For years, agencies flourished by filling technical, creative, and strategic gaps for brands. Many scaled alongside platforms like Shopify, leveraging platform expertise as their value proposition.

But as ecommerce has matured and knowledge has become increasingly democratized, that edge eroded. Today, brands expect more than platform know-how—they want real partners who can help them navigate market complexity, cultural nuance, and operational challenges.

The old model prioritized granular hourly tracking as the gold standard of transparency. In practice, this often created confusion, scope ambiguity, and misaligned expectations. Too much focus landed on hours worked, not nearly enough focus on results achieved.

A Changed Reality Demands a New Model

Layer in today’s headwinds—tariffs, economic uncertainty, and tighter budgets—and it’s clear that incremental improvements aren’t enough. Brands are still investing, but every dollar now demands clear ROI and strategic alignment to measurable outcomes. Agencies can’t just sell effort. The days of getting by on hourly execution are over.

AI-driven ecommerce platforms have accelerated this shift. Tasks once managed by agencies are now automated or handled in-house. To remain relevant, agencies have to move beyond tactical work and become true partners in achieving business results.

This isn’t about evolving the old model. It’s about reimagining what an agency should be.

Introducing Commerce+: A New Standard for Merchant-Agency Partnerships

Commerce+ is our response to these changes—a structured, outcome-based model designed to drive transparency, predictability, and value for our clients. With Commerce+, every engagement is anchored in clearly defined deliverables, timelines, and flat rates. Clients know upfront what they’re getting, what it costs, and what success looks like. No hidden hours, no ambiguity—just results.

Four Reasons Commerce+ Sets a New Standard

1. Strategic Value > Billable Hours

Our success is tied to the tangible results we produce, not effort expended. This puts risk on our agency, not on our clients. Given that, we focus on embedding ourselves in our clients’ businesses and helping them achieve long-term growth and profitability above all else.

2. Clarity and Alignment

We define products and deliverables at the outset, so clients understand exactly what to expect—removing guesswork and building trust from day one.

3. Predictability and Transparency

Instead of tracking hours, we focus on progress and outcomes. High-level summaries and milestone check-ins replace dense time logs, so clients see real movement toward their goals.

4. Operational Efficiency

Standardized offerings allow our teams to optimize workflows and deliver consistently. By reducing time spent on tracking and reporting, we can focus more energy on solving problems and driving impact.

How Commerce+ Works: From Foundation to Profit

To make outcome-based engagement real, we’ve bundled our services into three interconnected product systems that mirror the lifecycle of modern commerce:

Commerce Infrastructure
‍We start by answering, “What do you need to win?” The objective with this system is to create a solid, scalable foundation across both brand and technology—so merchants can move forward with confidence and clarity.

Optimization Engine
‍Once the foundation is in place, we turn to driving ongoing improvement. Here, we use analytics to find friction points, optimize user journeys, and run experiments designed to lift key metrics like conversion rate, average order value, and retention. Instead of reporting hours spent testing, we report the dollars unlocked by our efforts.

Profit Accelerator
‍Growth means little if it eats away at margin. Our Profit Acceleration system helps brands align costs with revenue, optimize fulfillment, and identify new, higher-margin streams. We run workshops and sprints that connect pricing and operational decisions back to profitability—giving clients a clear line of sight to their bottom line.

Proof in Action: Salt Athletic’s Revenue Gap Diagnostic

One example: Salt Athletic needed clarity on where to focus next to drive growth. Our Revenue Gap Diagnostic provided just that—a concise, actionable roadmap that prioritized their most important opportunities.

What we delivered:

• A full Ecommerce Funnel Assessment with key drop-off insights
• A Score Based Opportunity Map based on revenue potential and effort
• A Quick Win Implementation Guide for immediate conversion improvements
• A Long Term Investment Strategy for longer-term growth

Rafael, Salt’s CEO, shared this feedback:

The diagnostic was extremely helpful. We took action on many of the items and are planning out next steps and budgets across everything that is marketing and sales.

Engagements of any size, including more surgical ones such as a Revenue Gap Diagnostic, can unlock immediate value—when the focus is on outcomes, not hours.

Outcome-Based Transparency, Not Time Sheets

Transparency doesn’t mean drowning clients in data or hourly breakdowns. Instead, we provide strategic summaries and highlight the business impact of every initiative. Our focus is always on what matters most—clear ROI, better engagement, and sustainable growth.

The Human Advantage in an Automated World

AI and automation will continue to reshape ecommerce, but there are limits to what technology can deliver. Strategic judgment, creativity, and human connection remain irreplaceable.

Commerce+ is built to amplify these strengths—helping our clients navigate complexity, adapt to change, and build lasting relationships with their customers. Transparently, cost effectively, and with a focus on measurable results above all else.

Moving Forward

Commerce+ positions Verbal+Visual as the most thoughtful, strategic Shopify Plus agency partner in the market for brands looking to achieve measurable results across brand and technology.

This groundbreaking new model is purpose-built and AI-infused for today’s realities and tomorrow’s opportunities, where transparency, predictability, and partnership drive real business outcomes.

If you’re ready to move beyond the old agency model and focus on what matters most, let’s start a conversation.