acquisition cost (CAC). Growing brands on Shopify invest heavily in strategies to keep customers coming back. This means using automated email sequences (like abandoned cart reminders), loyalty programs, and subscription models to create predictable, recurring revenue. Pura Vida Bracelets, for instance, generated over $1.4 million in revenue from automated web push campaigns alone.

This highlights the importance of increasingly granular data. If the Cost of Acquisition of a new customer approximates to $5, with reacquisition costs being even higher, that means that information associated with their spending habits, likes and dislikes around your brand, are extremely valuable. Growing brands are additionally constantly tracking key metrics like conversion rate, average order value (AOV), and customer lifetime value. They use these insights to make data-driven decisions, refine their marketing, and create a "self sustaining growth machine" where customer loyalty and retention becomes a powerful marketing channel in itself.

In short, what growing brands primarily on Shopify has taught me is that success is built on a strong brand identity, a scalable technological foundation, and a relentless focus on the customer experience, both before and after the sale. The brands that win are the ones that don't just sell products - they create a movement, leverage the right tools, and prioritize building lasting relationships, whilst those which lose are often slow and reluctant to adapt to newer technologies, slow to redefine their brand image to newer audiences, and slow to understand the needs of their customers.

What has growing brands taught you?