Welcome to the Merchant Mastery Blog
Your break-even ROAS (Return On Ad Spend) depends on your gross margin. The lower your gross margin, the higher your required ROAS to avoid losing money on ads. Here's how to calculate your breakeven.
- by Kurian Tharakan
- November 14, 2025
- 3 min read
A famous apparel brand doubled its click rates and boosted order rates by 50% simply by switching its welcome email offer from a fixed discount to a mystery discount. The curiosity-driven tactic worked because people wanted to find out the discount value at checkout.
- by Kurian Tharakan
- November 08, 2025
- 1 min read
Brick-and-mortar stores face high fixed costs like rent, utilities, staff payroll, and maintenance that online stores avoid. These overheads force physical retailers to achieve a much higher marketing return on investment (often 10x) just to break even. In contrast, online retailers operate with lower expenses and can be profitable with a more modest 3–4x marketing return, thanks to savings on physical storefront costs and more scalable marketing.
- by Kurian Tharakan
- November 08, 2025
- 3 min read
After the Black Friday/Cyber Monday (BFCM) rush, Shopify merchants should immediately focus on customer retention. Instead of letting new, deal-seeking buyers fade away, the key is to segment them (e.g., VIPs, high-spenders) and quickly launch targeted follow-up campaigns.
- by Kurian Tharakan
- October 29, 2025
- 2 min read
When your sales suddenly drop, it's most often because you have "lost the narrative." The solution is to rediscover the original "why," talk to loyal customers, and restore an authentic, consistent message across all channels.
- by Kurian Tharakan
- October 28, 2025
- 3 min read
A business can only survive if it has repeat customers. Restaurant entrepreneur Jon Taffer advises marketing for three visits, not just one, as the probability of a customer returning jumps to 70% after a third flawless experience. To achieve this, he suggests using a "red napkin" to signal to all staff that a guest is a first-timer, ensuring they receive exceptional service. Then, a manager should personally incentivize the second and third visits with handwritten offers (like a discount on another item or a free dessert), thereby acquiring a loyal customer for a very low cost.
- by Kurian Tharakan
- October 26, 2025
- 5 min read
Lululemon’s rise from a small Vancouver yoga studio to a billion-dollar global brand is rooted in one defining decision: to serve one meticulously crafted customer avatar named Ocean.By channelling all innovation, imagery, and tone through Ocean’s worldview, Lululemon built an aspirational lifestyle brand that blurred the line between fashion and mindfulness.
- by Kurian Tharakan
- October 18, 2025
- 4 min read
Merchants often feel tempted to package all their products into a single offer, reasoning that since the same customer avatar buys all these items, promoting them together will increase sales. But successful e-commerce marketing relies on hyper-specific precision, not breadth.
- by Kurian Tharakan
- October 15, 2025
- 2 min read
Customers on your product page are actively looking for reasons to say "no" as a self-preservation tactic. Their objections typically fall into five categories: lack of trust in the site, unclear product information, poor visuals, no social proof (reviews), and surprise costs like high shipping.
- by Kurian Tharakan
- October 12, 2025
- 4 min read
We now use the "10 P" strategic framework for a detailed case study of a fictional ice cream shop, "The Perfect Scoop." In a hyper-competitive market with nine other shops on the same street selling the exact same two flavors, The Perfect Scoop succeeds by competing on everything but its product selection.
- by Kurian Tharakan
- September 28, 2025
- 19 min read