This is our 100th newsletter 🥳
And there’s only one reason why.
Because you, dear reader, have continued to devour the lessons, stories, and insights we share each week.
From all of us at The Operators …
🤑 Sean Frank shares how to keep more money and make more customers happy
😘 Cody Plofker reveals the 32 tools that help drive his $100M+ beauty brand
🤓 Aaron Orendorff explains why you need a Cristofer ASAP (and how to get one)
Plus, the top five headlines in DTC.
Keep More Money & Make Customers Happier
Last week Connor told you we halved our CS saas bill.
That is only the beginning.
We use Richpanel's AI agents for 70-80% of our support conversations. I bet Amid $10k that it will do 100% in Q4.
He is Richpanels founder.
The agents use our product data and policies.
They do not hallucinate.
They do not go off-brand.
$0.40 per conversation.
Human agents cost $1-$4.
We get real-time updates whenever we want- inside Richpanels AI chat. It is easy to use and smart.
The old way:
More tickets
Hire more people.
The new way-
More tickets
Agents absorb it.
It can go live in 15 minutes on your store.
If it does not resolve 50% of your conversations in 30 days, they will give you your money back.
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Cody Plofker
CEO, Jones Road Beauty
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Editor’s Note: This is the third of five technology + vendor stacks, one for each of the Operators’ brands. Once complete, we’ll compile them into a single database.
No recommendation has paid for placement.
However, sponsors of the podcast and companies with whom Cody has a vested interest have been marked 🤝
For Jones Road Beauty, we’re always testing and innovating. We want the best of the best.
If it’s good enough for us, it’s likely good enough for you. Of course, not all of these will apply to all sizes.
So, I’ve ranked them by my Cody Score — 5 stars to 2 stars, in groups — and the amount of Annual GMV (online sales) for when I recommend adding them.
I’m also incredibly critical, so if I give anything here a 4 or higher, they’re an amazing partner!
5-Star ☆☆☆☆☆ Partners
SMS: Postscript 🤝
Annual GMV: <$1 million
Love the Postscript Team! Postscript only does SMS, and they do it amazingly well. Good prices, great support, and best-in-class software, especially for revenue generation.
We also do SMS Sales; very positive incremental margin lift. The AI stuff is cool and effective. Plus, they aren’t known for holding onto your lists (cough, cough some competitors).
Customer Service: Richpanel 🤝
Annual GMV: <$1 million
Switched over a year ago. Great pricing + support. I’ve been impressed with its UX. Since taking advantage of automations, we’ve reduced our first response time and number of tickets.
It’s much less than legacy software. I also love how they’re thinking about AI. Highly recommend.
Creative Analytics: Motion 🤝
Annual GMV: <$1 million
Probably the first tool I’d bring on if we had to start all over. Creative is the engine of a DTC brand, and Motion is the oil. It’s the best way to know how your creative is doing in one place and in a way that makes it easy to show your creative folks.
I don’t know a single creative strategist not using Motion.
Platform: Shopify Plus
Annual GMV: $10 million
We’re all in on Shopify; the only question is when to use Plus. For JRB, it’s math. That’s why we put together a dead-simple Sheet calculator. Plus’ card rates start at 2.15% vs Advanced’s 2.5%.
Get an actual quote and, when the reduced card rate covers the increase in Plus’ monthly base, do it.
Incrementality Testing: Haus 🤝
Annual GMV: $50 million
For our size, this is one of my favorite tools. We spend a lot and need upper-funnel strategies to grow that can’t be measured with clicks. We’re also using Haus for MMM now. I love it, best MMM I’ve used.
Haus has helped us measure + validate things like YouTube, upper-funnel Meta campaigns, and more.
Is it worth the money? Well, we no longer run brand search on Google because we found zero incrementality and were spending six figures a month.
We now pocket that money. So yes, it’s worth it.
Checkout & Shipping: PDQ 🤝
Annual GMV: $10 million
Pretty Damn Quick (PDQ) lets us offer Amazon-like shipping options in checkout and much more. We test a ton with PDQ and have increased profit per checkout by a few dollars, which really adds up over time. We’ve just started using tracking pages to save money by consolidating.
Influencer (Agency): Superbloom
Annual GMV: $50 million
They handle almost our entire paid influencer and partnership ad program. We love working with them so much that we had their founder, Lily Comba, on an episode of MOps.
Website (Agency): Ecom Experts
Annual GMV: $10 million
For Shopify Plus web dev. Great partners. They go above and beyond. And they have really fair pricing.
4-Star ☆☆☆☆ Partners
Attribution: Northbeam 🤝
Annual GMV: $10 million
The best multi-touch attribution (MTA) on the market. Tracks millions in spend for us.
You can compare channels using a consistent methodology, identify new vs returning, use APEX to feed Meta optimization, and understand revenue lift over time from paid social.
Email: Klaviyo
Annual GMV: <$1 million
Klaviyo is probably the best ROI we have. I don’t get it when people knock the pricing; it’s a conservative 20x on last click. Deliverability is far too important to try to save money here. There’s a reason almost everyone uses it.
Testing: Intelligems
Annual GMV: $1 million
Great product that makes testing easy. You’re actually able to do a lot of no-code testing, which is awesome and helps speed things up. More brands should be doing price testing. Intelligems is the only way to do that, from what I know.
Upsells: Aftersell 🤝
Annual GMV: $1 million
Cheaper than Rebuy because it doesn’t charge a variable fee. And it’s a great team. You can get post-purchase upsells, in-checkout blocks, and network offers in one tool with a capped pricing model.
Post-Purchase Survey: KNO
Annual GMV: $1 million
I love Jeremiah Prummer (founder) and the team. It’s the poor man’s mixed-media modeling (MMM). Everyone should have a post-purchase survey; they’re valuable to help measure upper funnel channels if you aren’t ready for Northbeam or Haus.
Reviews: Junip
Annual GMV: $1 million
It’s a pretty commoditized offering. What you want is good pricing with lots of integrations. Junip meets that. Like the team.
3PL (Europe & US): Shipbob
Annual GMV: $1 million
The team went above and beyond to help us get through 800 extra orders for our EU launch, even flying in people from the UK and hiring new people.
Whether it’s good or bad news, great communication is something I always look for in a partner.
We’ll likely expand to them in the US, so that should tell you. If they can handle our volume, they can handle yours. Like how their tech is modern and built for Shopify, unlike many clunky and outdated warehouses.
Landing Pages: Jurni
Annual GMV: $1 million
It’s like FERMÀT, but better, cheaper, and faster. We can build pages and launch funnels super fast using their AI features.
Serverside Tracking: Blotout
Annual GMV: $50 million
You need a CAPI provider. Shopify’s CAPI is not very good past seven figures. We make way more on Blotout abandonment flows than Klaviyo, so it’s well worth it.
Direct Mail: PostPilot
Annual GMV: $50 million
Great team; goes above and beyond. Highly recommend if you’re looking to get into direct mail. Be sure to run a holdout.
Influencer: Nectar Social
Annual GMV: $50 million
AI-powered social, community, and influencer all in one. It has saved us a ton of money just being able to consolidate tools.
Ad Creative (Agency): Cousin Labs
Annual GMV: <$1 million
Solid creator shop. Does things differently than most. Heavy focus on rapid testing loops to continuously improve creative.
Ad Creative / AI (Agency): Consigliere
Annual GMV: $10 million
An AI-powered creative agency. We’re building some really cool workflows with them.
Merchant of Record (EU): Global E
Annual GMV: $50 million
Our merchant of record for all EU. Does site localization, too. It’s big and works with almost all the other big Shopify brands selling internationally. We wouldn’t be able to sell into ~20 markets without them (without adding headcount).
YouTube + Google (Agency): OMG Commerce
Annual GMV: $10 million
Really great to work with and genuine YouTube experts. Brett Curry, OMG’s CEO, is one of the best. Had him on the show for an unsponsored episode.
3PL (US East Coast): Capacity
Annual GMV: $10 million
Been our East Coast 3PL for a while. Good partner. Gets the job done.
CRM: Endear
Annual GMV: $10 million
Retail-specific CRM with a bunch of AI features. Very important for multiple-owned storefronts.
3-Star ☆☆☆ Partners
Returns & Exchanges: Loop
Annual GMV: $10 million
Hate how much we pay some months. Otherwise, no complaints.
Data Warehouse: Daasity
Annual GMV: $50 million
Like, don’t love. Buggy but gets the job done, for now.
Fraud: Kount
Annual GMV: $50 million
Getting slammed with resellers, so have to fight back.
Retail Analytics: Retail Next
Annual GMV: $50 million
Traffic and conversion rate per store. Cool for data nerds.
Affiliate: Impact
Annual GMV: $10 million
Much better than ShareASale for referrals.
TV Ads: Universal Ads
Annual GMV: $50 million
We buy our TV ads through it. No experience with others.
2-Star ☆☆ Partners
ERP: NetSuite
Annual GMV: $50 million
Our most expensive piece of software and very much a “meh” product, but switching is really hard. Instead, I would give Fulfil a serious look; that’s what I wish we would have done and will do as soon as possible.
Questions about any of the tools or agencies?
Hit reply! We’ll do a Q&A newsletter or make sure they get covered on the next MOperators Hotline episode.
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Aaron Orendorff
Chief Content Officer
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Find Yourself a Cristofer If You Want Your Business to Run 10x Smoother
I’m writing this to let you know you need a Cristofer.
We hired him via Jared Orkin’s Activate Talent as a project manager + executive assistant.
They’ve placed roles at every Operator’s brand (HexClad, Simple Modern, Pela, Lomi, Ridge, Jones Road Beaty) for a bunch of different positions:
- Performance marketers
- Creative strategists
- Video editors and designers
- TikTok Shop specialists
- Operations managers
- AI implementation
I was the last Operator to join the party.
Cristofer kept asking to do more to support us. On top of his PM + EA work, he’s pulling clips, arranging trailers … AND HE CREATES THE BEST THUMBNAIL BRIEFS I HAVE EVER SEEN.
None of that was in his job description. Which is what makes Cristofer so genuinely special.
High agency is disgustingly rare.
The person who clears three hurdles beats 95% of everybody else out there (maybe more):
1️⃣ Do the thing you said you’d do
2️⃣ Do it when you said you’d do it
3️⃣ If it’s going be late, tell me before
They care. They genuinely give a s***. And once you’ve worked with someone like that, anybody feels like a downgrade.
My point is, if you have a Cristofer, don’t lose them. If you don’t have a Cristofer …
This is not sponsored by Jared, Activate Talent, or Cristofer. We pay them. And I am happy we do.
Why Every Shark Wanted In, But The Woobles Walked Away
Ari Murray’s Marketing Playbook: From Brand to Agency and Back
The First Ecommerce Jobs AI Wipes Out & What Comes Next
Curated by the editor of CPG Wire, the five top stories in commerce and DTC.
1. Danone Acquires Huel for $1.15B: Food Dive
Danone expanded its functional nutrition portfolio by acquiring Huel for over $1.1B. Founded in 2014 by Julian Hearn and based in London, Huel offers a wide variety of meal replacement and nutritional supplement products. Revenue reportedly topped £250M in 2025, up from £214M in 2024. Hearn, 54, stands to make £400M from the exit. Huel’s investors include Morgan Stanley, Steven Bartlett, and Highland Europe.
2. Forward Secures $500M for Fund II: Business Wire
Forward Consumer Partners officially closed Fund II with $500 million in commitments. The firm focuses on majority equity investments of $25M to $250M in well-positioned consumer brands. Their prior investments include Firehook Bakery, Xochitl, Bar Keepers Friend, and several other brands.
In late 2025, Forward acquired a majority stake in Justin’s from Hormel and took the company private.
3. Bansk Group Buys Wellness Shot Maker: PR Newswire
Bansk Group acquired a majority stake in So Good So You, a Minnesota-based functional wellness shot brand. Founded in 2014 by Rita Katona and Eric Hall, the company offers organic cold-pressed juice shots that support immunity, energy, detox, and other needs.
So Good So You has grown more than 5x over the past four years and pulled in over $100M in 2025. It’s currently the #1 wellness shot brand across total US MULO channels.
4. Alix Earle Teases Skincare Brand: Inc. Magazine
Influencer Alex Earle is launching a skincare brand called Reale Actives on March 31st. The dermatologist-developed skincare line, designed for acne-prone skin, will launch with four products: Dew More, Pore Power, Get Bare, and Go Deep.
Earle developed Reale Actives alongside Imaginary Ventures, the same firm that incubated BERO and POV Beauty, two very successful creator-led brands.
5. Advent Acquires Salt & Stone: Business Wire
Advent International acquired a majority stake in Salt & Stone, a Los Angeles-based premium personal care brand. Former professional skater Nima Jalali launched Salt & Stone in 2017 and carved out a niche in a competitive category with its luxurious scents, clean formulations, and excellent branding.
The company finished 2025 with $165M in revenue and grew double-digits across all channels. Humble Growth invested in Salt & Stone in Summer 2024.
How Should We Celebrate?
It’s wild to think that this is our 100th newsletter.
Way back when we started, I wrote:
Without exaggeration, getting tapped to lead the Operators Newsletter is the greatest compliment of my marketing career.
It’s also the scariest.
I’m incredibly grateful to you! Why?
Because if you hadn’t kept opening, reading, and replying, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to keep doing new and more things, to go full-time, to become the Operators’ Chief Content Officer … and to work the job of my dreams.
Here’s to the next 100!
With thanks and anticipation,
Aaron Orendorff
🤓 Chief Content Officer
P.S. (Disclaimer): Special thanks to Richpanel for sponsoring today’s newsletter.