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** The Growth Newsletter for
UK DTC Brands
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As we're heading into the business of Q4, September is the perfect opportunity to get clarity before the final push of the year.
From
24th to 27th September, we’re heading back to Gran Canaria for an exclusive DTC Live Retreat at a 5* resort, and with a last-minute drop-out, a rare spot has opened up.
It’s an all-expenses-covered* escape for founders, leaders and decision makers, focused on trends, tactics & transformation (*except flights).
Across four days you’ll join an intimate group of 15 founders and brand leaders for::sparkles:
✨Interactive workshops solving real-life challenges with peers and partners
:sparkles: ✨ Networking opportunities have real conversations about topics that matter
:sparkles: ✨Reset and Recharge with group wellness activities
:sparkles: ✨ Time to actually plan, reflect and recharge in a beautiful setting
By the time you fly home, you’ll have fresh ideas, sharper plans, and made unbelievable new connections to carry into Q4 and beyond.
Find out more information here (https://www.dtclive.com/landing/attend-a-brand-retreat)
👇 and sign up below 👇
Sign Up Here ✏️ (https://2aahovc9gzu.typeform.com/septretreat)
** How to cut through the Q4 chaos, build your 2026 plan
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Annual planning is one of those things we all know we should do, but when Q4 hits, the urgent usually wins over the important. That’s why we built the DTC Live Learning Labs, to give you time, space, and structure to actually plan properly for the year ahead.
This October we’re back with our Annual Planning editions in London and Manchester. These aren’t conferences with endless talks. They’re focused, collaborative workshops designed so you leave with something concrete:
* A plug-and-play planning pack of templates to take back to your team
* Peer insight from other founders and operators facing the same challenges
* Clarity on your priorities so you hit January running, not scrambling
We keep the groups intentionally small so the sessions stay honest and practical, everyone has the chance to share, problem-solve, and benchmark against what’s really working in DTC right now.
Upcoming dates:
🗓️ London: 9th October at Menier Lounge
🗓️ Manchester: 22nd October at Huckletree Ancoats
Both sessions run from 9:00am–3:30pm and include coffee, lunch, and plenty of time for networking in between.
👉 Reserve your spot here:
⭐️London Learning Lab (https://2aahovc9gzu.typeform.com/to/jnwEWzZM)
⭐️Manchester Learning Lab (https://2aahovc9gzu.typeform.com/to/nkYaO9XM)
If your brand has big ambitions for 2026, don’t leave it to chance. Join us in October and build a plan that actually sticks.
** Scaling without chaos
Preparing Your E-commerce Brand for Growth
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Every DTC founder dreams of explosive growth, whether it’s a viral TikTok, influencer shoutout, or Black Friday surge. But sudden growth without the right systems creates chaos: missed orders, shipping delays, and frustrated customers. To scale sustainably, your operations need to be ready before the spike hits.
** The Growth Paradox in E-commerce
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When order volume surges, weak spots appear fast:
* Fragile infrastructure – spreadsheets and manual workflows break.
* Team overload – CX and fulfillment scramble to keep up.
* Data blind spots – no single source of truth for inventory, orders, or customers.
* Declining CX – slower shipping and poor communication erode trust.
** The Foundations of Sustainable Growth
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1. Optimise & Automate Processes
* Map your order-to-delivery workflow.
* Standardise SOPs for fulfilment, returns, and support.
* Automate repetitive tasks like label printing, order updates, and post-purchase emails.
2. Upgrade Your Tech Stack
* Move from spreadsheets to inventory + order management systems.
* Implement scalable CRM + marketing automation for personalized retention flows.
* Use real-time dashboards for inventory, shipping, and customer service.
3. Align & Empower Your Team
* Growth doesn’t always mean hiring more people, sometimes it means better alignment.
* Clarify roles across ops, CX, and marketing.
* Give CX agents tools like macros, FAQs, and self-service portals to handle surges.
4. Strengthen Financial Management
* Track cash flow, margins, and ad spend daily during growth phases.
* Use forecasting tools to anticipate restocks.
* Negotiate better vendor terms and keep a financial buffer for unexpected spikes.
** Operational Readiness in Action
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Smart eCommerce brands prepare before the surge:
* Audit workflows and systems monthly.
* Build contingency plans for peak demand (backup 3PLs, suppliers, or support).
* Keep operations modular so you can scale in blocks, not all at once.
* Bring operations into marketing/sales planning early so campaigns don’t overwhelm fulfillment.
Growth is exciting, but only sustainable growth builds lasting brands. By investing in people, processes, and technology ahead of demand, you’ll scale smoothly, protect customer experience, and turn short-term spikes into long-term loyalty.
Book a call with our CRO expert (https://calendly.com/rainy-city/cro-growth-strategy-call?month=2025-02)
** Paid ads dashboards lie
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Meta shows one number.
Google shows another.
Finance tells you something else.
If you take platform reported ROAS as truth, you will overspend.
Every platform is fighting for attribution, so they will happily take credit for the same.
Here’s how to handle it:
1. Treat in-platform ROAS as directional, not truth
Dashboards are good at showing trend lines, not reality.
If your ROAS suddenly spikes or dips, investigate it, but do not build your growth plan on those numbers alone.
2. Anchor on blended revenue and profit
Instead of asking “what’s my ROAS in Meta” ask “what’s my overall marketing efficiency across all channels.”
When you track MER (marketing efficiency ratio), you see what actually lands in the bank account.
3. Cross-check with finance
Your finance team does not care what Meta says.
They care about real numbers: revenue in, costs out. That is the most honest view of your business.
4. Use third-party tools as a second opinion
They are not perfect either, but they help you spot gaps.
If Meta says 4x and your third-party tool says closer to 2x, the truth is usually somewhere in between.
Platforms want you to spend more.
They will show you the numbers that push you in that direction.
If you want sustainable growth, build your decisions on blended results and profit, not on dashboard promises.
Book a call with our META expert (https://calendly.com/james-jago-rainycityagency/rainy-city-meta-ads-growth-discovery)
Check out our FULL events calendar here 📅 (https://www.dtclive.com/events-calendar)
That's it for this week!
Thank you for reading :)
To help continue to build the DTC Live community, please forward this email on to someone you think might like it. Or if easier, share this link (https://www.dtclive.com/newsletter-sign-up) .
We'll be back with more growth strategies and insights for eCom and tech brands next week.
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