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UK based eCommerce consultant developer

Nobody buys because a page loads half a second faster. But plenty give up quietly when it doesn't. I make Shopify, Shopify Plus and BigCommerce stores easier to buy from, usually by removing things rather than adding them. A rebuild is rarely the answer. It just looks like one.

Start with a FREE call Book paid advisory time Request pricing

start with the quiet losses

Where the money is quietly leaking out

Big problems announce themselves. Small ones just cost you money in silence. These are the places I look first, because they're where the quiet losses hide and where a modest fix pays for itself fast.

  • Speed & performance

    A fast site wins no awards. A slow one loses sales you never knew you had. I find the heavy scripts and clutter that make people leave before they decide to.

  • UX & friction

    People rarely leave over one big flaw. They leave over a dozen small irritations. Remove the friction and the same traffic converts better.

  • App-stack bloat

    Every app felt essential on install day. Half are now just a monthly fee and a speed tax. Cutting the dead weight saves money and speeds things up at once.

  • Theme & front-end

    A messy theme is a shop with a wonky door. Nobody complains. They just assume you're not quite serious and shop elsewhere.

  • Search & discovery

    Someone who searches is telling you what they want to buy. Fumble that moment and you're ignoring cash waved at the counter. I make the search box listen.

  • Product & collection pages

    This is where the decision is made, not on the homepage you spent all your time on. The right layout and reassurance here is worth more than almost anything else.

  • Checkout & conversion

    The checkout is where good intentions go to die. Every surprise and extra field is an exit sign. I take them out, so full baskets become finished orders more often.

  • Landing & campaign pages

    Sending paid traffic to a general page is like inviting people to dinner and pointing at the fridge. Purpose-built pages turn a costly click into an order.

  • Simplification

    Complexity is a cost you pay every day without noticing. Untangling it makes the store cheaper to run, easier to change and nicer to buy from.

  • Polishing

    The final touches, consistent spacing, type and small details, signal that you can be trusted. People judge your competence on things they never consciously notice.

  • Images & asset delivery

    Images are usually the heaviest thing on a page and the easiest to fix. Modern formats and sensible loading strip real weight off without touching your copy.

  • The unknown unknowns

    The costliest problems are the ones nobody flagged, because nobody looked. My favourite part of the job is finding the quiet issue you didn't know you had.

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Dear UK brand owner,

Your store is almost certainly leaving money on the table, politely and every single day.

You have the stock, the traffic, the customers and a real business. But somewhere between the ad they clicked and the order you hoped for, friction creeps in. A slow page, a confusing step, a search box that shrugs. Each one looks trivial. Together they're the most expensive thing you own, and the least visible.

The reflex is a rebuild, because a big new thing feels like a big new answer. But most of the value hides in the boring bits you already have. Give me an afternoon under the bonnet and I'll usually find more upside there than a six-month rebuild, at a fraction of the cost.

Best,

Luke Michael

UK-based eCommerce consultant & developer

Isometric pixel-art workspace with a developer improving an online shop

I fix the boring things that quietly decide whether people buy.

I'm Luke Michael, a UK eCommerce consultant and developer with over twenty years in-house, agency-side and freelance. In short, I've seen most of the ways a store goes wrong, and plenty of the ways it goes right.

I'm most useful to brands already trading: real customers, products, data, and the usual pile of things that should have been sorted months ago. Real constraints are where the interesting work lives.

Sometimes I'm called in to fix one specific, maddening thing. Sometimes to cast a sceptical eye over a theme, an app stack or an agency proposal before anyone signs anything. The brief changes. The job stays the same: find where the value hides and go and get it.

What I won't do is nudge you toward a rebuild because it sounds impressive. Nine times out of ten the smarter, cheaper answer is to strip out what's slowing you down and sharpen what already works. Less spectacle, more results.

Start with a FREE call Book paid advisory time Request pricing

Consultancy

The cheapest thing you can buy in this business is a good opinion before you spend the money, not after. Planning a new site, a redesign or a platform move? An independent second brain in the room tends to pay for itself many times over.

The point isn't to tread on anyone's toes.
It's to help you ask sharper questions, understand the answers,
and spend your budget on what actually moves the needle.

slow down here to speed up later

How I turn a vague ambition into something you can sign off

A mix of old methods that refuse to stop working and the modern ones worth keeping. The idea is simple: slow down at the start, with paper, questions and cheap experiments, so the expensive part later runs fast and without surprises. Being wrong on a napkin is cheaper than being wrong in production.

  1. Discovery & strategy

    I uncover the goal, context and constraints first, so everyone agrees what success means before work begins.

  2. Rapid wireframing

    Rough wireframes test layout and priorities quickly, keeping early conversations focused on function, not polish.

  3. Get it right on paper

    Paper settles structure and the buying journey while changes still cost seconds, not development time.

  4. Interactive prototypes

    Clickable prototypes reveal awkward flows early, before code makes those problems slower and costlier to fix.

  5. Stakeholder buy-in

    A tangible prototype gives everyone something clear to assess, helping real decisions happen before delivery starts.

  6. High-fidelity mock-ups

    Polished mock-ups show exactly what will be built, removing guesswork and expensive surprises before development begins.

  7. Clear scopes & estimates

    Plain-language scopes define what is included, what is not and what each phase costs before work starts.

  8. Phased delivery plans

    Work is sequenced by value and risk, so useful improvements launch early instead of waiting for one big release.

  9. Build, test & handover

    The finished work is tested, released cleanly and handed over so your team can run it confidently without me.

1 / 3

Development

The unglamorous business of actually shipping it.

Once the priorities are clear and agreed, the approved changes become production-ready work you can test, measure and keep. No mystery, and no code only I can understand.

What I do vs what I don't

Knowing what I won't do is worth more than another list of what I will. Here's the honest version of both, so you can tell in about thirty seconds whether we'll get on. Saying no to the wrong work keeps me useful on the right work.

  • Work with active, trading brands that already have real traffic, products and customers.
  • Make focused improvements to stores you already own: templates, landing pages, product pages, UX refinements and useful custom work.
  • Remove conversion blockers like broken layouts, mobile issues, theme bugs and awkward journeys.
  • Audit speed, UX, app stacks, themes and proposals, then tell you plainly what to fix first and what to leave alone.
  • Advise on platform, app and implementation decisions to cut complexity before your team commits to an expensive path.

1 / 1

tools should earn their keep

The platforms I actually know, not just recognise.

I work across the usual eCommerce and content platforms, with the deepest roots in Shopify and Shopify Plus. The platform matters less than most people fear. The best one is almost always the one that fits how you already sell.

Shopify

Where most quiet wins live

Best for established SMB and mid-market stores that want real, practical improvements without the weight, or the bill, of enterprise machinery they'll never fully use.

Shopify Plus

For when things get complicated

For higher-volume brands juggling multiple markets, heavier integrations and stricter operational demands, where the extra power earns its keep.

BigCommerce

Genuine hands-on depth

Stencil theme work, storefront improvements, product and category changes, front-end fixes, and the practical things that make a BigCommerce store work better.

WooCommerce

Practical trading improvements

Store improvements, product templates, checkout reviews, theme fixes, and untangling the plugin conflicts WooCommerce is quietly famous for.

notes from the workbench

Latest notes

Occasional notes on eCommerce strategy, conversion and psychology, and on getting things built without the drama. Mostly they argue that the smallest, dullest change is the one hiding the biggest return.

  • Strategy

    Does your store actually need a rebuild?

    Most brands asking for a full rebuild don't need one. Here's how to tell the difference between a genuine platform problem and a handful of fixable ones.

    Read the note
  • Conversion

    The quiet handbrakes slowing down your checkout

    Conversion rarely dies in one dramatic moment. It leaks away through small points of friction — most of them cheap to fix once you know where to look.

    Read the note
  • Retention

    Subscriptions are a promise, not just a payment

    Recurring revenue is wonderful until churn eats it. The brands that win at subscriptions treat the ongoing relationship as the product, not the discount.

    Read the note
  • Process

    Wireframes save money (slow down to speed up)

    A wireframe is the cheapest place in a project to be wrong. Sketching first feels slower — and it's exactly why the build ends up faster and calmer.

    Read the note
  • Strategy

    The best time to prepare for peak is now, not November

    The brands that sail through Black Friday do their hard work in summer. By peak season the plan is boring and rehearsed, which is exactly the point.

    Read the note
  • Analytics

    Stop drowning in dashboards and watch four numbers

    Most stores have more data than they'll ever use and less insight than they need. The fix is fewer numbers, checked more honestly, more often.

    Read the note
  • Retention

    You already paid to win these customers, now keep them

    Chasing new buyers gets more expensive every year. The cheapest growth on the table is the customers who already trust you and bought once.

    Read the note
  • UX

    The customers who search are the ones ready to buy

    Shoppers who use your search box convert far higher than everyone else — which is exactly why a lazy search box is such an expensive thing to ignore.

    Read the note
  • Performance

    Site speed matters, but not the way most people think

    You don't need a perfect score. You need a store that feels instant on a mid-range phone on average data — and that's a different, calmer goal.

    Read the note
  • Conversion

    The product page is where the sale is won or lost

    Traffic gets people to the product page. What's on that page decides whether they buy — and most of them are missing the same few basics.

    Read the note
  • Apps

    Your app stack is quietly costing you speed and money

    Every app you install adds a monthly fee, a bit of code and a little risk. Most stores I audit are paying for apps nobody has opened in a year.

    Read the note
  • Migration

    When a replatform is the wrong answer

    Moving platforms is expensive, risky and slow. Often the thing you actually need is a good week of focused fixes on the store you already have.

    Read the note
  • Strategy

    Shopify or BigCommerce, and how to actually decide

    Both platforms are excellent. The right one for you depends on how you sell, not on which brand shouts loudest — here's how to choose calmly.

    Read the note
  • Process

    Estimates you can actually trust

    A number pulled from the air helps no one. Honest estimates come with their assumptions attached and room for what you can't yet see.

    Read the note
  • Process

    The handover that lets your team run

    Work isn't really delivered until your team can maintain it without the person who built it. A good handover is part of the job, not a favour.

    Read the note
  • Process

    Ship in phases, not in one big bang

    Big-bang launches concentrate all the risk into one nervy day. Phased delivery ships value sooner and keeps problems small.

    Read the note
  • Process

    A QA process that catches the real bugs

    Good testing isn't clicking around hoping something breaks — it's checking the journeys that actually make you money, on purpose.

    Read the note
  • Process

    Sign-off without the drama

    Sign-off goes wrong when it's a surprise at the end — decide who approves what, and when, long before anything is finished.

    Read the note
  • Process

    Write a brief worth reading

    A good brief isn't long — it's clear. It tells whoever picks it up what you want, why it matters, and how you'll know it worked.

    Read the note
  • Process

    How to get the best from your agency

    A good agency relationship isn't about watching them closely — it's about giving them what they need to do their best work for you.

    Read the note
  • Process

    A roadmap you will actually use

    A roadmap isn't a promise carved in stone — it's a shared sense of what matters next, and it should be easy to change when reality does.

    Read the note
  • Process

    Discovery comes first (build second)

    The urge to start building is strong, but an afternoon of good questions saves you from building the wrong thing beautifully.

    Read the note
  • Process

    Scope it properly before you start

    Most projects don't go wrong in the build — they go wrong in the fuzzy bit at the start where nobody quite agreed what "done" meant.

    Read the note
  • Process

    Prototype before you build (it's cheaper to be wrong early)

    A clickable prototype lets you feel the friction before a line of code exists — and change your mind while changing it still costs minutes.

    Read the note
  • Performance

    Measure speed like your customers feel it

    A green lab score and a slow real store can happily coexist. Field data, from actual visitors, is the number that matters.

    Read the note
  • Performance

    Web fonts without the wait

    Custom fonts make a brand feel right, but done carelessly they hold up your text or make it jump. A few small choices fix that.

    Read the note
  • Performance

    Caching and CDNs in plain English

    You don't need to be an engineer to grasp what a CDN and caching do. Understanding the basics helps you ask better questions and spend wisely.

    Read the note
  • Performance

    Give your theme a performance budget

    Stores get slow one small addition at a time. A simple performance budget turns speed from an afterthought into a rule everyone follows.

    Read the note
  • Performance

    Speed on a phone is the only speed that counts

    Most of your traffic is on mid-range phones on patchy connections. If the store only feels fast on your laptop, it isn't fast.

    Read the note
  • Performance

    Stop your pages jumping about as they load

    That maddening moment when a button shifts just as you tap it has a name and a fix — and it's costing you more sales than you'd guess.

    Read the note
  • Performance

    Fixing the score that measures your first impression

    LCP is just how long until the biggest thing on your page shows up — and it's usually one image standing between you and a fast store.

    Read the note
  • Performance

    Taming the scripts you didn't write

    Chat widgets, ad pixels and analytics tags are often the slowest thing on your store, and you can usually rein them in without losing them.

    Read the note
  • Performance

    Lazy loading done right, not just switched on

    Lazy loading can make a store feel instant or leave it flickering and jumping — the difference is which images you tell it to wait on.

    Read the note
  • Performance

    The hidden cost of every app you install

    Each app you add ships its own code to every visitor, and it adds up faster than you'd think — here's how to spot the ones dragging you down.

    Read the note
  • Performance

    Images that don't weigh your store down

    Images are usually the heaviest thing on a page and the easiest to fix — here's how I get them light without making them look worse.

    Read the note
  • Migration

    Budgeting a migration honestly

    The build fee is the part everyone quotes and the smallest part of the real cost. Budget for the work around it or the project will bite.

    Read the note
  • Migration

    Watching the first two weeks after launch

    A migration isn't finished at go-live. The fortnight after is when quiet problems surface, so that's when to pay closest attention.

    Read the note
  • Migration

    QA a migration before you flip the switch

    Most launch-day disasters were findable the day before. A calm, structured check beats crossing your fingers at go-live.

    Read the note
  • Migration

    The content freeze nobody warns you about

    Migrating while the old site keeps changing is how data drifts and things go missing. A short, planned freeze saves a lot of pain.

    Read the note
  • Migration

    WooCommerce to Shopify, and what to expect

    Moving from WooCommerce to Shopify can simplify your life, but only if you plan the data, the URLs and the habits you'll have to change.

    Read the note
  • Migration

    When moving up to Shopify Plus is worth it

    Plus is a real step up in power and price. It rewards some businesses handsomely and quietly overcharges others for features they never touch.

    Read the note
  • Migration

    When to launch a migration without hurting sales

    The date you go live matters almost as much as the work itself. Pick the wrong week and even a good migration can cost you real money.

    Read the note
  • Migration

    Should you rebuild the design or bring your theme with you

    Migrating platforms tempts everyone into a full redesign at the same time. Sometimes that is right, and often it doubles your risk for no good reason.

    Read the note
  • Migration

    The data mistakes that turn a migration into a nightmare

    Moving products and customers sounds like a copy and paste job. It is not, and the gaps only show up once real orders start coming in.

    Read the note
  • Migration

    Redirects are the part of a migration people forget

    A clean redirect map is the difference between keeping your hard-won search traffic and quietly handing it back to Google on launch day.

    Read the note
  • Migration

    How to tell if you are actually ready to replatform

    Readiness is not about wanting a new store. It is about having the clarity, the data and the team time to survive the move without hurting sales.

    Read the note
  • Conversion

    Social proof that does the work

    Reviews and ratings reassure far better than your own copy ever will, but only when they're specific, visible and honest.

    Read the note
  • Conversion

    Let people check out as guests

    Forcing an account before purchase is one of the oldest conversion killers going. Let people buy first and invite them to save details after.

    Read the note
  • Conversion

    Your category pages do more selling than you realise

    Everyone polishes the product page and forgets the page that decides which product people ever reach in the first place.

    Read the note
  • Conversion

    Cross-sell should help not hustle

    Done well, suggesting extras feels like good service. Done badly, it feels like a pushy salesperson blocking the door on your way out.

    Read the note
  • Conversion

    Honest urgency beats a fake countdown every time

    Real scarcity nudges people to decide. Invented scarcity teaches them not to believe you, and that costs far more than it earns.

    Read the note
  • Conversion

    Every form field is a question you should have to earn

    Each box you ask a customer to fill in is a small favour you're requesting. Ask for too many and even willing buyers start to resent you.

    Read the note
  • Conversion

    A slow site is a shut door

    Speed isn't a technical nicety, it's a conversion lever. Every extra second you make people wait is a small tax on your revenue.

    Read the note
  • Conversion

    Trust is built in small moments not grand gestures

    New visitors arrive braced for disappointment. The stores that win are the ones that quietly answer "can I trust you?" before anyone has to ask.

    Read the note
  • Conversion

    Most of your shoppers are on a phone and your site knows it

    You design on a big screen but sell on a small one. The gap between those two is where a surprising number of your sales quietly go missing.

    Read the note
  • Conversion

    The friction in your checkout is quieter than you think

    Most abandoned checkouts aren't caused by price. They're caused by small moments of doubt you can't see because you already know the answers.

    Read the note
  • Apps

    When your theme can quietly replace an app

    Themes and checkout do far more natively than they used to. Before you pay monthly for a feature, check whether you already own it.

    Read the note
  • Apps

    How to vet an app before you install it

    Every app you add is a small partnership with someone else's code. A ten-minute check before you install saves hours of untangling later.

    Read the note
  • Apps

    Subscription apps that fit your model, not the other way round

    Subscriptions can be brilliant or a support nightmare. The difference is usually choosing the tool to fit how you sell, not reshaping your business around an app.

    Read the note
  • Apps

    How to keep app sprawl from taking over

    App stacks grow one small decision at a time. A little governance stops yours becoming an expensive tangle nobody understands.

    Read the note
  • Apps

    Uninstalling an app without leaving a mess behind

    Deleting an app rarely deletes all of it. Leftover code lingers in your theme, slowing things down long after the fee has stopped.

    Read the note
  • Apps

    Do you actually need a loyalty app

    Points and rewards sound lovely, but a loyalty app only earns its fee if it changes behaviour you can measure.

    Read the note
  • Apps

    Upsell apps that help instead of annoy

    Upsell and cross-sell apps can lift your order value or drive people away. The difference is nearly always restraint.

    Read the note
  • Apps

    The hidden cost of page builder apps

    Page builders make it easy to ship pretty landing pages. They also make it easy to bloat your store and lock yourself in.

    Read the note
  • Apps

    When a paid search app is worth the money

    Native search is fine for small catalogues. Once you grow, a dedicated search app can quietly become one of your best-earning tools.

    Read the note
  • Apps

    How to choose a reviews app without regret

    Reviews apps all promise social proof, but they differ in the ways that actually matter. Here's what I look at before recommending one.

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  • Apps

    Should you build it or just install an app

    Custom code and off-the-shelf apps both have their place. The trick is knowing which one you're actually reaching for and why.

    Read the note
  • Analytics

    A reporting rhythm you can actually keep

    Checking numbers every hour helps nobody. A steady weekly and monthly rhythm gives you clarity without the anxiety.

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  • Analytics

    Benchmarking without fooling yourself

    Industry averages can steady you or mislead you. Here is how to use benchmarks as a sanity check rather than a stick to beat yourself with.

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  • Analytics

    Cohorts and lifetime value made simple

    Lifetime value sounds like a finance exam. In truth it is just grouping customers by when they joined and watching how they behave.

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  • Analytics

    Telling vanity metrics apart from the ones that pay you

    Some numbers feel great and change nothing. Learn to spot them so you can spend your attention on the metrics that move money.

    Read the note
  • Analytics

    Consent mode and the data gaps nobody warns you about

    When visitors decline cookies your numbers get holes in them. Here is how to stay legal and still understand what is happening.

    Read the note
  • Analytics

    Server-side tagging explained without the jargon

    Server-side tagging sounds like a big scary project. Here is what it actually does, and an honest take on whether you need it yet.

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  • Analytics

    Measure your checkout funnel before you tinker with it

    You cannot fix a checkout you cannot see. A simple funnel shows you exactly where people give up and how much it costs you.

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  • Analytics

    Build the dashboard you will actually open

    A dashboard nobody reads is just decoration. Build one for a person and a decision, and it earns its place.

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  • Analytics

    Why attribution will never tell you the whole truth

    Attribution models look precise, but they are educated guesses. Treat them as a compass, not a receipt, and you will make calmer decisions.

    Read the note
  • Analytics

    The handful of events actually worth tracking

    You can track everything or you can track what matters. Most stores would learn more from five good events than fifty noisy ones.

    Read the note
  • Analytics

    A calm way to set up GA4 that you will not regret

    GA4 gets a bad name mostly because it is set up in a rush. A slow, tidy start saves you months of confusing numbers later.

    Read the note
  • UX

    Too much choice stalls the sale

    Endless options feel generous but often freeze the shopper. A little guidance and sensible defaults help people actually decide.

    Read the note
  • UX

    Empty states and errors deserve care

    The empty search, the failed payment, the out-of-stock page. These unglamorous moments quietly decide whether people stay or leave.

    Read the note
  • UX

    Reassurance at the moment of doubt

    Buying online is a small act of trust. Put your reassurances exactly where the hesitation happens and more people follow through.

    Read the note
  • UX

    Forms people don't dread

    Every field you ask for is a small tax on the sale. The best forms ask for less, explain themselves, and get out of the way.

    Read the note
  • UX

    Microcopy that quietly guides

    The tiny words on buttons, labels and errors do a surprising amount of the work. Get them right and the whole journey feels effortless.

    Read the note
  • UX

    Accessibility helps everyone buy

    Accessibility isn't a compliance chore bolted on at the end. The things that help disabled customers make the store clearer for everyone.

    Read the note
  • UX

    A product page that answers every question

    A shopper buys when their last worry is gone. The best product pages quietly answer every question before it's asked.

    Read the note
  • UX

    The cart is not a waiting room

    The basket is where hesitation lives — a few honest details here can be the difference between a sale and a silent exit.

    Read the note
  • UX

    Filters that help people decide

    Good filtering turns an overwhelming category into a short, confident shortlist — and that shortlist is where sales happen.

    Read the note
  • UX

    Mobile is your main shop now

    Most of your visitors are on a phone, held one-handed, half-distracted — design for that reality and your numbers follow.

    Read the note
  • UX

    Navigation people can actually follow

    Your menu is a promise about where things live. When it lies, people bounce — here's how to make it tell the truth.

    Read the note
  • Strategy

    Knowing when good enough is enough

    Polishing something that already works is one of the most expensive habits in eCommerce. Ship it, learn, and spend the effort where it counts.

    Read the note
  • Strategy

    Don't chase every sales channel

    Marketplaces, social shops and every new platform all promise growth. Spreading yourself thin across them usually costs more than it earns.

    Read the note
  • Strategy

    Pricing and margin deserve a seat at the table

    Teams obsess over traffic and conversion while leaving pricing untouched for years. It's often the fastest lever on profit you have.

    Read the note
  • Strategy

    A roadmap you will actually follow

    Most eCommerce roadmaps are wishlists in disguise — here's how to build one that survives contact with a real, busy week.

    Read the note
  • Strategy

    Selling abroad without the headache

    Going international is less about translation and more about trust — the small local details that tell a shopper you actually want their business.

    Read the note
  • Strategy

    Build it or buy it, and how to tell

    Building something custom feels like control and buying feels like a compromise — but the honest maths usually points the other way.

    Read the note
  • Strategy

    When to hire and when to outsource

    The choice between hiring someone and bringing in an outside team isn't about cost — it's about how often you'll actually need the work done.

    Read the note
  • Strategy

    Watching competitors without losing the plot

    A little competitor research keeps you sharp; too much makes you a nervous copy of someone else — here's how to stay on the useful side of that line.

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  • Strategy

    How to work out what to fix first

    When everything on your store feels broken, the trick isn't working harder — it's picking the one fix that pays for itself before the others.

    Read the note
  • Retention

    Remind people before they run out

    If you sell anything consumable, a well-timed replenishment reminder is one of the easiest repeat sales there is. Most stores never send it.

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  • Retention

    Retention is cheaper than the next sale

    Winning a brand-new customer costs far more than keeping one you already have. Yet most budgets pour into acquisition and starve retention.

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  • Retention

    Segment your list, or shout into the void

    Sending the same email to everyone trains people to ignore you. A few sensible segments make each message feel like it was meant for them.

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  • Retention

    SMS that people actually welcome

    A text message lands in the most personal place a brand can reach. Earn it with restraint and relevance, or lose it fast.

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  • Retention

    Asking for reviews without being a nuisance

    Reviews build the trust that keeps people buying, but ask at the wrong moment and you just annoy the customer you worked to win.

    Read the note
  • Retention

    What lifetime value really tells you

    LTV is one of those numbers people quote to sound clever. Used properly it quietly settles most of your hardest decisions.

    Read the note
  • Retention

    Winning back customers before they drift away

    A customer rarely decides to leave you. They just quietly stop, and a well-timed nudge can catch them before the gap becomes a habit.

    Read the note
  • Retention

    The post-purchase experience most stores forget

    The gap between "order confirmed" and the parcel landing is prime time to build trust, yet most stores fill it with silence.

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  • Retention

    Loyalty programmes worth the effort

    Most points schemes reward people for buying things they'd have bought anyway. A good one changes behaviour, not just the receipt.

    Read the note
  • Retention

    Lifecycle email that earns its keep

    Broadcast blasts are the loud part of email. The quiet automated flows are the part that quietly pays your wages every month.

    Read the note

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The questions people ask before they trust me

Straight answers to what brands actually want to know before starting: consultancy, development, platforms and how this works in practice.

Do you work with Shopify, Shopify Plus, BigCommerce and WooCommerce?

Yes, all four, with the deepest roots in Shopify and Shopify Plus. Usually I'm helping active brands get more from the platform they're already on, rather than talking them onto a different one.

Do you only offer development, or consultancy too?

Both, and they work best together. Many engagements start with a little consultancy to decide what's actually worth doing, which is how you avoid building the wrong thing beautifully.

Can you review agency proposals and quotes before we commit?

Yes, and it's some of the most cost-effective work I do. I'll give you plain notes on the risks, the assumptions and the bits that round number tends to leave out.

Can you support us during agency or supplier calls?

Yes, by arrangement. I'll join as an independent technical voice to help you ask the questions you didn't know to ask, which is where the real leverage usually sits.

Do you take on full rebuilds from day one?

Rarely as a first step. I normally begin with focused consultancy or a targeted piece of work. A rebuild is the most expensive answer to a question we haven't properly asked. Often you don't need one.

What kinds of improvements do you typically deliver?

Performance fixes, product and collection template improvements, smoother conversion journeys, tidier app stacks, and the small refinements that quietly decide whether people buy.

Do you provide one-off advice as well as ongoing support?

Yes. Book one-off advisory input for a single decision, or carry on into implementation if it makes sense. No obligation after the first conversation.

Is your advice independent if we are already working with an agency?

Completely. I work independently and can advise around your existing agency or freelancer without replacing them. A genuinely disinterested opinion is a rare, useful thing to have in the room.

What tools and integrations do you typically work with?

Common stacks include Klaviyo, Yotpo, Klevu, Algolia, Searchanise, subscription tooling, Shopify Flow and the usual suspects. I care more about whether a tool earns its keep than about collecting logos.

Want a clear next step, not another expensive maybe?

Start with a FREE fit call, or book paid advisory time if you already have a live, specific problem worth solving. Either way you'll leave with something useful.

Start with a FREE call Book paid advisory time Request pricing