Seasonal brands need flexible capacity
Scaling hours up and down with demand avoided both the peak season crisis and an expensive year-round team.
Case study · Ecommerce
How an ecommerce brand tripled support capacity through peak season
Coastal Living Co., an Australian direct-to-consumer homewares brand, tripled its support capacity during its busiest quarter without a single local hire. A flexible pod of two support specialists and a part-time media buyer held response times to four hours at peak, lifted repeat purchases by 22% and improved holiday campaign ROAS by 18%.
Published with client permission · June 2026 · Reviewed October 2026
3×
Support capacity
4 hrs
Avg response (peak)
22%
Repeat purchase lift
10 days
Team live
The challenge
The starting point
Coastal Living Co. had built a loyal following for sustainable home products. Success brought a new problem: during its first serious Q4 on Shopify, customer enquiries tripled while the in-house support team stayed at two people.
Founder Emma Chen considered hiring locally but could not justify full-time headcount for demand that was largely seasonal. The brand needed capacity that could scale up for peak and back down afterwards, without losing the warm, on-brand tone its customers expected.
Peak season demand overwhelmed a two-person team, and the effects were starting to show in public.
What we did
Our approach, step by step
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Week 1
Brand voice and helpdesk setup
In week one we documented the brand's tone of voice, common questions and return policies, configured the team in Gorgias and Shopify and shortlisted support specialists with ecommerce experience.
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Week 2
A flexible support pod
Two support specialists started at 20 hours a week each and scaled to 40 as volume grew. They handled order tracking, returns, product questions and review responses in Australian English and in the brand's voice.
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Month 1
Paid media during peak
A part-time media buyer took over Meta campaign management for the holiday period, optimising audiences, creative rotation and budgets while the founder focused on product and supply.
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Post-season
Scaling down after peak
After the season, hours were reduced and the brand kept a core support team, avoiding the cost of carrying peak capacity all year.
Results
The results
The team was live within 10 days. Through peak season, average response time held at four hours, down from more than 24. Support capacity tripled without a local hire.
The improvement showed up in revenue as well as service. Repeat purchase rate rose 22% quarter on quarter, and the media buyer's optimisation improved Meta ROAS by 18% on holiday campaigns.
We scaled through our biggest season without a single local hire. The support team felt in-house from day one.
Lessons
What this story teaches
Support quality protects revenue
Faster, friendlier answers reduced negative reviews and supported repeat purchases, which matter more than ever when acquisition costs are high.
Support and paid media compound
Better support converts more of the traffic paid media brings in, so improving both at once multiplied the effect.
Remote teams work well inside Shopify and Gorgias
With good documentation and the right permissions, the support team felt in-house to customers from day one.
Guide
Applying this in your own business
Planning support for your next peak
Look at last year's ticket volumes by week and plan capacity at least six weeks before peak. Document your top 20 questions and return rules so new team members can answer consistently from the first day.
What to measure
Track first response time, resolution time, review ratings and repeat purchase rate. These show whether support is protecting revenue, not just clearing tickets.
Where AI fits
Many brands now pair support specialists with an AI assistant that answers order status and sizing questions instantly, leaving people to handle refunds, complaints and anything that needs judgement.
Services in this case study
The services behind these results
01What did the outsourced support team handle?
Order tracking, returns and refunds, product questions and review responses in Shopify and Gorgias, written in the brand's voice.
02How fast was the team live?
Within 10 days, including brand voice documentation and helpdesk setup.
03Did the brand keep the team after peak season?
Yes. Hours were scaled down after Q4 and a core support team was retained.
04Why add a media buyer to a support project?
Peak season is when ad spend and enquiries are highest. Optimising campaigns while support kept customers happy improved ROAS and repeat purchases together.
05Can a small ecommerce brand start with less?
Yes. Many brands start with one support specialist for peak periods and expand only if volume justifies it.
06Do customers know the team is outsourced?
The team works inside your helpdesk under your brand voice, so customers experience it as your own support team.
Want results like Coastal Living Co.?
Book a strategy call. We will look at where your team is losing time and outline a practical plan with measurable goals.
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