Individual academic caseUBC Sauder · COMM 464 · 2026
Tuff
Collection
A 12-month DTC growth strategy built around fixing conversion and retention before buying more traffic.
Recommendations and projections were developed from the course case, external research and stated assumptions; they were not implemented client results. The full individual report is available below.
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Project snapshot
Diagnosis
The case did not point to a traffic problem. It pointed to a funnel and channel-mix problem.
The strategy started from a brand already receiving meaningful traffic and add-to-cart activity. The goal was to get more value from the audience already arriving before scaling acquisition.
10Kmonthly visitors in the case baseline
12%add-to-cart rate
1%conversion rate
20%repeat purchase rate
Strategy
Convert first. Retain second. Acquire more efficiently.
The recommendations combined CRO, lifecycle email, loyalty, paid search efficiency, owned organic channels and a differentiated “Costco Heritage Bridge” that connected long-standing Tuff Athletics recognition with the newer DTC business.
Convert
Reviews, checkout, cross-sell and A/B testing.
Retain
Welcome, browse, cart, post-purchase and loyalty flows.
Acquire
Branded search, SEO, social and creator discovery.
Sequence
Prioritize by impact and effort across a 12-month roadmap.
Takeaway
Growth strategy is often about connecting systems, not adding tactics.
This individual case pushed me to connect customer journey diagnosis, e-commerce economics, CRM, brand storytelling and media planning into one operating sequence.