Trading as a Service
StudioForty9
A senior trader
working your store
every week
The in-house ecommerce trading manager, delivered as a service. One senior trader on your store every week, backed by the StudioForty9 team and senior oversight. Planned, executed and proven, quarter after quarter.
The model
Plan, execute, prove
Capacity
Up to a full day weekly
Start from
One focused project
Why now
Who trades your store every week?
Your storefront is your biggest shop. Marketing brings people to the door and developers extend the building, and the daily job of merchandising the shelves usually falls between the two. This is the gap most retail and founder-led teams live with.
Swipe for the rest, tap a card for the detail
Where the leaks usually are
Four things we find on almost every store we review.
Zero-result searches
High-intent shoppers hitting a dead end on terms your catalogue can actually answer.
Collections on default sort
Best sellers buried below the fold while slow lines take the top rows.
A basket with no reason to grow
No cross-sell logic, no bundles, and a delivery threshold set by instinct.
Trading moments without pages
Campaigns pointed at a generic collection instead of a page built to convert.
The model
What changes on Monday morning
The same store and the same team, with one senior trader accountable for how it performs week to week.
Today
How it works today
- Merchandising happens when somebody finds a spare hour
- Search stays as it was configured on launch day
- Order value is whatever the theme defaults produce
- Peak weeks are run on adrenaline and long evenings
- Reporting tells you what happened after the fact
- Getting senior trading skill in means a permanent hire
With TaaS
How it works with a trader
- A senior trader works your priority areas to a plan, every week
- Synonyms, redirects, filters and sorts tuned in-platform, no release needed
- Cross-sell, bundles and delivery thresholds tested and measured
- Trading moments planned on a runway, monitored live, reviewed after
- Reporting ties the week's work to revenue
- A monthly fee that scales up or down as the year demands
Three pillars
Plan, execute, prove
Plan
Strategic planning and prioritisation
- Discovery of your priority brands, categories and trading moments
- A rolling roadmap aligned to your commercial goals
- Clear prioritisation of where the effort goes
Execute
Proactive trading and execution
- Continuous weekly hygiene across merchandising, search and basket
- Tactical wins delivered through the quarter
- Bigger objectives that move a key metric
Prove
Performance reporting and oversight
- Reporting that ties activity to revenue
- Senior StudioForty9 quality oversight throughout
- Continuous improvement, quarter on quarter
Where we will be straight with you
Trading needs traffic and a catalogue to work with. If the review shows your constraint sits somewhere else, in acquisition, in stock availability or in the platform itself, we will say so and point you at the thing that pays first. Trading also compounds. The first month buys hygiene and quick wins, and the larger movements land across a quarter.
The work
What a TaaS trader actually does
Four trading areas, a clear line on who owns what, and defined modules when you want one problem solved fast.
The four trading areas
24 examples of the workWorked continuously and prioritised by where the opportunity is biggest. On the lighter tiers we focus on one or two areas. On Full TaaS all four run together.
Swipe each area for its examples
01 Discovery and findability
Search, navigation, collection merchandising and wayfinders.
On-site search optimisation
Synonyms, redirects and rules, so a search always returns something worth buying. Zero-result terms hunted down every week.
Collection sort and ranking
Collection pages re-sorted by demand and margin rather than theme defaults, with the right products in the first two rows.
Filters and navigation
Filter trees tuned to how your customers actually shop, with menu structure reviewed on desktop and mobile.
Homepage and hero management
The homepage traded as a shop window, with heroes and entry points moved to match what is selling this week.
Wayfinders
Visual and text wayfinders across top collection pages, so a deep catalogue stays navigable on a phone.
Trending product surfacing
Fast movers pulled forward and dead stock pushed back, across the pages that carry the most traffic.
02 Basket and order value
Cross-sell, bundles and cart mechanics that lift order value.
Recommendation logic
Recommendation widgets configured, placed and tuned by page type, then measured on attach rate and revenue share.
Bundles and capsules
Bundles built around how people actually buy, from complete-the-look to top-to-toe, with the pricing mechanic tested.
Delivery threshold strategy
Free delivery thresholds set against your real basket distribution, with a motivator in the cart to close the gap.
Post-purchase upsell
Offers after the sale that add margin without putting anything else in front of checkout.
In-app A/B testing
Tests run inside the apps you already pay for, with a read on the result rather than an opinion.
Product performance flagging
A weekly watch on what is converting and what is stalling, with the issue raised to whoever needs to act on it.
03 Content and landing pages
Seasonal edits, category pages and product data quality.
Campaign and category pages
Conversion-shaped pages for the moments and categories that carry your year, built in theme sections you own.
Curated and seasonal edits
Edit pages and curated collections set up, merchandised and retired on schedule.
Copy and calls to action
Page copy and buttons written for the shopper on that page, with the commercial ask made clearly.
Product data enrichment
Tags, attributes and metafields enriched, which is what makes filters, search and automated collections work properly.
UX and CRO suggestions
Friction spotted while trading written up as a proposal, with a mockup where it helps the decision.
Trading calendar
A rolling calendar of moments, categories and campaigns, agreed with you and worked to.
04 Peak and campaign trading
Your big trading moments, run end to end.
Runway planning
The weeks before the event planned properly, with the data review that sets the offer and the escalation model.
Sale page build
Sale and event pages built, populated and staged ahead of time rather than on the morning.
Team coordination
One person holding the plan across marketing, buying and store teams for the duration of the event.
Live monitoring
In-flight trading while it runs, moving stock, sorts and messaging as the numbers come in.
Post-event review
What worked, what did not, and what changes for the next one, written down while it is still fresh.
Reporting and review prep
Weekly and monthly reporting that ties the work to revenue, and the quarterly review pack built from it.
Handled by others
A clear line
So everyone knows who owns what from day one. Several of these are things StudioForty9 does well, as separate services rather than inside the trading retainer.
- Paid media management on Meta and Google
- Email template design and build
- Theme development and custom code
- Graphic design and photography
- Technical SEO implementation
- Full CRO and UX audits with session recording
- Inventory decisions and buying
- Pick, pack and fulfilment
- Internal finance and operations meetings
Fixed-term modules
4 to 8 weeksEach one a defined project that leads with the problem it solves, with a measured before and after. Run on their own or alongside a retainer.
Basket and order value
The problem: customers buy the anchor product and add nothing to it.
- Order value and delivery threshold advice
- Cross-sell and bundle logic optimised
- An A/B test with a before and after readout
Discovery and findability
The problem: visitors cannot find, or do not trust, the right products.
- Navigation and discovery review
- Search fixes and re-merchandising
- An A/B test with a before and after readout
Content and landing pages
The problem: trading moments and priority categories have no pages built to convert.
- Seasonal and category pages built
- Collection setup, copy and calls to action
- Optional product data enrichment
Peak season, managed
The problem: a major trading event needs running properly and the team is short of hands.
- Pre-brief data review and plan
- Build, then live in-flight monitoring
- Post-event performance review
Proof
What one quarter of trading changed
A multi-brand menswear retailer on Shopify Plus. One senior trader, four trading areas, thirteen weeks.
Revenue per visitor
+34%
Year on year, against the same quarter
Sales through TaaS work
1 in 3
Of online sales in the quarter came through three TaaS initiatives
Bundle revenue
+74%
Year on year, now about a fifth of revenue
Swipe for all 3 numbers
Underneath those: zero-result searches down 41% with search now carrying 9.5% of revenue, recommendation revenue share up from 7.3% to 11.8% on a 58% lift in attach rate, and roughly half the site improvements shipped in the quarter started life as a trading recommendation.
Campaigns and trading
- Father's Day, tier one: landing page, gift edits and two new bundles, the strongest campaign of the quarter
- Summer sale run on a slow-escalation model with wayfinder support
- Wedding season traded across the homepage, wayfinders and search redirects
On-site experience
- Mega menu redesigned for simpler category discovery on desktop and mobile
- Visual and text wayfinders added across top collection pages
- Filter trees optimised and top collections re-sorted by revenue
Platform and apps
- Recommendation engine launched and scaled, with an A/B tested product page widget
- Search overhauled, synonym and redirect work cutting dead ends
- Bundling capability launched and optimised
Foundations and ways of working
- Strategy workshop output and operating manual signed off
- Weekly report and bi-weekly review rhythm established
- KPI accountability model and baselines set, with a six-month calendar in place
What clients say about our diagnostic work
The most valuable part was the holistic perspective. An expert eye uncovered quick wins and long-term improvements, and helped us prioritise changes effectively.
We wanted an unbiased view of the website, mainly to correct issues we knew we were having with conversion. The results gave us plenty of actionable insight to work with.
Excellent from start to finish, very well managed both in terms of timing and communicating the steps as well as the findings.
Why StudioForty9
Twenty years trading Irish retail online
Your trader does not work alone. Behind them sits the team that builds, integrates and markets ecommerce for Irish retail every day.
300+
Ecommerce sites launched
100+
Ecommerce migrations
80+
Irish clients serviced
40+
People on the team
2006
Established in Cork
Best-in-class ecommerce expertise
Decades of collective retail ecommerce experience, so the best solution comes to the table first. Shopify Plus Partner since 2020 and Shopify Premier Partner since 2025, the only one operating in Ireland.
Delivery on time, in full
A team of 40+ across development, integrations, QA, business analysis, UX, consultation, project management and performance marketing. Supplier of the Year at the Retail Excellence Awards in 2017 and 2023.
Senior oversight, continuously
Our Ecommerce Strategy Lead brings 15+ years of growth experience across retail, FMCG, sports goods and travel, and reviews the trading plan and the numbers with your trader throughout the engagement.
Data driven and backed up
Working mostly with Irish retailers means a finger on the pulse of what actually works here, across 80+ live clients and a benchmark set nobody else in this market has.
How it runs
Two weeks to onboard, then a quarterly rhythm
Hygiene from week one, tactical wins through the quarter, and the bigger objective landing before the quarterly review. A typical first thirteen weeks looks like this.
The engagement, phase by phase
Duration
1 week
What we do
Run the trading maturity questionnaire, review analytics, search and collection data, and look at the store the way a trader would.
What you do
Analytics and Shopify admin access, and about an hour of your time.
What you get
A prioritised view of where the opportunity sits.
Duration
1 week
What we do
Set the baseline metrics, agree the focus areas, recommend the tier and confirm the plan for the first quarter.
What you do
Confirm priorities and sign off the tier.
What you get
A baseline, agreed KPIs and a first-quarter plan.
Duration
2 weeks
What we do
Set up access, reporting and the working rhythm. Full TaaS adds the strategy workshop on brand position, audience and ambition.
What you do
App and platform access, a named point of contact, and attendance at the workshop.
What you get
An operating manual and a reporting rhythm.
Duration
4 weeks
What we do
Hygiene and quick wins across the focus areas, starting with whatever is leaking most.
What you do
Answer trading questions and approve page changes.
What you get
Shipped changes and the first monthly report.
Duration
Months 2 and 3
What we do
Weekly trading, the major objective, campaign builds and continuous testing, with senior oversight on the plan.
What you do
Attend the check-in and feed in commercial context and stock intent.
What you get
Weekly reports, tested changes and a measured objective.
Duration
End of quarter
What we do
Facilitated review of the numbers and the work, then set the objectives and the calendar for the next quarter.
What you do
One session with whoever owns the commercial plan.
What you get
A quarterly review pack and the next quarter agreed.
These are phases of one engagement rather than three separate contracts.
Review and baseline
The trading review and baseline are quoted and agreed before anything starts, and you keep the output either way.
The trading retainer
A fixed monthly fee for a named capacity, minimum three months so the work has time to read. Step up or down a tier at each quarter.
Modules and projects
Added when you want a defined piece of work with its own before and after. Quoted individually, never assumed.
Where to start
Where does it hurt most?
Start where the pain is. Every route begins with the same short review, so the first month has something to measure against.
“I have one problem I need fixed, fast”
A single, defined piece of trading work across four to eight weeks. A measured before and after, and no ongoing commitment. You keep the output and the result.
“Nobody is trading my store week to week”
A senior trader on your priority areas every week, on a rolling basis. Start smaller on one area and step up a tier as it proves out.
“Peak is coming and my team is already full”
The full service. A trading day a week across all four areas, senior oversight throughout, and your biggest moments planned, run live and reviewed.
What it costs
How much does it cost?
It depends, and that is not a dodge. Two stores the same size can sit a tier apart. These are the six things that actually move the number.
How much of the store needs trading
One focus area or all four. That sets the weekly capacity, and capacity is most of the cost.
How big and how messy the catalogue is
SKU count, brands and categories, and the state of the product data sitting underneath your filters and search.
How many trading moments your year carries
A peak run end to end is a different job to weekly hygiene. Some years have one big moment, some have five.
What you already pay for
Where search, recommendations, bundling and testing are already licensed, we work with them. Where they are not, that sits with those providers, outside our fee.
How deep the reporting has to go
A monthly written report is one thing. Weekly reporting, continuous senior oversight and a facilitated quarterly review is another.
How fast you need it to move
Hygiene and quick wins land in month one either way. Bigger objectives need capacity, and capacity is the dial.
So what will I actually pay?
The review answers that. A short diagnostic of how you trade today, then a scope and a price for your store rather than a range read off a page. Every engagement starts there, and you keep the output either way.
If your budget is set annually
Getting the trading months that cover your peak into this year's budget request is worth more than adding them later. We will happily size a twelve-month view alongside the first quarter so the whole year goes in as one request.
Next steps
How to start
Three steps, and the first one is short.
01
Trading and merchandising review
A short diagnostic of how you trade today and where the biggest opportunity sits, using our trading maturity questionnaire.
02
Scope and baseline
We capture your current state and recommend the right entry point: a module, a trading partner tier, or Full TaaS.
03
Start trading
Your senior trader gets to work, with reporting that ties activity to revenue from the first month.
Book the review
Tell us where trading hurts
Send us the shape of the problem. You get a view on whether Trading as a Service is the right fit for your store, and a price based on it rather than a range off a page.
- A short call to hear the current picture
- A trading and merchandising review of your store and your data
- A written view on what we would change first, and a price for your store
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