I’m Kayla Sox. I run Moose & Maple, a small Shopify store for cute dog harnesses and bandanas. My Labrador, Moose, is our very wiggly model. And yes, he steals socks.
I used an ecom agency called Fieldnote Commerce for 6 months. I paid real money. I sat on real calls. I said yes to some bold tests. I also rolled my eyes a few times. So, here’s the good, the bad, and the “oh wow, that actually worked.” If you want a second opinion on what a brutally honest agency experience can look like, check out this other real, messy review.
You know what? I needed help. Bad. Meta ads were all over the place. My emails felt tired. Black Friday was creeping up. I was stuck at around $35k a month. I wanted grown-up systems without losing our warm, goofy brand voice. I kept Googling for success stories and found a tale about a sock shop that leaned on specialist PPC help—worth a read if paid traffic feels like a mystery—here’s what happened to them.
Quick Backstory: Why I Hired Them
- Sales were flat for three months.
- Our email list was big but quiet.
- Ads worked one week, flopped the next.
- My site looked cute, but people got lost fast.
I didn’t need magic. I needed steady hands.
Before I even signed, I poked around the free calculators and checklists on CandyPress to gut-check whether my store was really ready for outside help.
Fieldnote pitched a “Growth” plan. It was $5,500 a month, plus ad spend. Three-month lock. I gulped, then signed. If you're still comparing vendors, take a look at the curated list of ecommerce marketing partners on Clutch to see how others stack up.
The First Two Weeks: Honestly, Kinda Messy
They asked for 20 logins. Klaviyo, Shopify, Meta, TikTok, Google, Triple Whale, you name it. My head hurt. We had a pixel issue too—events were firing twice. They found it and fixed it. Cool. But it took four days, and I got antsy.
We used Asana for tasks and Slack for chat. My project lead was Lily. Smart, calm, a little too calm when I was spiraling about shipping. Time zones were fine; they’re in Austin, I’m in Portland.
Was it smooth? Not really. Did they keep me moving? Yes.
Paid Ads: Moose Became a Star
They took Meta and TikTok. We started at about $800 a day, and over eight weeks we went to $1,200 a day. Here’s what changed, in plain words.
- They shot three UGC videos. One was Moose playing tug while I clipped the harness fast. That one hit.
- They tested two hooks: “No pull. No drama.” and “Harness in 3 clicks.” The first one won. By a lot.
- They used two colors for captions. Bright yellow worked better than white (who knew?).
Numbers, simple:
- For each $1 on ads, we got back about $3.10 by week eight. We started at $1.80.
- The cost to get one new customer went from $33 to $24.
- Clicks almost doubled on our best ad.
They showed me a weekly sheet. Not fancy. Spend, sales, and a short note on what changed. I liked that. I need the “so what” part.
A miss? One video had a typo on-screen. “Harnes.” They fixed it fast, but the moment passed. That stung.
Email and SMS: The Quiet Work That Paid
We used Klaviyo. They rebuilt our flows:
- A welcome flow with 3 emails. First email had Moose’s baby photo. People died. Well, not died, but you get it.
- A post-purchase flow with fit tips and a simple how-to clip the harness. Returns dropped.
- A winback email that said, “Moose misses you,” with a tiny 10% nudge. It felt sweet, not pushy.
They also changed my pop-up (sorry, sign-up). Instead of “Get 10%,” they made a scratch card. It looked fun. The sign-up rate went from 2.1% to about 4%.
Email brought in 24% of revenue by month three. It used to be 13%. That felt huge. Slow, steady, helpful.
Site Fixes: Small Tweaks, Big Help
I loved my site. It was cute. It was also confusing. They made a new menu that said Shop, Fit Guide, Reviews, and Sale. So simple. Yet I never did it.
On product pages, they added:
- A size chart that you can see without scrolling.
- A “How this fits on Moose” note. He’s 80 pounds. People like that real bit.
- A sticky Add to Cart button. It follows you down the page.
My site got faster too. I don’t speak tech. I just saw pages load snappier.
Results, simple:
- Conversion rate from 1.6% to 2.4%.
- Average order from $42 to $47, thanks to a bundle like “Harness + Bandana + Poop Bag Holder.” Cute wins.
A Real Example: Black Friday Weekend
They built a calendar. Warm-up emails. Early access. A short “surprise” on Sunday.
Sales: $186k for the weekend. Last year, we did $92k. I cried a tiny bit in my office. My office smells like coffee and dog treats, by the way.
But we messed up shipping. My label printer jammed. Orders backed up. Fieldnote wrote a “we’re catching up” email that felt human. No spin. We kept trust. That matters. Part of me wished I’d set up a dedicated ecommerce answering service beforehand—this store owner did, and their story is wild—read it here.
SEO, But Make It Friendly
They wrote a simple blog: “How to measure your dog for a harness.” It wasn’t fancy. Photos, steps, Moose up on a chair, looking proud. We saw about 1,200 visits to that post in a month. People who read it stayed longer and bought more. Slow win, but real. Want another gentle take on small-store SEO? An ecommerce owner in Perth shared a candid breakdown in this first-person piece.
What I Didn’t Like
- Too many meetings at first. Three a week? No thanks. We went down to one.
- Creative missed our vibe in week one. The colors felt loud. I gave real feedback. Week two was better.
- Contract had auto-renew. I almost missed it. I’m glad I didn’t. Before you commit, it can also help to skim through client feedback in the dedicated ecommerce agency section on Trustpilot to spot any red flags.
- One Sunday, I needed fast help on a sale. The reply came Monday morning. Fair, but it stressed me out.
Also, I wanted speed. But I slowed them down with my late approvals. Funny how that works.
What I Paid
- $5,500 a month for the core team.
- Ads: we spent up to $1,200 a day by month two.
- They took 10% of ad spend after $30k in a month.
- Extra shoot was $2,200. Extra UGC video was $350 each.
- Two rounds of edits were included.
It’s not cheap. But bad ads are expensive too. I’ve burned money before. This felt like grown-up spend.
Who This Agency Fits
- You make at least $40k a month and have decent margins.
- You can ship samples fast and give feedback fast.
- You like seeing data, but you want plain talk too.
If you’re under $10k a month, I’d wait. Learn ads a bit first. Use simple flows. Save cash. Then get help when you feel stuck. If you’re weighing whether to stay solo as an ecom manager or hand off to an agency, this honest take from another manager might help you decide.
My Tips If You Hire Them
- Send raw video. Messy is fine. Real dogs. Real homes. It sells.
- Share your margins and break-even. They need that to aim right.
- Approve fast. Slow approvals cost sales.
- Give them a clear no when you feel “meh.” Don’t be shy.
- Set one main goal per month. Not five.
Final Call: Was It Worth It?
For me, yes. Over four months, revenue grew about 62%. Profit rose too. I slept better. I also felt seen. They respected my brand voice. They talked like humans. Not robots.
Running a store often devours evenings and weekends, and that can leave your social life in the