Most e-commerce brands don’t have a marketing retention problem. They have a retention architecture problem. Email and SMS aren’t underperforming; they’re being asked to do jobs they were never designed to do. When retention stalls, teams often blame the channels:

• "Email isn’t converting anymore."
• "SMS feels risky."
• "We’re sending more, but repeat revenue isn’t moving."

This case study demonstrates why that framing is wrong, and what actually changes when retention is engineered as a revenue system rather than a collection of tactics.

What follows is not a highlight reel. It is a systems-level breakdown of how Enviary helped one e-commerce brand materially increase repeat revenue by restructuring lifecycle architecture, timing, and channel roles—without burning trust or inflating send volume.

What You’ll Learn From This Case

• What was actually broken before growth accelerated.
• How Enviary diagnosed the "retention ceiling".
• The Retention Model™ used to restructure Email + SMS.
• Why the numbers mattered (not just what they were).
• How SMS scaled without opt-outs or fatigue.
• Why performance did not collapse at higher volumes.

The Business Outcome (What Actually Changed)

In November:

• Total revenue: £363,788.40 (+52%)
• Returning customer rate: 72.17%
• Klaviyo-attributed revenue: £246,658.15
• Period-over-period lifecycle growth: +104%

Growth wasn’t coming from acquisition spikes or short-term promotions; it was coming from existing customers re-engaging via Klaviyo. It was driven by lifecycle monetisation. Retention wasn’t just supporting growth, it was the growth.

The Hidden Risk Before Enviary Stepped In

Revenue was rising, but it wasn’t structurally safe. Our audit surfaced four early warning signals:

1. Campaign volume was increasing, but intent signals weren’t consistently prioritised.
2. SMS was underutilised due to fear of opt-outs and deliverability risk.
3. Flows existed, but their roles were unclear; some duplicated campaigns, while others fired too early.
4. VIPs and repeat buyers were still being treated too similarly to first-time customers.

More sends → more fatigue → declining trust → high unsubscribe rates → stalled repeat revenue.

This is the "retention ceiling" most brands don’t see until it’s too late. Enviary’s diagnosis was that retention was fragmented, not broken. We did not simply add more campaigns or push aggressive SMS; instead, we redesigned the system. The problem wasn’t performance—it was architecture.

The Enviary Retention Model™

Retention scaled because email and SMS were rebuilt into a model with clearly defined roles:

• Behaviour Stabilisation (Flows): Absorbing risk and automating the journey.
• Intent Preparation (Email Campaigns): Building the narrative and educating the user.
• Acceleration Layer (SMS): Closing the gap on high-intent moments.
• Governance Layer: Rules, suppression, and pacing to protect the list.

Every message had a job. Nothing was sent "because the calendar said so."

Behaviour Stabilisation: Why Flows Came First

A common mistake is trying to scale campaigns before stabilising customer behaviour. Flows were intentionally designed not to "outperform" campaigns, but to handle:

• Post-purchase reassurance and expectation setting.
• Delivery communication and replenishment timing.
• Customer state transitions.

By stabilising behaviour, flows created a safe foundation for campaign scale. This is why the campaign-heavy mix worked.

Campaigns vs Flows: The Real Interpretation

• Campaign revenue: £208,239.13 (84.42%)
• Flow revenue: £38,419.02 (15.58%)

At first glance, this looks campaign-heavy, but that would be the wrong conclusion. Flows weren’t built to "win revenue"; they were built to protect trust, allowing campaigns to monetise known intent instead of guessing.

Channel Roles: Email Prepares & SMS Accelerates

Email and SMS were never treated as interchangeable. Email focused on education, reinforcement, and addressing objections—building trust over time.

SMS, in contrast, drove urgency. It was never used to "warm up" cold intent. Instead, it acted only after email had laid the groundwork, ensuring every message hit at the right moment with maximum impact. Access to the SMS inbox was earned, not assumed. We only deployed it when:

1. Intent already existed.
2. Timing was sensitive.
3. Speed meaningfully reduced friction.

The Governance Layer: Why This Didn’t Break at Scale

As volume grows, fatigue sets in for unprepared programs. In this case, governance was baked into every decision. High-value customers were shielded through sophisticated suppression logic, ensuring messaging never eroded their engagement.

Scaling didn’t compromise performance because trust scaled alongside it.

Summary of the Shift

The breakthrough came from three fundamental shifts:

• Systems over Tactics: Retention was treated as a holistic revenue system.
• Behavioural Timing: No rushed win-backs or premature replenishment.
• SMS as a Catalyst: It didn't replace email; it amplified the moments email had already primed.

The Enviary Philosophy

This is the same Lifecycle Model™ Enviary applies whenever repeat revenue flattens or campaigns start doing too much "heavy lifting". Retention doesn’t grow when you send more; it grows when your lifecycle finally reflects how customers actually buy.