NOVEMBER 2024retailtechinsights.com9A leaky marketing engine leads to unsustainable churn. We optimized our customer prospecting and retention channels early to ensure we didn't unintentionally lose customers on repeat purchasesThe Pandemic Slows ­ Now What?As we moved toward normalcy, we questioned whether the 2020 performance was sustainable or if we should brace for a downturn. Adopting a conservative approach, we planned for a down year in 2021, using 2020 as an outlier and aiming for improvement over 2019. Despite this cautious optimism, our progress continued. In 2021, revenue grew 19 percent and EBITDA improved 75 percent year-over-year. We maintained our initiatives, focusing on incremental wins, industry opportunities and channel diversification. By establishing a new `steady state,' we projected continued growth into 2022, proving that a sustainable, profitable e-commerce business can thrive even from unpredictable conditions.Key LessonsWe learned to meet consumers where they were and to adapt to a fully remote work environment. The timeless key lessons we learned are:1.Revenue growth means nothing if you're not profitable: We had the foresight to prioritize that year prior, so we weren't tempted to chase topline growth at the expense of profitability. 2.A leaky marketing engine leads to unsustainable churn: We optimized our customer prospecting and retention channels before the explosive new customer growth. This meant we didn't unintentionally lose customers on their repeat purchases. 3.Internal alignment can impact your business more than your marketing strategy: We benefited from a supremely unified leadership team during this time. The task was clear in 2017, and the objective didn't change. Giving our team and business the stability of one goal allowed for internal alignment across the organization and cross-functionally. 4.Prioritize your customers and your people equally. While the business produced results and drove value for our customers, our people reaped the rewards for their hard work. It wasn't all success all the time--it was really hard work on top of an already immensely difficult time. 5.Slow, incremental improvements yield better results. The era of `move fast and break things' has passed for DTC. The landscape is changing by the minute thanks to uncontrollable external factors. If you chase every shiny object, you will quickly find yourself on a path to nowhere.
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