D2C brands are live spreadsheets. Unit economics are visible, brutal, and real-time. Shopify vs custom platform is a years-long decision that shapes profitability. Customer retention is everything; acquisition cost is known. Fulfillment tech directly impacts margin and customer satisfaction. Consult Saksham has helped D2C brands architect platform decisions, build retention analytics, and design fulfillment systems that turn unit economics positive. Since 2012, the practice understands that D2C tech succeeds when it's measured constantly against customer LTV and unit profit.
D2C brands live on math. Unit economics are transparent and brutal. Shopify handles $X in GMV with Y% margin. Custom platform costs Z upfront but saves margin on every order. Retention LTV determines profitability. The platform and fulfillment architecture that works is the one that improves unit economics, not the one that's architecturally elegant.
The practice has advised D2C brands on Shopify vs custom vs headless decisions. The frame is always unit economics: what architecture maximizes contribution margin per customer? Not total revenue, not traffic, but actual profit after CAC.
Consult Saksham has built retention systems, email automation, and customer segmentation for D2C brands. The goal is to move each cohort from CAC breakeven to positive LTV. Analytics inform messaging, discount strategy, and product assortment. Data drives unit economics.
The practice has designed fulfillment platforms and logistics integration for D2C brands. Fulfillment cost is the second-largest line item after CAC. Systems that reduce packing time, optimize box selection, and integrate with shipping carriers directly improve unit margin and customer satisfaction.
Three to four weeks. Principal-led platform, data, and delivery review with a written plan.
Monthly retainer at the right cadence for the stage. Weekly call, hire panels, board prep.
Build, buy, partner across the D2C Brands-relevant use cases. Governance and economics included.
Ten to fifteen business days. Investor memo, 100-day plan, direct readout.
The brand was growing but unit economics were deteriorating. Cohort retention was declining and fulfilment costs kept climbing. The founding team suspected the data was telling them something but couldn’t see the pattern.
Saksham built a cohort analytics pipeline that revealed the retention drop was concentrated in specific acquisition channels. Fulfilment optimization reduced unit costs by 28%. LTV increased 35% by redirecting spend to channels with better long-term cohort behavior. Margin improved without a single price increase.
The first conversation is thirty minutes. By the end of it, the shape of the engagement is clear.