metric 01
$420K
MRR across US, UK, EU via Shopify Markets.
§
§ · case study · noble paris
Noble Paris · fragrance to $420K MRR.
An 18-month engagement that rebuilt acquisition around discovery sets and credit-back-on-full-size mechanics, then scaled the brand across three markets via Shopify Markets. 42% discovery-to-full-size conversion, 3x LTV multiple.
§ 01 · four metrics
Sampling-first acquisition, three markets.
Noble Paris came to us with a beautifully composed olfactory collection, a website that looked like a magazine but did not sell like one, and a founder convinced they needed paid ads. They needed a sampling program. Measured on Shopify Plus + Klaviyo across US, UK, EU markets.
metric 02
+280%
YoY revenue growth since the sampling program launched.
metric 03
42%
Discovery set to full-size purchase within 60-day credit window.
metric 04
3x
LTV multiple: full-size buyer vs direct full-size acquisition.
§ 02 · the challenge
Beautiful website, blind acquisition.
Noble Paris had done the hard part. A genuinely accomplished perfumer, a twelve-SKU collection with distinct olfactory stories, and a website designed by someone with an actual eye. Monthly revenue sat at $110K, paid social CAC hovered around $140, and the repeat rate was 8 percent at month six. Fragrance math does not work at that geometry.
The founder's instinct was to spend more on paid. Our read was the opposite: fragrance is the category that proves the old Paris counter truth: buyers do not trust a scent they have not smelled. Free-shipping thresholds and paid social could not substitute for that. Every tactic layered on top of a missing sampling program was going to diminish, not compound.
International expansion was another pressure. UK and EU demand had shown up organically in analytics but without localised pricing, VAT handling, or duty-inclusive display, EU cart abandonment ran at 78 percent. Noble Paris was losing buyers before they saw the shipping step.
Compliance added a third layer. Post-Brexit UK SCPN registration, EU 26-allergen declarations, hazmat shipping restrictions on alcohol-based fragrance. Each was a small operational task; together they had not been built into the catalog data model.
§ 03 · the approach
Rebuild acquisition before spend.
- 01
Discovery set as flagship product (weeks 1-6).
A $25 sampler, eight 2ml vials, physical product in a letterpressed card box shipped via USPS First-Class. The entire homepage shifted so discovery set was the primary CTA, full-size bottles secondary. Conversion on the sampler hit 6.4 percent inside a month.
- 02
Credit-back flow (weeks 4-8).
A Klaviyo flow fires day 14 post-sampler, day 30, day 55 (pre-expiry). Every email references the scents in their sampler. 42 percent apply the credit against a full-size within 60 days.
- 03
Shopify Markets rollout (months 3-5).
Three markets: US, UK, EU. VAT-inclusive EU pricing. UK SCPN compliance in the catalog. Hazmat-aware carrier routing for alcohol-based shipments. Cart abandonment in EU dropped from 78% to 31%.
- 04
Editorial content system (months 4-9).
Perfumer profiles, scent family taxonomy, occasion-based collections built as structured entries. Every PDP assembled from them. Fragrance-category organic traffic compounded 3.4x over twelve months.
- 05
Paid layer, last (months 6-18).
Only after the sampling flywheel proved the math. Paid social routed to the discovery set, not to full-size bottles. Blended CAC dropped from $140 to $48 because the conversion mechanic was free-smell, not free-ship.
§ 04 · the stack
Six tools, three markets.
01 · platform
Shopify Plus + Markets
US, UK, EU via Shopify Markets. Duty-inclusive EU pricing.
02 · email
Klaviyo
Credit-back flow, per-scent follow-ups, separate account per market.
03 · SMS
Attentive
Sampler dispatch notifications + discovery-to-full-size nudges.
04 · content
Shopify native sections
Perfumer, family, occasion taxonomy assembled into PDP.
05 · reviews
Okendo
Olfactory-family review filtering. Photo reviews of wearing moments.
06 · support
Gorgias
Fragrance-specific macros: scent guidance, hazmat FAQs, allergen disclosures.
§ 05 · the results
Eighteen months, line by line.
| metric | pre-engagement | month 18 | change |
|---|---|---|---|
| MRR (all markets) | $110K | $420K | +280% |
| blended CAC | $140 | $48 | -66% |
| EU cart abandonment | 78% | 31% | -60% |
| repeat rate (month 6) | 8% | 34% | +325% |
| brand search share | 12% | 41% | +242% |
| discovery-set conversion to full-size | n/a | 42% | mechanic built |
§ 06 · in their words
"Fragrance brands sell the sample first. They built the engine around that truth."
Founder
Noble Paris · luxury fragrance
§ 07 · your brand
Your fragrance brand starts with a call.
30-minute audit. Honest read on sampling, international, and compliance readiness. Scoped quote within 48 hours.
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