The Client
A specialty gift company focusing on gourmet food baskets and curated gift collections. Operating in the competitive e-commerce gift market, the business is highly seasonal with predictable holiday spikes and needed to differentiate through superior customer experience and data-driven marketing.
The Challenge
By mid-2024, the brand faced several critical email marketing challenges. Deliverability issues meant campaigns weren't reaching customer inboxes. There was over-reliance on email with no SMS strategy, heavy dependence on manual one-time campaigns versus automated flows, basic segmentation without customer lifecycle understanding, and unclear attribution of marketing impact on revenue. The result was stagnant email performance despite a growing customer base, with limited scalability and missed opportunities for retention and cross-selling.
The Solution
We implemented a three-phase transformation over 18 months, focusing on infrastructure first, then integration, then intelligence — building systematically rather than jumping to advanced tactics.
- Resolved deliverability issues through complete email infrastructure audit, list cleaning, proper authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), and consistent sending patterns
- Launched SMS channel with welcome series, abandoned cart sequences, and time-sensitive promotions — creating a cross-channel customer journey
- Rebuilt entire flow architecture including welcome series, enhanced abandoned cart, browse abandonment, post-purchase, retention, and customer lifecycle automation
- Integrated Reviews.io with automated review request flows, review-triggered cross-sell sequences, and review-based customer segmentation
- Implemented advanced RFM analytics with 17 distinct customer segments, predictive analytics, and Facebook lookalike audience integration
- Connected Claude AI analytics through MCP for real-time Klaviyo data access, automated reporting, and data-driven optimization workflows
The Results
- 205% year-over-year growth in attributed revenue
- 84.45% of revenue from automated flows — up from a campaign-heavy model, proving the power of automation-first strategy
- 21.58% of revenue from SMS — a channel that didn't exist before, complementing rather than cannibalizing email
- $43,670 in attributed revenue in a single 30-day period with a 25.39% attribution rate
- 17 active RFM segments enabling precise targeting, predictive analytics, and cross-platform integration with Facebook advertising
- Reviews.io cross-sell flow achieving 6.0% click rate (vs. typical 2–3%), indicating strong customer engagement with social proof
Key Takeaway
The 205% growth wasn't achieved through a single tactic — it came from methodical infrastructure building. By solving foundational issues first (deliverability, automation), then adding strategic integrations (SMS, Reviews.io), and finally layering intelligence (RFM analytics, Claude AI), each phase amplified the one before it. The shift from campaign-heavy to flow-heavy (84.45% from automated flows) created scalable, sustainable growth that doesn't depend on manual effort. Foundation first, complexity later — that's how you turn a seasonal gift business into a consistent revenue driver.
