What to cut (and what to never touch)

Hi Team,

If jet lag was my nemesis before this trip, it’s now my full-blown supervillain. HOW did it take me an entire week to get back on track??

Melatonin. Sunlight. Circadian voodoo. None of it worked.

I’m finally upright again, and both kids are on Tel Aviv time. I’ll take the win.

We hosted a Retention Roundtable in the Yotpo TLV office with some incredible ecom operators. (Side note: shocking amount of massive consumer brands being built here.)

The themes were clear: softening consumer index, tariffs, and general economic tension.

Everyone is trying to cut costs. SaaS. Ecom. Agencies. Platforms.

And the big question that keeps coming up:

How do you make cuts without breaking trust? 

How do you pull back without breaking what made it work in the first place?

Unlock 4.6x More Engagement with Every Order 👀

This newsie is brought to you by Loop. 

Did you know that shoppers check their order tracking page an average of 4.6 times per order? Most brands miss out on this traffic, leaving it to the carrier. But the smartest brands are turning this into a powerful retention tool.

By leveraging post-purchase touchpoints like tracking pages, emails, and SMS, top brands are driving repeat purchases, reducing WISMO tickets, and seeing 10x better ROI than traditional campaigns.

Loop just released a guide on how brands like Fresh Clean Threads are using these strategies to boost revenue and customer retention.

Download the latest guide now to get:

→ 6 must-have core transactional email templates 
→ 5 must-have core transactional SMS text templates
→ Key elements in each message that set you up for success

Where to cut:

There’s a difference between running lean and making dumb cuts.

You can pause the seventh brand marketing campaign of the month. You can hold off on the loyalty refresh that no one asked for. You can kill the quiz that no one finishes but just makes you feel like a smart operator.

What you can’t do is gut the stuff that holds everything together.

I’ve seen a lot of brands panic and start from the wrong place. CX gets outsourced overnight or 100% given to bots. Support volume goes up, team size goes down, response times balloon, and suddenly you’ve trained your most loyal customers to expect… nothing.

If you’re going to cut, start by asking:
What actually makes people stick around?
Then protect those things with everything you’ve got.

You don’t need to optimize for everything. But you do need to protect the moments that carry weight. The ones customers remember. The ones that earn a tiny bit of grace when you inevitably screw something up later.

If a package is delayed and you follow up with a quick note, customers remember that. If the same thing happens and they hear nothing for five days, they remember that too. One earns trust. The other increases churn.

The answer isn’t “never cut.” It’s “cut without destroying the relationship.”

We’ve looked at tens of thousands of merchants across the Yotpo universe and seen that over the last few months, while almost everyone is seeing a slowdown or less aggressive growth, stores are seeing a higher repeat purchase rate.

My hypothesis is that when wallets tighten, you’d rather go with brands that you know you like, both the product and experience, vs. test with new ones. 

If the trend is already heading towards increased loyalty with tight wallets, why push those loyal folks away?

What Works:

Here’s what I’ve seen work:

• Be honest with your team about what’s changing. If CX or support is affected, give them the context. Otherwise, they’re just fielding tickets in the dark, waiting for you to let go of the next group of teammates.

• Shrink the scope, but keep your standards. Maybe you’re not sending five transactional messages, but the one you do send better be helpful and branded, and on time.

• Make it clear what’s non-negotiable. Response time. Post-resolution follow-ups. Tracking clarity. These are basics, but they’re also the backbone of experience.

You can pull back without signaling that you're checked out. You can spend less and still make it feel full price.

Most brands cut reactively: top-down, across the board, often without clarity. The better ones pause for 24 hours and ask:

What are the 3–5 moments where our customer decides if we’re worth it?

Then they cut around those moments, not through them.

That’s where trust lives. Not in the 20th flow or the fancy new feature, but in the basics done well. Especially when budgets are tight and expectations aren’t.

And honestly, some of the highest-leverage moves aren’t new campaigns or extra resources at all. They’re already in the stack, just underused.

Levers to Pull: 

Here are some easy levers to pull to keep customers a bit closer when you cut and stay lean:

1. Tracking page
   High intent. High volume. Most brands let the carrier handle it. Add CX info, reinforce what’s coming, and remind them you’re still there. Loop has a good breakdown if you want to see how others are doing it.
   

2. Shipping and delay messages
   No brand voice. No clarity. No follow-through. Fix that. Write it like you would to a friend. Tell them what’s happening and when. Builds trust in an easy way.
   

3. Post-ticket follow-ups
   Nobody does this, which is exactly why you should. Quick note after a resolution, just to make sure things landed. Doesn’t need design. Needs care. Can be automated. :)
   

4. Canceled or skipped subscriptions
   Most flows stop at “you canceled.” Keep going. Offer a pause, a swap, or just a reminder that they can come back when they’re ready.
   

5. Plain-text check-ins from real people
   Founder. CX lead. Whoever will mean something. One line. “Saw your order. Hope it went well.” No automation. No campaign logic. Just being human.
   

That’s it. Nothing new to build. Just better use of what you already have.

Stay lean and keep your head up high. 

That’s it for this week!

Any topics you'd like to see me cover in the future?

Just shoot me a DM or an email!

Cheers, 

Eli 💛

P.S. Looking for inspo on your next email/sms campaign? 

I know you will love this.