00:08 – Zak:
Welcome to the DTC Revenue Rocket Podcast. Today we have Zach Schimer, Head of MarTech Operations at Criquet Shirts. I'm super excited for this episode because every time I talk with Zach, we end up nerding out on Klaviyo and retention marketing. I'm really looking forward to hearing about all the cool things you're doing at Criquet. Zach, welcome to the show.

00:30 – Zach:
Thanks so much for having me, Zak. We've gotten to talk a few times recently, and the first time there were actually three Zachs in the room, so it turned into a Spider-Man meme of marketers nerding out together, which was really fun.
I've been at Criquet Shirts for the last five years and have worked in retention marketing for about 12 years across nine different ESPs. I've worked everywhere from large companies like Dick's Sporting Goods to much smaller brands like Criquet, which only had 12 employees when I joined.
My path has definitely been unique. One of my majors was sports management, and I actually worked as an NFL mascot for two years because I originally wanted to get into scouting analytics. I also do stand-up comedy, which surprisingly influences a lot of how I think about marketing and copywriting.

01:49 – Zak:
From NFL mascot to comedian to leading retention at one of the top DTC brands in the country — that's a pretty incredible path.

02:03 – Zach:
Definitely unique. But I think people with unusual career paths often become stronger operators because they see problems differently. Having experiences outside traditional marketing helps you look at strategy from a broader perspective.

02:30 – Zak:
Whenever we talk, you're always experimenting with new ideas and strategies. I think your background plays into that willingness to try things creatively.

02:55 – Zach:
Stand-up comedy actually taught me a lot about marketing. Every joke is basically an A/B test. You're testing delivery, wording, timing, and audience response in real time. If something doesn't land, you adjust it or cut it entirely.
That same mindset applies directly to retention marketing. You're constantly learning from customer reactions and refining the experience.

04:04 – Zak:
You're also kind of a big deal in the Klaviyo ecosystem. You're a three-time Klaviyo Champion, right?

04:18 – Zach:
It's been an amazing program to be part of. A lot of retention marketers are one-person teams, especially on the brand side, so having a community of incredibly smart operators to share ideas with has been invaluable.
People are constantly sharing strategies, MarTech recommendations, and even newly released Klaviyo features. It's an extremely collaborative group.

05:12 – Zak:
I just became a Klaviyo Champion recently, and it's been really cool seeing how active and helpful the community is.

05:46 – Zach:
Absolutely. The group is incredibly engaged, and I think it reflects the community-focused culture that Klaviyo has built overall.

06:24 – Zak:
Something unique about Klaviyo is that every person there asks, "What can we do better?" They're constantly looking for feedback from customers and partners.

06:56 – Zach:
And I've tried to model that approach internally. I meet with our customer service team regularly because they're talking to customers one-on-one every day.
If multiple customers are complaining about the same thing, that's usually a signal we need to improve the experience somewhere.

07:48 – Zak:
Let's zoom out. Walk me through your retention tech stack at a high level.

08:09 – Zach:
The foundation starts with:
Klaviyo for email, SMS, and reviews
Shopify for ecommerce
We consolidated everything into Klaviyo so we had a centralized customer data source.
From there, we've added:
Digioh for onsite audience identification and personalization
Rebuy for product recommendations and search personalization
Those systems working together create a much more personalized customer experience.

09:24 – Zak:
For people unfamiliar with Customer Hub, can you explain it?

09:28 – Zach:
Customer Hub is a feature from Klaviyo that gives customers one centralized place to:
View orders
Start returns
Access coupons
Get support
See personalized recommendations
For us, the main goal was reducing low-level support tickets, but it's also created incremental revenue because customers interact with products and recommendations there.

10:39 – Zak:
It's one of those systems that quietly keeps generating value after setup.

10:47 – Zach:
Exactly. It wasn't designed primarily as a revenue driver, but it's consistently produced positive ROI.

11:49 – Zak:
A lot of brands set up one popup and never revisit it. You're doing much more advanced personalization.

12:05 – Zach:
Yeah, we personalize a lot of the onsite experience through Digioh.
For example:
Loyalty customers see different messaging
Returning visitors get different popups
Klaviyo segments carry directly into the website experience
That consistency across channels is incredibly important.

13:10 – Zak:
You've also pushed vendors to work together in ways they hadn't before.

13:20 – Zach:
Exactly. Digioh was great at audience identification, while Rebuy specialized in product recommendations. So we pushed them to integrate and create a more unified personalization experience.

14:22 – Zak:
You saw a gap and basically told the vendors, "Go build this."

14:39 – Zach:
Pretty much. Sometimes vendors just need someone to point out the opportunity. Most are open to collaboration if it improves the customer experience.

15:00 – Zach:
One project I'm really proud of combined:
Digioh
Klaviyo
PostPilot
Customers complete a quiz onsite, their responses sync into Klaviyo, and if they don't purchase within seven days, we send a personalized postcard with product recommendations.
It's been one of our highest-performing flows.

16:23 – Zak:
One thing that makes you so good at this is you don't think in silos. You look at the entire customer journey.

16:50 – Zach:
A lot of that comes from my data and systems background.
One thing we discovered through analysis was that customers were scrolling deep into our emails, but only about 50% of purchases matched the promoted product category.
That told us we needed to expose customers to more of the product catalog instead of only focusing on one category.

19:07 – Zak:
What advice would you give marketers who don't have a data background but want to get more analytical?

19:25 – Zach:
AI tools like Claude or ChatGPT are incredibly helpful for this.
Even if you describe a strategy in very simple terms, AI can help structure tests, explain variables, and recommend ways to analyze results.
That lowers the barrier dramatically for marketers who aren't deeply technical.

21:14 – Zak:
When we first met, we talked a lot about segmentation and using AI for smarter targeting. You mentioned Arita.ai. How has that impacted your strategy?

22:08 – Zach:
It's been incredibly powerful.
We started by testing engagement-based segmentation, then layered in Arita's machine learning models. It analyzes thousands of data points from Shopify and Klaviyo to determine who is actually likely to buy from email during a given period.
Since implementing it:
We reduced send volume by roughly 50%
Increased revenue by 30%
Improved deliverability scores significantly
It was a massive unlock.

25:24 – Zak:
What channels are you shifting toward for less engaged email audiences?

25:30 – Zach:
Direct mail is a big one.
We're also exploring Connected TV through Vibe.co. Since our segmentation already exists in Klaviyo, we can push those audiences directly into CTV campaigns.
The idea is to think across every screen customers interact with:
SMS on phones
Email on phones and desktops
CTV on televisions
It's about orchestrating messaging across all channels together.

26:43 – Zak:
We've seen great results with Vibe for some of our clients too.

26:49 – Zach:
And they're a great partner. Honestly, vendor relationships matter a lot to me. I want to work with companies that are collaborative and willing to innovate together.

28:33 – Zak:
We're part of a Klaviyo Customer Agent beta group right now, and I think there are some really interesting possibilities with gift card integrations too.

28:58 – Zach:
Exactly. We're working with IZI Gift right now, and before we even signed the contract they were already building deeper Klaviyo integrations based on our conversations.
That type of collaboration is incredibly valuable.

31:45 – Zak:
What are you most excited about in retention marketing right now?

31:53 – Zach:
I'm really excited about the future of personalized content and dynamic customer experiences.
Simple personalization like using someone's first name isn't enough anymore. Brands need to understand where customers are in their journey and deliver content that actually reflects that.

33:37 – Zak:
What do you think the DTC operator role looks like 12 to 18 months from now?

33:49 – Zach:
I think we're moving back toward true database marketing — using customer data intelligently across every channel.
AI will help operators spend less time manually analyzing data and more time focused on strategy and orchestration.

35:07 – Zak:
I completely agree. AI is going to free operators from a lot of manual analysis work.

35:34 – Zach:
Exactly. Tools like Flaunt.ai allow operators to ask strategic questions in plain English and get answers that would normally require complex SQL queries and hours of analysis.
That's a huge shift.

37:16 – Zak:
We're just about out of time. Any final advice for operators, brands, or agencies?

37:54 – Zach:
Two things:
First, listen to your customers — through data, customer service conversations, surveys, or direct feedback. Customers are constantly telling you what they want.
Second, think omnichannel. Retention is no longer just email and SMS. It's:
Direct mail
Paid media
Website personalization
CTV
Customer support experiences
When you unify all those touchpoints, that's when the real magic happens.

39:03 – Zak:
That's fantastic advice. Zach, thanks so much for coming on the show.

39:16 – Zach:
Appreciate it. Thanks for having me.

39:17 – Zak:
Before we wrap up, if you're serious about growing your ecommerce brand, grab a free revenue audit from ECD Digital Strategy. We'll analyze your store, marketing, and retention channels to uncover your biggest revenue opportunities. Book your free audit today.