Rules
Part of 9 things to understand about ecommerce retention marketing
Scoring a paid retention diagnostic: fee, timeline and store access to grant
What published retention and email audits cost and how long they take, a five-line scorecard, the Shopify, WooCommerce and Klaviyo access to grant, exit terms, and a reference table of ten agencies and six platforms.
What to take away
- Published audit offers range from free to $1,500, and turnaround runs from two business days to about two weeks (two named offers below).
- Score a paid diagnostic on its method, not on the lift number in the pitch deck.
- Anything under three out of five on method or measurement fails, whatever the fee.
- Grant the narrowest store access the diagnostic needs, and write the access and data terms into the contract.
- Check every published performance claim against the FTC substantiation standard before you repeat it.
- Budget first-year retention spend as four linesplatform, message volume, agency retainer and migration labor.
What a paid diagnostic costs and how long it takes
A diagnostic is a short engagement that ends in a written plan. Public pricing is thin, so use these named offers as anchors and ask every candidate for a fee and a date in writing.
| Offer | Fee as published | Timeline | Access asked for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Centric Squared email marketing audit | $500 to $1,500 by proposal, set by account count and flow count | About 2 weeks from signed contract and payment | Admin access to your email service provider; Google Analytics admin if you have it |
| YOCTO Free Klaviyo Audit | Free, and you keep the scorecard | Two business days; access on Monday, written audit by Wednesday | Klaviyo account access |
Centric Squared's deliverable is a PDF of roughly 20 to 50 pages plus a wrap-up call. YOCTO's own pricing guide, updated September 2026, lists audits starting at $500 for agencies in general, and fixed-scope projects from $5,000.
Score the paid diagnostic
Score each of the five lines below out of five:
- Scope:one repeat-purchase barrier, written down. A proposal that targets everything scores low.
- Method:the diagnostic audits triggers, permissions and mature-order cohorts, not just the headline numbers.
- Measurement:guardrail metrics are set before any campaign runs.
- Deliverables:named owners, the exact access the agency needs, and an exact fee.
- Exit:terms for returning or deleting your data if you stop.
Anything under three on method or measurement is a fail, whatever the fee.
Score the paid diagnostic
- Scopeone repeat-purchase barrier in writing
- Methodaudits triggers, permissions, mature orders
- Measurementguardrails set before campaigns run
- Deliverablesnamed owners, access, exact fee
- Exitdata return or deletion terms
Reject a diagnostic that promises a lift percentage, cites an anonymous benchmark, or asks for full administrator access before scope is signed. The selection memo should hold the scores, the conflicts, the reference calls, and who approved the decision.
Grant access last, and narrowly
On Shopify, an outside agency usually arrives as a collaborator account that the agency requests from its Partner Dashboard. The store owner approves the request, chooses the permissions and can revoke them later under Users and permissions. A store owner can also set a 4-digit collaborator request code that the agency must enter.
Shopify's store permissions page groups permissions under names such as Orders, Customers, Analytics, Marketing, Discounts, Store settings and Finance. For a retention diagnostic, view-level access to Orders, Customers, Analytics and Marketing is the usual ask. Withhold Finance, which covers payouts and tax documents, and the billing items under Store settings.
Shopify marks some permissions sensitive, including the customer "Request data" action, editing billing payment methods, and viewing tax documents. Exports are separate permissions too, so grant Customers or Orders export only if the scope needs a file.
On other platforms, use the platform's own roles. WooCommerce adds a Shop Manager role next to Administrator, assigned under Users, All Users in WordPress. Klaviyo's static roles include Owner, Admin, Manager and Analyst, and only Owners and Admins can add users. Pick the lowest role that covers the scope, and read its permission list first.
Before access starts, the contract should name the exact permission, the end date, who can revoke it, and the deadline and format for returning or deleting your data. Ask that every agency user sign in with two-factor authentication. Never share a password.
An illustrative exit clause might read: "On the end date, Agency will stop using Client credentials, Client will remove all Agency users, and Agency will delete Client data within 14 days and confirm in writing." Have counsel adapt it to your jurisdiction.
Example scoring sheet
This sheet is illustrative, and its scores are invented. Suppose two proposals reach you for the same repeat-purchase barrier. Proposal A scores four on scope, four on method, three on measurement, five on deliverables and four on exit. Proposal B scores five on scope, two on method, four on measurement, four on deliverables and four on exit.
Proposal A passes, because no line falls under three. Proposal B fails on method, whatever its fee, so it does not go to the reference calls. The pass rule is the lowest line, not a total, so a high total cannot rescue a low method score. Write the scores into the selection memo with the reason for each one.
Ten agencies and six platforms, for reference
The table below lists ten retention agencies and six software or data platforms, with their home base, the scope each one takes on, and how each one bills. It is a reference list, not a ranking, and it is not a list of diagnostic offers. Home bases are as listed in public directories, so confirm each on the provider's own site before you shortlist. Score any candidate from the table with the same five lines above.
Agency retainers depend on scope, list size, channel count and creative work. YOCTO's guide, for one, lists full-service retention retainers at $2,500 to $10,000 a month and hourly specialist work at $100 to $300. Ask each agency below for a written quote for your scope.
| Provider | Home base | What it does | Pricing model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retention.com | New York | Identity resolution and site visitor identification for email capture | Subscription, usage tiered |
| Klaviyo | Boston | Email and SMS platform with an in-house partner network | Platform subscription, agency work billed separately |
| Postscript | Scottsdale | SMS-first retention, built for Shopify checkout and flows | Platform subscription plus message volume |
| Yotpo | New York | Loyalty, referrals, reviews, and SMS in one suite | Platform subscription, tiered by contacts |
| Recharge | Santa Monica | Subscription and recurring billing infrastructure | Platform subscription plus transaction fee |
| Stay AI | Toronto | Subscription retention with churn prediction and cancellation flows | Platform subscription |
| Ragnarok | Remote, US | Lifecycle email and SMS agency for DTC brands | Monthly retainer; quote in writing |
| Electriq | New York | Retention marketing agency, email and SMS heavy | Monthly retainer; quote in writing |
| Eastside Co | Birmingham, UK | Shopify Plus agency covering retention and CRO | Project or retainer; quote in writing |
| Growth Rock | Remote, US | Conversion and retention experimentation | Project or retainer; quote in writing |
| Common Thread Collective | San Diego | Lifecycle agency running email, SMS and CRO alongside paid media for DTC brands | Monthly retainer; quote in writing |
| Right Side Up | Austin | Growth and retention consultancy that places senior operators inside brand teams | Retainer or project; quote in writing |
| Tinuiti | New York | Independent performance marketing agency with a lifecycle email and SMS practice | Monthly retainer; quote in writing |
| Wpromote | El Segundo, CA | Performance marketing agency with a lifecycle and CRM practice for ecommerce | Monthly retainer; quote in writing |
| Speero | Austin | Experimentation and CRO agency that tests retention flows and offers | Project or rolling retainer; quote in writing |
| MuteSix | Los Angeles | Performance marketing agency running paid media and lifecycle retention for DTC brands | Monthly retainer; quote in writing |
Klaviyo, Postscript, Yotpo, Recharge and Stay AI sell software, and their partner networks sell the labor. A "Klaviyo agency" is a reseller relationship, not a department.
For more names, apply the same three checks to any candidate: a named legal entity, a named team, and a reference you can call without the agency on the line.
Audit the evidence you are shown
The FTC advertising substantiation policy requires a reasonable basis before an objective advertising claim goes out. That applies to an agency's published performance numbers as much as to a product page. The FTC's rule on consumer reviews and testimonials (16 CFR Part 465) covers fake reviews, buying reviews, review suppression, and incentives conditioned on positive sentiment.
Is the claim reproducible?
Can you reproduce the claim with your own order data?
copy the playbook
file as a lead to test
Separate four kinds of statement: provider claims, customer statements, measured records, and independent findings. Record the criteria, the commercial relationship, the product version, the study population, and what evidence is missing.
Reproduce one material claim with your own order data before you copy the playbook. If the method is not available, file it as a lead to test, not a verified result.
Where the money actually goes
Budget in named variables rather than one package price. Total first-year cost equals platform subscription plus message or transaction volume plus agency retainer plus migration labor. The only dollar anchors this article can cite are the agency figures above; the other three lines depend on your list size and volume.
First-year cost lines
- Platform subscriptionrecurring software fee
- Message or transaction volumeusage-based
- Agency retainermonthly labor
- Migration laborlist hygiene, flow rebuild, data mapping
Platform costs scale with list size and message volume. Platforms such as Klaviyo publish plan limits by contact count and send volume, so check the current limits before you budget. SMS is billed per message on most platforms, so ask each vendor for the cost at your expected volume.
Yotpo, Recharge, Stay AI and Retention.com price by tier, contacts, orders or traffic. Get a written number at your size before you compare. The Shopify retention apps page compares app costs and exit terms for the platform side.
Migration labor is the line buyers miss. List hygiene, flow rebuild and historical data mapping are billable hours. Ask for the hours in writing, because they land before any retention gain shows up.
Measure the result against mature-order cohorts, not the first thirty days. A repeat rate that looks flat at day thirty can still be a win at day one eighty. The ecommerce retention benchmarks article covers which denominators to use.
Before you sign, read the basics in ecommerce retention marketing, so you can judge each proposal's claims against the same definitions.
Common questions
Are directory rankings independent?
Do not assume so. Read the directory's method, its commercial relationships, and how profiles get in. Platform partner directories, such as the Shopify Partner Directory, are discovery surfaces, not endorsements.
How many agencies should get the brief?
Three to five qualified candidates, all on the same bounded brief. More than five and you stop comparing and start collecting.
Should the lowest fee win?
No. Compare relevant evidence, team fit, access risk, and migration labor. Also compare total first-year cost and exit support. A cheap diagnostic that produces no measurement design costs more than the fee.
When should the decision be reviewed?
Set a date, and name the change that would trigger an earlier check, such as a platform migration or a new channel. Record the rejected options too, because the constraint that killed them may move.
