A Detroit Motor City heritage brand · $80K → $410K MRR.

The archetype represents a slice of Detroit DTC we ship into reliably: an automotive aftermarket brand operating from Corktown or Eastern Market with two product lines (a wide aftermarket parts catalog covering 8 to 14 popular vehicle platforms and a custom-build line for enthusiast configurations), selling direct-to-consumer through the brand site plus a dealer B2B layer that serves regional speed shops and aftermarket installers across the Midwest. Pre-engagement state: $80K MRR on a Shopify Standard setup, fitment data managed through static product titles ("Fits 2015 to 2020 Ford F-150"), no real vehicle-year-make-model selector, no dealer portal (orders came through email and PDFs), and a custom-build line that converted offline through email back-and-forth rather than through the website.

Three structural problems compounded the revenue ceiling. One, fitment data lived in product titles rather than in structured metafields, making site search and filtering broken; the conversion rate on aftermarket parts sat at 0.9 percent against an industry baseline closer to 2.5 percent. Two, the custom-build line had no on-site configurator; every custom-build order required 4 to 7 emails between buyer and team to nail down spec, costing the team about 8 hours per custom-build order in coordination overhead. Three, the dealer channel was running at roughly 30 active accounts because the email-and-PDF workflow capped the team's manual processing capacity.

The pattern this archetype represents (Detroit automotive aftermarket DTC operator with a custom-build line, in the $50K to $200K MRR range, sitting on a platform where fitment data lives in product titles rather than in structured metafields) is one of our recurring engagement shapes for the Motor City. The 16-week timeline holds steady (longer than typical because of fitment-data restructure); workstreams compress or expand in proportion; the metrics typically land within plus or minus 20 percent of the archetype above.

Five capabilities transfer directly to a comparable Detroit engagement. First, Shopify Plus migration with fitment-data integration that moves data from product titles into structured metafields and exposes a vehicle-year-make-model selector. Second, custom-build configurator that removes 6 to 8 hours of coordination overhead per custom-build order. Third, Shopify Plus B2B dealer portal that scales the dealer count past the manual-overhead ceiling. Fourth, drop mechanics for limited-release parts. Fifth, Klaviyo vehicle-cohort segmentation so messaging respects what the recipient actually drives.

Every Detroit engagement starts with a 30-minute discovery call. Scope, timeline, and budget come back in writing within 48 hours. Eastern Time, same-day response Monday to Friday 9 to 6.