How This Ecommerce Agency Achieved 100% Contribution Margin Growth for Clients

The way to approach e-commerce has shifted dramatically. With the pandemic accelerating digital adoption and rising customer acquisition costs (CAC), agencies have been forced to adopt a more holistic approach, blending marketing and finance teams.

Leading Social, an ecommerce agency based in Dublin, embraced this evolution. In summer 2023, they partnered with StoreHero to deliver more accurate results for their DTC brand clients. Within just one year, they not only reduced operational inefficiencies but also eliminated the frustration of inflated and overlapping ROAS reports from traditional ad platforms. This led to remarkable outcomes, including a surge in new customer acquisition and a significant boost in Contribution Margins.

Leading Social is a Finance & Ecommerce Agency led by Leighton Penrose, specializing in expert strategies across paid advertising, creative content, and customer retention. The agency serves renowned brands like Sosu Cosmetics, Vacious, Parke & Ronen, Troscriptions, Amico Fashion, Bahama Skin, and Mantra. Known for their Profit-First Approach to Paid Advertising, Leading Social has established an international presence, delivering measurable growth and profitability for their clients.

As a finance and e-commerce agency focused on driving growth for DTC brands, Leading Social relied on multiple tools like Shopify, Google Analytics, and Klaviyo to track performance metrics such as ROAS, CTR, and sales. While their ads were clearly driving client success, the reporting process was unreliable, as each platform overstated results by claiming duplicated attribution.

Leighton Penrose and his team realized they needed a better way to simplify reporting, and gain real-time insights to anticipate client needs. They aimed to evolve into a more profit-first approach that empowered their marketing team to access actionable data, develop strategies, and make informed decisions—without constantly relying on finance teams. In other words, they needed to blend marketing and finance data.

By the summer of 2023, Leading Social had fully integrated StoreHero into their daily operations. The process began with a seamless onboarding, enabling the team to quickly connect their clients’ Shopify stores to the StoreHero platform. The ease of setup and comprehensive educational resources ensured that the team could hit the ground running.

For Leading Social, delivering exceptional client service means going beyond standard reporting. Client onboarding became a collaborative effort between the agency and StoreHero, with the process tailored to meet each brand’s unique needs. This “shoulder-to-shoulder” approach ensured that clients were set up for success. StoreHero account managers provided walkthroughs for founders or CMOs, fostering transparency and equipping stakeholders with actionable insights

StoreHero’s features became indispensable to Leading Social’s operations. The LTV section of the platform provided invaluable insights into new versus repeat customers, enabling the team to measure client performance with precision. This visibility into customer profitability created opportunities to craft data-driven strategies, ensuring their marketing efforts aligned with client growth goals.

The Creative section of the platform was equally transformative for this ecommerce agency. Agencies often face pressure to prioritize visually appealing ads, but functionality and performance ultimately drive success. The section section offered detailed, data-backed insights, breaking down individual assets to reveal which campaigns and creatives generated the most revenue. This empowered the team to balance aesthetics with strategy, confidently guiding clients toward ads that were not only visually appealing but also highly effective.

With StoreHero’s unified and simplified dashboard, Leading Social was able to quickly identify how sales performance aligned with marketing activities. This eliminated the need for time-consuming P&L report compilations, giving the team more time to focus on strategy and driving impactful results for their clients.

Partnering with StoreHero delivered transformative results for Leading Social and their clients, solidifying the agency’s reputation for driving profitable growth.

• Significant Contribution Margin Growth: A 7-figure apparel brand increased its Contribution Margin by 33% without raising ad spend, while a jewelry brand achieved a 107% increase in new customers and a 132% boost in Contribution Margin.

• Streamlined Operations: By automating reporting and unifying data across platforms, StoreHero saved Leading Social countless hours that would otherwise be spent compiling P&L reports or cross-referencing tools like Shopify and Google Analytics. This efficiency enabled the team to focus on creating impactful strategies rather than managing data.

• Improved Client Insights: Real-time metrics like MER, Contribution Margin, and new vs. repeat customers empowered smarter, more profitable decisions.

• Enhanced client relationship: By merging finance and marketing, Leading Social created a unique service offering that became a key driver for gaining new client partnerships.