D2C · Consumer · CAC/LTV
D2C growth that compounded — because the maths held.
The client's growth was solid on the top line. But late-stage funding had calibrated unit economics that earlier rounds hadn't, and the marketing engine — built for volume — needed a maths-first overhaul. The work shifted the team from MQL volume to cohort LTV, rebalanced the channel mix, and built the retention engine that turned baby buyers into kids-segment buyers.
Challenge
The starting point
The 'baby' shopper window is short — 18 to 24 months from pregnancy to early toddler. CAC was rising in the baby category as competition intensified, and LTV was being held back by buyers churning out at the toddler transition. The fix wasn't more acquisition — it was retention into the next category.
Approach
What I did
Cohort-based LTV model
Real LTV per cohort, accounting for category transition. The number that everyone had been quoting was structurally wrong — by ~30%.
Channel-mix rebalancing
Performance-marketing was over-indexed; brand and content were under-fed. The rebalancing was painful but defensible.
Retention into kids segment
Email/CRM programme designed for the 18-month transition. Communications calibrated to the parenting stage, not the product category.
Marketplace channel discipline
Managed presence on Indian marketplaces with channel-specific economics — not as a leak, but as a deliberate channel.
Lessons
What this engagement taught
Most D2C teams have a leakier funnel than they admit. The honest LTV is rarely the LTV in the deck.
Channel discipline beats channel proliferation. The brands that compound are the ones with two channels working hard.
Retention is acquisition for the next category. The cheapest customer is the one already on file.
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