Firestone Digital is unique in the world of Shopify Agencies. Where most have built businesses around the bustling world of eCommerce, Samantha Firestone, Director of Firestone Digital, and her team have taken the view that the world's best retailers are those who have embraced an omnichannel strategy to grow their revenue, strengthen customer relationships, and future-proof their businesses.
And Sam’s right. Research shows us that consumers are demanding a consistent customer experience no matter how they choose to shop. Meanwhile, retailers are increasingly looking for experts, like Sam, to identify the technology they need to deliver that experience.
The way Sam sees it, retail is about more than margins and stock on hand.
“I believe that people like to buy from people, and the reality is many of our retailers sell similar products as their competitors. For my clients, it's important that the in-store experience creates a unique connection with the consumer and that the customer feels comfortable in-store. We extend that to our client's Shopify store, where it's critical that the feeling a customer gets online reflects the experience they get in-store.”
Developing a data-driven omnichannel strategy
Behind the aesthetics of customer experience is the data, and this is where an Omnichannel strategy comes into its own. Having a marketable customer database is native to eCommerce, however, a true omnichannel strategy captures customer purchasing data wherever the customer chooses to shop – and this is what led Sam to Marsello.
“Make no mistake about it; a customer database is the most valuable thing you can have as a retailer. Established customers are people who have already visited your store; they've already joined your community, they have already purchased from you – these are the people you want to sell to.”
But without a solution to seamlessly capture instore purchasing the data, retailers are only seeing half of the picture:
“This is what I love about Marsello! It integrates with Point-of-Sale so that the marketing activity we are running is driven by all purchasing behavior, both in-store and online.”
Creating a go-to tech stack
We all have our favorite ‘go-tos’. Firestone Digital's 'essential’ technology recommendations are chosen to support a retail strategy that they know works.
“I always have a recommended tech stack. The truth is my clients want advice; they want someone else to do the hard work to find out what's out there! We always recommend Shopify for eCommerce, Lightspeed for POS, and Marsello for marketing. We also have a suite of products we add to the mix as needed. It's important to us that we have a relationship with the apps we recommend. This means we know the developers, we work closely with them, and we trust them to support our clients as well as we do.”
One of Sam’s clients, Frankie Say Relax, launched with Marsello at the beginning of June this year with Firestone’s tech stack (including Marsello). By using a combination of automation, targeted one-off email campaigns, SMS and by launching their loyalty program, Frankie Say Relax has grown their marketable database by 10% and has generated 45x ROI on their Marsello subscription.
Final words: building an agency partner network
Marsello is growing, and having recently been included in the Shopify Plus Certified App partner program, we are looking for leading Shopify agency partners like Firestone Digital. We look forward to working alongside more and more Shopify agency partners to bring powerful, measurable marketing technology to the world's omnichannel retailers.
