If you’re a founder running a growing Shopify brand, you’ve probably reached the point where you can’t run the store yourself anymore. The question is who should.
Most founders end up choosing between three options: hire someone full time, hire an agency, or bring in a fractional head of ecommerce. I’m one of those options, so I’m not neutral. But I’ll be honest about where each one fits, including when I think an agency is the better pick.
I’m Carson Cobb. I run Shopify stores for growing DTC brands on monthly retainers. Over 6+ years I’ve worked on 50+ Shopify stores and supported more than $40M in client revenue. I’ve worked alongside plenty of agencies, and I’ve cleaned up after a few.
The three options in plain terms
A full time head of ecommerce is an employee who owns the channel every day. Expect $150K+ a year before benefits, plus the time it takes to find and onboard the right person.
Stitching vendors together is what most brands end up with by default. A developer here, a designer there, an email freelancer, an agency for a project. That’s often about four invoices a month, and you’re the one connecting them.
A fractional head of ecommerce is one senior person who owns the store, the roadmap and the vendors on a monthly retainer. With me, retainers start at $3,000/mo.
Agencies sit somewhere in the middle. Some are excellent. The question is less whether they’re good and more whether their model fits what you need right now.
Costs: what you’re actually paying for
The invoice is only part of the cost.
With an agency or a group of vendors, you pay each invoice, plus the hidden cost of managing them. Somebody has to write briefs, chase updates, review work, and decide what matters this month. In most growing brands, that somebody is the founder.
With a full time hire, you pay a salary whether there’s a full month of senior work or not, plus benefits, equipment and the cost of a bad hire if it doesn’t work out.
With a fractional head of ecommerce, you pay one retainer, and the management is part of the job. My plans:
- Advisor, $1,000/mo. Your team does the work, and you get a senior second opinion.
- Hour Block, $1,250 for 10 hours. For a defined batch of work.
- Store Sprint, $1,500 one time. One week audit and fix, credited to a retainer.
- Operator, $3,000/mo. I run the store with you month to month.
- Head of Ecommerce, $5,500/mo. I own the whole channel.
- Extra work, $125/hr.
All plans are on the pricing section.
Who owns the outcome
This is the biggest difference, and it doesn’t show up on a pricing page.
An agency is usually hired to deliver something: a redesign, a set of emails, a batch of tests. When it’s delivered, the job is done. Whether conversion went up is often your problem.
Vendors each own a slice. The email freelancer owns email. The developer owns tickets. Nobody owns whether the store as a whole made more money this month.
A fractional head of ecommerce owns the result. I decide what to work on based on what will move revenue, do the work or brief whoever should, and report back on what changed. If something didn’t work, that’s mine to explain and fix.
Speed: how fast things actually get done
Agencies often work in scoped projects with kickoffs, approvals and change requests. That’s useful for big projects, and slow for the small fixes that make up most of the revenue gains on a running store.
Stitched together vendors can be fast individually and slow together, because every handoff waits on someone, usually you.
As a fractional lead, I can see a problem on Monday and fix it on Monday, because I’m the one who spotted it and the one who has access. A lot of the work that moves conversion is like that: a broken widget, a slow script, a cart offer showing the wrong product. My conversion optimization page has examples.
When an agency is the better pick
I’d honestly point you toward an agency when:
- You need a full rebrand with new photography, brand identity and a ground up site design, all at once.
- You need several specialists working at the same time on a tight deadline.
- You have an experienced ecommerce lead in house who can scope and manage the agency.
- You want a fixed project with a fixed end, and no ongoing ownership.
In those cases, an agency’s bench of people is the point. If you go that route, a fractional lead can still help write the brief and check the work. That’s a common setup for my clients.
When a fractional head of ecommerce is the better pick
A fractional lead tends to fit better when:
- The store is growing, but no one owns it end to end.
- You’re paying several vendors and still doing the managing yourself.
- You need ongoing improvements more than one big project.
- You aren’t ready for a $150K+ a year hire, or you want to get the channel in shape before you make one.
Here’s what that looks like in practice. In the first 90 days, I fix tracking, speed and key pages in month 1, raise order value with upsells, subscriptions and email in month 2, and set up a testing roadmap and promo calendar in month 3. In a sample month for a skincare client, conversion went from 2.1% to 3.2% and average order value from $58 to $64. More on my fractional head of ecommerce page.
Quick comparison
| Full time hire | Agency or stitched vendors | Fractional head of ecommerce | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Typical cost | $150K+/yr before benefits | About four invoices a month, plus your time | Retainers from $3,000/mo |
| Who owns outcomes | The hire | Usually you | Me |
| Speed on small fixes | Fast once onboarded | Slow across handoffs | Fast |
| Best for | Large channel with a team | Big scoped projects | Growing brands that need ownership |
Book a 20 minute intro call
If you’re weighing an agency against a fractional lead, I’m happy to tell you which one I think fits, even if it isn’t me. Book a 20 minute intro call, tell me who’s working on the store today and what’s frustrating you, and I’ll give you a straight answer.