How Thread & Co achieved 2.8x in 6 months.
Thread & Co, a D2C apparel brand, acquired new customers profitably through paid social but had almost no repeat-purchase engine — one-off buyers rarely returned and the email list sat largely unused. VR Digital built a full lifecycle email and SMS programme that turned the existing customer base into the brand's fastest-growing revenue channel.
Client
Thread & Co
Industry
Fashion & Apparel D2C
Engagement
6 months · ongoing
Services
Email Marketing + SMS & Push
Thread & Co
Thread & Co, a D2C apparel brand, acquired new customers profitably through paid…
Repeat Purchase Revenue
2.8x
↑ AI verifiedRevenue from Email/SMS
41%
↑ AI verifiedAverage Order Value
+22%
↑ AI verifiedInbox Placement
99.2%
↑ AI verifiedObjective
“80,000+ email subscribers with almost no automated flows — nearly all campaigns were manual one-off sends. Repeat purchase rate significantly below category benchmark. Inconsistent inbox placement, with a meaningful share of sends landing in Promotions or spam. No SMS channel despite a young, mobile-first customer base. No segmentation — every subscriber received the same generic weekly promotional email.”
Challenges & Solutions
Here's what was broken — and how our AI-powered approach fixed it.
80,000+ email subscribers with almost no automated flows — nearly all campaigns were manual one-off sends.
- 80,000+ email subscribers with almost no automated flows — nearly all campaigns were manual one-off sends.
- Repeat purchase rate significantly below category benchmark.
- Inconsistent inbox placement, with a meaningful share of sends landing in Promotions or spam.
- No SMS channel despite a young, mobile-first customer base.
- No segmentation — every subscriber received the same generic weekly promotional email.
Built welcome, browse-abandonment and cart-abandonment flows segmented by first-purchase category.
- Built welcome, browse-abandonment and cart-abandonment flows segmented by first-purchase category.
- Designed a post-purchase sequence timed to apparel repurchase cycles with personalised restock and cross-sell recommendations.
- Launched SMS for time-sensitive drops and restocks with full consent management.
- Ran a full deliverability rebuild: SPF/DKIM/DMARC authentication, list hygiene and a cold-subscriber re-engagement campaign.
- Segmented the list by RFM tier and browsing behaviour to personalise every campaign send.
- Instituted weekly A/B testing on subject lines, send times and offers, compounding results month over month.
Our approach. 4 phases
Four compounding stages — AI agents active inside every one, 24/7.
Step 01
AI Audit & Research
Deep-dive into your current stack, competitors and market gaps using autonomous research agents.
Step 02
Strategy & Blueprint
AI synthesises findings into a prioritised, channel-specific growth roadmap unique to your brand.
Step 03
Build & Launch
Creative, tracking and campaigns shipped in days — not months — through AI-assisted workflows.
Step 04
Optimise & Scale
Agents monitor performance every 15 min, auto-action wins, and compound growth every cycle.
Results.
Repeat-purchase revenue grew 2.8x over six months. Email and SMS combined now generate 41% of total revenue, up from under 12%. Average order value on flow-driven purchases rose 22% through better cross-sell targeting. Inbox placement improved from 89% to 99.2% across major providers. Winback flow alone recovered 7% of previously churned customers in the first quarter.
Repeat Purchase Revenue
2.8x
↑ AI-powered growth
Trailing 6 months · verified
Revenue from Email/SMS
41%
↑ AI-powered growth
Across the full engagement period
Average Order Value
+22%
↑ AI-powered growth
Across the full engagement period
Inbox Placement
99.2%
↑ AI-powered growth
Across the full engagement period
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The starting state
80,000+ email subscribers with almost no automated flows — nearly all campaigns were manual one-off sends. Repeat purchase rate significantly below category benchmark. Inconsistent inbox placement, with a meaningful share of sends landing in Promotions or spam. No SMS channel despite a young, mobile-first customer base. No segmentation — every subscriber received the same generic weekly promotional email.
AI-powered transformation
Built welcome, browse-abandonment and cart-abandonment flows segmented by first-purchase category. Designed a post-purchase sequence timed to apparel repurchase cycles with personalised restock and cross-sell recommendations. Launched SMS for time-sensitive drops and restocks with full consent management. Ran a full deliverability rebuild: SPF/DKIM/DMARC authentication, list hygiene and a cold-subscriber re-engagement campaign. Segmented the list by RFM tier and browsing behaviour to personalise every campaign send. Instituted weekly A/B testing on subject lines, send times and offers, compounding results month over month.
“We were sitting on an 80,000-person list and treating it like a megaphone instead of a relationship. VR Digital turned it into our most profitable channel — and it costs us nothing per acquisition.”
Simran Oberoi
Co-Founder, Thread & Co
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Case study FAQs
How were the results measured?+
All metrics are pulled from primary platforms — GA4, GSC, Google/Meta Ads, CRM and revenue dashboards — and verified before publishing.
How long did the engagement take to show signal?+
Most channels showed measurable signal within the first 4–8 weeks. Compounding wins (SEO, content, lifecycle) accelerated after week 12.
What AI workflows were used?+
Custom research agents, content QA bots, automated reporting pipelines and predictive bid models — all integrated into the client's existing stack.
Can you replicate this for my brand?+
Yes — we re-engineer the underlying systems for your category, audience and economics. Book a free 30-min audit and we'll outline the path.
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