📦 - Spaaare Me! From All These Expenses

DTC 613 - Stüssy Tech Stack, MìLà , and Productivity Hack   Wednesday, July 31, 2024 Good morning, The DOJ is not backing down. The Department of Justice defends the sale or ban of TikTok, citing national security concerns. While the app has argued that the lawsuit violates the First Amendment rights of 170 million U.S. users, the DOJ responded that those users were ‘free to turn to other social media sites’. Here’s what you’ll find in today’s DTC: ⭐ Learn how popular streetwear brand Stüssy cuts down on expenses using these Shopify apps. 🥟 MìLà shares the logistical challenges of shipping frozen dumplings and how they took advantage of low Meta Ads costs to grow rapidly. ⚡ And…a productivity hack to give you a little midday boost so you don’t fall asleep after lunch. You’re reading this newsletter along with new subscribers from: [Anderson Design & Fabrication](, [Bike and Sol](, and [Funnel Flow](. 👋   GROWTH 👀 Revenue? Up. ROAS? Up. Conversion Rate? Up. AOV? Up. A wellness brand joined Pilothouse’s brand accelerator, Pilot Program, [dreaming of growth](… 💭📈 The team strategized using their time-tested and data-backed tactics, took over the brand’s campaigns, rebuilt their creative approach, and geared up to see the brand crush its goals. And crush they did… An 80% increase in ad spend, coupled with a ROAS and AOV improvement, yielded a 155% increase in revenue! 🔥 Q4 is just around the corner, and [Pilot Program has limited slots remaining]( for brands looking to achieve results like these. Will one of those slots be yours? 👇 [Book your free call with the partnerships team today](.   TECH STACK ⭐ How Stüssy Curbs Online Expenses With These Shopify Apps Founded in the 1980s, [Stüssy]( is now enjoying a resurgence with Gen Z that favors the brand for creating quality pieces they want to wear and doing buzz-worthy collabs that get them excited to purchase. This popular urban streetwear brand is known for blending surfwear, skate culture, and hip-hop to create a unique and distinct aesthetic. 🏄 On average, their ecommerce site brings in a whopping $6.3 million per month. Sales aside, they also do an excellent job of curbing expenses by taking advantage of these Shopify apps. Here’s how they did it 👇 1️⃣ [Address Validator Plus](: Stüssy installed this validation app to reduce the number of failed deliveries and returned packages due to missing or incorrect information (e.g., invalid zip code or wrong house number). It will also send emails to customers to verify their shipping address if needed. Lowering the number of failed deliveries saves Stüssy money and increases customer satisfaction in the long run. 2️⃣ [Signifyd](: To prevent fraudulent orders, this app’s Complete Chargeback Protection analyzes orders at checkout and can check orders against fraud. This helps shift the liability for chargeback losses away from the merchant. 3️⃣ [Loop Returns and Exchanges](: Process returns efficiently with this automated returns management tool. This app does a great job driving revenue and making returns a valuable customer interaction. Customers who wish to make a return can choose to ‘Shop Later’ and convert the money they received from a return into a store credit. Have any other brands you want us to spy on? 👀 Reply back to the newsletter and let us know!   EMAIL 🏆 Lace Up! You’ve Got a Chance to Win Custom Nike Shoes Yotpo’s kicking it up a notch with [custom Nike WalkAway shoes](. Is Yotpo going full fashion? Not exactly… These shoes are symbolic, representing you walking away from your current email provider. 🚶 The decision to migrate can be incredibly hard, so Yotpo created these custom kicks to put a little pep in your step. So, how do you get your hands on a pair? [Request a demo](! When you request a demo, you’ll be entered for a chance to win. [Plus, with Yotpo Email, enjoy higher deliverability, more flexibility, and fairer pricing](. ✅ Are you ready to walk away from your current email provider? [Get Moving In Style]( *Sponsored   PODCAST 🎧 MìLà Talks Expansion from a Local Restaurant to a Nationwide Frozen Food Brand In this episode of the pod, we are joined by Jen Liao, a co-founder of [MìLÃ](, a brand transforming the way we enjoy delicious soup dumplings. 🥟 The business started as a Seattle restaurant before focusing on soup dumplings, one of its most popular items. During the pandemic, it entered the frozen food market. She shares the journey of pivoting from a restaurant to a successful DTC brand now entering retail stores, the logistical challenges of shipping frozen food, and how low Meta Ads costs played a crucial role in their growth. Jen explains: “We went on stockphoto.com, looked up pictures of soup dumplings, and added cheesy music audio to go with the ad creative to keep costs down.” In this podcast, we cover: - Pivoting from DTC to pandemic: There was an appetite for comfort food since consumers were at home. - Overcoming logistical challenges: The complications and high costs related to shipping frozen food. - Ran scrappy ads on Meta: Took advantage of low ad cost on Meta to test different creatives using stock images and music. 👉 You can listen to the full episode with Jen [here](.   🌐 IN THE SOCIAL SPHERE Are you feeling uninspired? Sometimes, changing up your environment is enough to get those creative juices going. So grab your laptop and make a day out of it! Can't view the image? [Click here](   🎉 CELEBRATE THIS! 🍉 August 3: Watermelon Day, Campfire Day, Mustard Day 👯 August 4: Friendship Day, National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day, Sisters Day 🦪 August 5: Underwear Day, National Oyster Day, Work Like A Dog Day 🦶 August 6: National Fresh Breath Day, Wiggle Your Toes Day 💜 August 7: National Lighthouse Day, National Purple Heart Day, Professional Speakers Day 😺 August 8: International Cat Day, Happiness Happens Day 📚 August 9: Book Lover’s Day, National Kool-Aid Day, Smoky Bear Day   ⚡ QUICK HITS 👏 Banza, Solawave, and Imperfect Foods are doing micro-influencer campaigns on easy mode. Create a ravenous, brand-loyal community on demand with fully managed high-quality micro-influencer activations. [Check it out here](. *   📰 NEWS - The Justice Department [defends TikTok law that supports sale or U.S. ban](. - Meta rolls out AI Studios, [allowing creators to create their own AI chatbots based on themselves](. - Chipotle [teams up with cosmetic brand Wonderskin for a lip stain called ‘Lipotle’ for National Avocado Day](. - Wildflower Cases [collaborates with singer Charlie XCX on a brat-inspired phone case](.   SPONSOR DTC 📥 Got a B2B Biz? Join dozens of B2B companies finding demand-gen success through our niche community of 160k brand leaders and founders this year. [Talk to our team to learn more](.   Have you heard our latest podcasts? - ✉️ [AKNF 425:]( How To Fix Email Automation and Improve Retention - 🍺 Duncan Frew on [the Whisky Business and Return of The Rascal]( - ⚡ [AKNF 423:]( Optimize Post-Click Experience With Landing Pages - 🕶️ Parker Godfrey on [How Kiaura Went Viral on TikTok Shops]( - 😆 [AKNF 421:]( Grow Top Of Funnel With Humor and Controversy - 🌽 FFUPS founder Sam Tichnor on [How He Scaled Snacking]( Don’t forget to [rate the DTC Podcast]( on Apple (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️) DTC Newsletter is written by [Rebecca Knight]( and [Frances Du](. Edited by [Eric Dyck](. Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up [here](. Please note that items in this newsletter marked with * contain sponsored content. [Direct To Consumer]( Pilothouse, 1011 Government St., Victoria, BC V8W 1X6, Canada [Advertise with DTC]( | [Work With Pilothouse]( [Unsubscribe](