Ecommerce marketing for Shopify and DTC brands: more buyers, not just more traffic.
We map how your shopper actually finds you, sizes you up next to every other tab open on their phone, and decides to buy, before we touch your ad account or your store. It's built on research across 500+ clients over 10 years, aimed at the second order, not just the first click.
- Generated for clients
- $100M+
- Clients
- 500+
- In business
- 10 Years
- In-house team
- 30+
Feed · marketplace · friend’s tag
Reviews · returns · total at checkout
First order · follow-up · repeat order
Here’s the short version → Setsail Marketing is a digital marketing agency based in Vancouver, BC that works with e‑commerce and direct-to-consumer brands across Canada and the United States.
- For:
- Shopify stores · multi-channel and marketplace sellers · considered-purchase retailers
- How we work:
- A sourced read of how that brand’s own shopper searches, compares and decides · seen by the owner before any delivery work is paid for
- Engagement:
- Scope, timeline and price set out in a 90-day plan the client agrees to before work starts
- Evidence:
- Research across 500+ clients over 10 years
- Partners:
- B Corp certified · Google Partner · Shopify Partner · Klaviyo Partner
- Proof:
- $100M+ revenue generated · 10 years · 100% in-house
E‑commerce brands that brought us in, and what the numbers did next.
Every one of these sells online.
DŌST Bikes: $20M in e‑commerce sales
We built the brand, the store and the marketing engine from the ground up: system architecture, branding, web, photo and video, packaging, the whole commercial surface for four years. DŌST went on to generate $20M in e‑commerce sales and grew social by 400% along the way.
GVA Brands (GIO Electric & Rosso Motors): 40% reduction in cost per acquisition
Across GIO Electric and Rosso Motors, we ran ad creative, performance media, catalogue-scale photography and the storefronts. Cost per acquisition dropped 40% and engagement tripled, while the brands went on to support sales in the tens of millions.
Squid Paddle Co.: 225% overfunded on Kickstarter
Before the product existed, we built the video, photography, branding and pre-launch list that carried the campaign. It closed 225% overfunded on Kickstarter, a public, checkable number, on the way to $500K+ in pre-orders.
Harmonic Arts
We run Harmonic Arts' email marketing at full production scale: separate lifecycle tracks for consumer and wholesale audiences, built across Klaviyo and Omnisend, every send checked before it goes out under Health Canada's rules for natural health products.
Charlo
Charlo's founder had already hired and lost a branding team before she came to us. We rebuilt the brand, the website, the email flows and the photography, shot with her customers and their dogs.
Proven numbers that do the talking
$20M
in e‑commerce sales
DŌST Bikes
40%
reduction in cost per acquisition
GVA Brands (GIO Electric & Rosso Motors)
225%
overfunded on Kickstarter
Squid Paddle Co.
We know how your shopper decides to buy, and that's what the plan is built around
Most agencies start with your ad account. We start with the person about to close your tab, because in e‑commerce, almost every decision that matters happens somewhere you can't see it.
How they search
Rarely in one sitting, and rarely by typing your name first. First contact is usually a feed, a marketplace listing or a friend's tag, somewhere no dashboard can take credit for it. The search that follows your name is a check, not a discovery: are you real, do you ship, will the size chart hold up. By the time a channel gets credit in your reports, three other unmeasured moments already did the convincing.
How they compare
On the product page, in under a minute, on three things: has anyone else actually bought this, what happens if it's wrong, and what does the total come to once shipping and duties land. Reviews, the return policy and the number at checkout beat any ad creative you will ever run. Most of the time the real competitor isn't another brand, it's the open tab that says 'maybe later' and never gets closed.
How they decide
Almost never on the first visit. The order that actually pays for your business is the second one, and that gets decided after the first box arrives: by the unboxing, the confirmation email, and whether anyone follows up before the reorder is due. Most ecommerce budgets get spent entirely upstream of the moment that makes the money.
This is modelled from doing exactly this kind of research for 10 years, across 500+ clients, and it's the part of what we do that a competitor can't copy in an afternoon.
Finally, an ecommerce marketing agency that drives real results
The services that move an online store’s numbers, in the order they usually matter.
10 Years in Business$100M+ revenue generated500+ clients
B Corp Certified
Google Partner
- Channel Partner
- Claude Partner
Free 30 min
Your shopper is deciding either way. Let’s make sure it’s your store.
Thirty minutes, free to book, no pressure. We'll walk through what we already know about your shopper and where your funnel's probably leaking.
Nothing to prepare beyond your store URL and your platform. If you want, send us your top three products and where most of your traffic actually comes from.
10 years · $100M+ revenue generated · 500+ clients
On the call, we’ll walk you through:
- We'll show you how shoppers in your category search, compare and decide, using the research, not assumptions.
- We'll point at the two or three places we think you're losing money right now.
- We'll tell you plainly whether Setsail is the right fit, and what we'd do first if you hired us tomorrow.
Your store URL, your platform (Shopify, WooCommerce, whatever you're on), and your biggest current headache.
Not ready for a call?Get a free digital audit covering your website, search visibility, competitor ad activity and conversion setup.We will not add you to a list you did not ask for.
Trusted by governments and 500+ businesses
10 years · $100M+ revenue generated · 500+ clients
In their words · Reviews ★★★★★
In their words. They say it better than we can
From political campaigns to nationwide rebrands and massive product launches: an in-house team that moves fast and delivers, across North America and worldwide.
“If I have a client who needs something up in three weeks, you guys will just do it… I never hear no, or ‘it can’t be done’.”
Theodora Jean
Founder & CEO, Coldwater Communications
“Everything that Setsail has designed for us, we try to incorporate that now in all of our presentations, including investor materials.”
Dorthy Cheng
Executive Assistant, CleanDesign
“You made yourselves part of Charlo. You made yourselves part of my story.”
Lia Psomiadis
Founder, Charlo
“We changed our direction of our business and Setsail has been matching that pace each and every time that we made that adjustment.”
Blake Voyer
Microworks Handyman
“I’ll immediately hear from somebody… It’s just handled. It’s just white glove considerate handled without a white glove price tag.”
Melanie Clarance
Co-Founder, AetherEV
“Creating a real strategy with KPIs that aren’t out of touch… this isn’t a pie in the sky story, this is an actionable work plan.”
Lucas Ens
Economic Development Officer, City of Prince George
“We’ve been working with Setsail for 7 years for all our marketing materials, website design, product design, videos, photos. They’ve been great. Responsive, responsible, great materials.”
Larry Knurik
VP Logistics, GVA Brands
“It’s been really easy, smooth, and it’s been a great time, and I’d recommend it to anyone.”
Antonio Zivanovic
Founder, ElektraFi
“Tom and Jason are a thrill to work with… The direction and strategy that they bring to the table is top notch.”
Gordon Lai
Surface 604
“If you’re looking for a marketing team that really gets it and delivers outstanding results, Setsail Marketing is the way to go.”
Sam Atakhanov
Founder, DŌST Bikes
One person can't run your paid acquisition, your email flows, your store and your content calendar. So you get a specialist for each part.
Ecommerce marketing splits into more disciplines than almost any other vertical we serve. Here's who's actually on your account.
Performance marketing lead
Runs paid acquisition across Google and Meta, watching profit per order instead of platform-reported ROAS.
Email and retention strategist
Builds and tunes your Klaviyo flows: welcome, abandoned cart, post‑purchase, win-back, the ones that earn the second order.
CRO and UX specialist
Finds where your product pages and checkout are losing carts, then fixes the page instead of buying more traffic to send at it.
Shopify developer
Builds and maintains the store itself, so a new flow or a new collection doesn't mean waiting on a queue.
The same people on your account from month one to month twelve, not a rotating cast.
Communication and reporting that make marketing the easiest thing on your desk.
From “is this even working?” to watching it work: live portal, monthly report, scheduled calls, or a quick message when something’s on your mind. However you like to work, we’ll match it. Inside the portal: your live dashboard and anything that needs your approval.
01
Day one: you know where you stand
We record your starting numbers before we touch anything, so every win after that is one you can see.
02
Every week: you see it moving
Progress shows up in your portal as it happens, so you never wait for a report to know.
03
Every month: you know what your money bought
What we expected next to what happened, in a report you can read in five minutes.
04
Every cycle: steered
Every 90 days the plan re-forms around what’s working, so your budget keeps flowing to the work that pays.
Plans designed to reach your goals, at a pace that matches your ambition
Ecommerce plans are built around what you actually need run, acquisition, retention, store, or all three. See the full lineup on our pricing page.
PPC for e‑commerce
Paid acquisition judged on profit per order, not on a ROAS number the platform is happy to inflate for you.
Paid acquisition
- Google Shopping and Search campaigns
- Meta and Instagram ad campaigns
- Creative testing and iteration
- Audience and retargeting builds
- Landing page builds for paid traffic
Email and retention marketing
The channel that actually earns the second order: flows, segments and campaigns built in Klaviyo, tuned to your margin, not just your list size.
Email and retention
- Klaviyo and Omnisend flow builds: welcome, abandoned cart, post‑purchase, win-back
- Segmented campaign sends
- List growth and popup strategy
- Deliverability and list hygiene
Ecommerce marketing is a hundred small jobs. Here's every one we do.
Paid acquisition
- Google Shopping and Search campaigns
- Meta and Instagram ad campaigns
- Creative testing and iteration
- Audience and retargeting builds
- Landing page builds for paid traffic
Email and retention
- Klaviyo and Omnisend flow builds: welcome, abandoned cart, post‑purchase, win-back
- Segmented campaign sends
- List growth and popup strategy
- Deliverability and list hygiene
Store and conversion
- Shopify theme design and build
- Product page and checkout improvements
- Site speed and mobile experience
- A/B testing on key pages
Content, social and video
- Organic social content and management
- Product photography direction
- Creator and influencer coordination where relevant
Visibility
- SEO for product and collection pages
What’s included depends on the plan you pick.
If you catch yourself nodding at one of these, book the call
- ✓ Your acquisition cost keeps climbing and the first purchase barely breaks even.
- ✓ You've got a spreadsheet full of ROAS numbers you don't fully trust.
- ✓ You're on Shopify, or should be, and the store hasn't kept up with the brand.
- ✓ Repeat customers matter more to your margin than new ones, but your marketing barely touches them.
- ✓ You sell in more than one place and can't get a straight answer on what's actually working.
- ✓ You've been burned by an agency that reported activity instead of revenue.
If two or three of those sound like your Tuesday, book the call. If none do, we'll tell you that too.
Questions about ecommerce marketing with Setsail
Setsail Marketing
Vancouver, BC + Beaverton, OR
- Clients across Canada and the US
- 500+
- Revenue generated for clients
- $100M+
