Most brands don’t actually have acquisition and retention bundled under one roof. And when they do, retention is rarely the star of the show.
The truth is, acquisition marketing is a different beast. It’s flashier. It’s fast-moving. It comes with big budgets and even bigger expectations. That’s where most agencies focus their energy. That’s where they put their best talent. Paid media is exciting, measurable, and instantly gratifying. It’s the thing founders obsess over in dashboards and the thing agencies pitch the hardest.
Retention? That’s often the sidecar. It’s not as shiny. And yet, it is easier to manage than paid media and more direct. It’s not as easy to attribute. It doesn’t have the same adrenaline rush. So it becomes an afterthought. A few email flows thrown together. A junior marketer owning lifecycle. A task list, not a strategy.
And that’s a problem.
Because once you win a customer, your job has only just begun. If you’re treating retention like a checkbox instead of a growth engine, you’re leaking value at every turn.
Acquisition and Retention Are Fundamentally Different Beasts
Acquisition is a sprint. It’s about quick conversions, persuasive hooks, and high-velocity testing. It lives in the world of paid media, CPMs, CTRs, and ROAS.
Retention? That’s a marathon. It’s about deepening relationships, building brand love, and creating delightful post-purchase experiences that keep customers coming back. The metrics here are LTV, repeat rate, NPS, AOV.
Trying to get one team to do both is like asking your sprinter to run the New York Marathon. Same shoes, different race.
When acquisition teams try to do retention, they tend to apply the same tactics that work for cold traffic. That means spray-and-pray email blasts, one-size-fits-all SMS campaigns, and little-to-no segmentation. It also means they optimize for short-term gains—discounts, urgency, volume—which can erode brand equity and customer trust over time.
Retention marketing requires a different mindset. It demands storytelling, nuanced segmentation, loyalty logic, and a deep understanding of your customer lifecycle. And it requires an entirely different skillset: CRM strategy, lifecycle marketing, owned channel analytics, and copywriting that sounds like a best friend, not a billboard.
Retention Is Not a Side Hustle. At Total Commerce, Retention Is the Focus
Retention can’t be an afterthought or a few email flows thrown into Klaviyo and left to collect dust. It needs to be owned, optimized, and continuously tested.
If you delve a little deeper, you’ll notice that performance agencies are not incentivized to focus on retention. Their success metrics are front-loaded. They win when CAC is low and ROAS is high. Retention happens later. It’s messy. It’s hard to attribute.
It’s not sexy on a pitch deck.
But for a brand, retention is the thing that drives sustainable growth. Increasing your repeat purchase rate by just 10% can have a bigger impact on your bottom line than increasing your traffic by 50%. Retention drives LTV, and LTV gives you the breathing room to spend more on acquisition. It’s the flywheel. You ignore it at your peril.
We built Total Commerce with one core belief: sustainable growth comes from lifetime value. That means retention isn’t a footnote—it’s a pillar. It’s a lens we apply to every part of the business.
Our team is not an afterthought. We’re operators, analysts, builders, and strategists who understand that turning one purchase into many is the most powerful growth lever you have. And we treat it with the rigor and creativity it deserves.
Our retention approach mirrors optimization more than advertising:
- We look at how customers are behaving
- We identify patterns in churn, repeat purchases, AOV
- We test and measure, then improve
- We build systems that evolve with your customer
This is the kind of work that grows LTV, improves margins, and gives you more room to reinvest in acquisition.
Our Broader Focus: All Things Shopify, All Through the Lens of Value
Yes, we’re retention experts. But we also handle everything under the hood. Here’s how we help brands grow from the inside out:
1. Shopify Development & Migrations
We specialize in building lightning-fast, custom Shopify experiences that reflect your brand’s identity and performance goals. Whether you're launching from scratch or migrating from another platform, we ensure your storefront is cleanly coded, scalable, and optimized for both desktop and mobile. Think modular design, flexible architecture, and future-proof functionality.
2. Tech Integrations & Stack Optimization
The modern tech stack isn’t a wishlist—it’s a necessity. We integrate your CRM, ESP, SMS, review platforms, subscriptions, loyalty programs, and more into a single cohesive system that actually talks to each other. We untangle API chaos and create automation pathways that make your stack work harder (and smarter).
3. Lifecycle Strategy
We create tailored journeys for every type of customer—from first-time buyers to loyalists and lapsed subscribers. Our campaigns are mapped across the full lifecycle to drive revenue at every touchpoint: onboarding, post-purchase, winbacks, replenishment, loyalty, and more.
4. Email & SMS Marketing
We don’t just "do email." We build full-funnel messaging ecosystems across email and SMS, balancing automation and campaigns with personalization and brand tone. Our messages convert and they build community, using the right message at the right time for the right segment.
5. Segmentation & Insights
Gone are the days of sending the same email to your entire list. We dig deep into behavioral, transactional, and demographic data to create dynamic segments that update in real time. This ensures you're always speaking to the customer’s context—not guessing.
6. Creative & Copywriting
Your retention channels should sound like your brand and speak to your customer’s needs. We craft email and SMS creative that’s visually compelling and copy that feels conversational, confident, and conversion-driven. It’s strategy-meets-style.
7. Analytics & Optimization
We go beyond open rates and CTRs. Our dashboards and ongoing reporting focus on revenue per recipient, flow conversion rate, segment health, and retention cohort trends. Every insight feeds into our testing framework for continuous improvement.
We do all of it—but we do it through a retention-optimized lens.
Read more about our retention services here.
The Proof Is in the Purchase (and the Second One, and the Third...)
When Total Commerce partners with a brand, we don’t just fix a website or drop in a few email flows. We rethink your entire post-purchase experience. Your backend becomes more efficient. Your customer communications become more personal. Your marketing stack works together. And your customers keep coming back.
Why? Because retention is what we do—strategically, technically, and creatively.
Don’t Let Your Acquisition Team Own Retention
It’s not that acquisition marketers aren’t talented. They’re just wired for different outcomes. They thrive on immediate wins. Retention is about patience, precision, and persistence.
When you split these two functions, each gets better. Acquisition can focus on feeding the top of the funnel. Retention can nurture and multiply the value of every customer who comes through.
It’s a win-win. And your P&L will thank you.
It’s Time to Treat Retention Like a Growth Engine
In today’s DTC landscape, customer acquisition costs are climbing, attention is scarce, and brand loyalty is hard-won. The brands that will win in the long run are the ones who prioritize customer relationships over customer counts.
Retention isn’t just a line item in your marketing plan. It’s the foundation that protects your brand, powers long-term growth, and turns customers into advocates.
So if your performance agency is still trying to wear two hats, it might be time for a change. Let your sprinter sprint. Let your marathoner pace the course. And let Total Commerce run your retention, the way it was meant to be done. Learn more and get started with Retention Marketing from Total Commerce.
