eCommerce brands bleed the most cash to agencies. Learn how to build a team that obsesses over your ROAS, retention, and Klaviyo flows.
DTC and Shopify brands are the most exploited clients in the marketing world
Your agency gets paid whether you make money or not. They're incentivised to spend your budget, not optimise it. They'll recommend increasing ad spend even when ROAS is tanking because their retainer stays the same.
Result: You're spending $50K/month on Meta Ads at 1.8 ROAS when you need 2.5+ to be profitable.
Most eCommerce agencies manage 20-50 clients simultaneously. Your Shopify store gets the same "proven strategy" as everyone else: broad targeting on Meta, automated Shopping campaigns on Google, and generic Klaviyo flows they copy-pasted from their last client.
Result: Zero competitive advantage. You're running the same ads as your competitors.
Agencies love acquisition because it's flashy and easy to report. "We spent $20K and generated $40K!" But they completely ignore the goldmine: retention. Your email list, SMS subscribers, and repeat customer rate are barely touched because building sophisticated Klaviyo flows, segmentation strategies, and lifecycle campaigns requires actual work and agencies can't scale that across 30 clients.
Meanwhile, your Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) is suffering. You're paying $50-$150 CAC to acquire customers, but only 20-30% ever buy again because nobody's nurturing them post-purchase. That's a 60% margin opportunity sitting idle in your database.
Result: You're hemorrhaging Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) acquiring new customers while ignoring the 30-40% of revenue that should be coming from repeat purchases and email/SMS campaigns.
The In-House Advantage:
A dedicated Klaviyo specialist on your team will build behaviour-based flows (post-purchase, replenishment, win-back, VIP nurture), segment by CLV and purchase frequency, and turn your email channel into a 25-35% of total revenue driver. Agencies will never do this because it's not scalable for them.
The fix? Build an in-house team that actually cares about your unit economics.
Talk to an eCommerce Marketing ExpertThree platforms. One obsessive team. Explosive growth.
Agencies run broad campaigns because they're managing 30 brands. Your in-house team can obsess over:
Most agencies set up automated Shopping campaigns and forget about them. Your in-house Shopify marketing expert will:
Most eCommerce agencies set up 3-4 basic Klaviyo flows (welcome series, abandoned cart, post-purchase) and call it a day. That's leaving 60-70% of email revenue on the table. A dedicated Klaviyo specialist on your in-house team will:
Real Example:
A fashion retailer was spending $80K/month on Meta Ads with a 2.1 ROAS. Email revenue was 8% of total sales (terrible). After hiring a Klaviyo specialist, they rebuilt their flows, implemented CLV segmentation, and launched SMS. Within 6 months, email + SMS revenue jumped to 32% of total sales—adding $45K/month in near-zero-cost revenue. That's the difference between an agency checkbox and an in-house obsession.
An in-house eCommerce manager earns $80K-$120K. An agency retainer costs $5K-$15K/month (plus 10-20% of ad spend). Do the maths.
Calculate Your SavingsScaled by revenue, not vanity metrics
You need someone who can own Meta Ads, Google Shopping, and basic Klaviyo flows. Don't hire specialists yet—you need a Swiss Army knife.
Australian Salary: $80K - $100K
vs. Agency retainer: $60K-$120K/year (plus you lose control)
Owns strategy, ROAS targets, and cross-channel coordination. Reports to CEO/CMO.
Salary: $100K - $130K
Lives in the ad accounts daily. Optimises campaigns, tests creatives, manages budgets. This role is execution-focused, not strategy.
Salary: $70K - $90K
Dedicated to retention. Builds flows, segments lists, writes email copy, and tracks Customer Lifetime Value (CLV). This role typically generates 20-40% of total revenue.
Salary: $65K - $85K
Total Team Cost: $235K - $305K/year
vs. Agency retainer at this scale: $10K-$20K/month = $120K-$240K/year (plus 10-20% of $50K+/month ad spend = another $60K-$120K/year). Total agency cost: $180K-$360K/year.
Head of Growth / CMO ($150K-$200K)
Strategic leadership and P&L ownership
Performance Marketing Manager ($110K-$140K)
Owns all paid acquisition channels
2x Paid Ads Specialists ($75K-$95K each)
One for Meta, one for Google
Retention Marketing Manager ($90K-$120K)
Owns email, SMS, loyalty programs
Marketing Analyst ($80K-$100K)
Attribution modelling, reporting, forecasting
Creative Strategist / Designer ($70K-$90K)
In-house ad creative production
Total Team Cost: $575K - $840K/year
At this scale, agencies charge $20K-$40K/month retainer + 10-15% of ad spend. With $200K+/month in ad spend, you're paying $240K-$480K in retainers + $240K-$360K in ad spend fees = $480K-$840K/year. Same cost, but you own the team and the IP.
A homewares eCommerce brand generating $3M/year was paying a "boutique" agency $12K/month retainer + 15% of ad spend ($60K/month). Total agency cost: $144K in retainers + $108K in ad spend fees = $252K/year.
Their ROAS was stuck at 2.1x, and the agency kept recommending "more ad spend" as the solution. Klaviyo was barely touched—3 generic flows, zero segmentation.
We helped them build a 2-person in-house team:
Total in-house cost: $170K/year (32% cheaper than the agency).
ROAS Improvement
2.1x → 4.3x
Meta Ads ROAS doubled by tighter audience targeting
Email Revenue Share
8% → 31%
Klaviyo flows now drive nearly 1/3 of total revenue
CAC Reduction
-43%
Customer Acquisition Cost dropped from $68 to $39
Marketing Cost Savings
$82K/year
Saved vs. agency retainer + ad spend fees
We recruit marketers who live in Shopify, Klaviyo, and Meta Ads Manager—not generalists who dabble
Someone who understands Shopify's native analytics, conversion tracking, and how to optimise product pages for paid traffic.
A retention expert who can build flows, segment audiences by behaviour, and track Customer Lifetime Value (CLV).
We've recruited 200+ digital marketing managers for DTC and eCommerce brands across Australia. We technically vet every candidate before you meet them.
See Our Recruitment ProcessStop bleeding cash to agencies who don't care about your ROAS. Build a team that obsesses over your unit economics.