Driving a CRM-Led Email Turnaround with 5 Key KPIs

VIP Vaping, originally known for providing premium vaping products in the UK, faced severe operational and financial challenges after its 2017 administration. Acquired by British American Tobacco and folded into the VYPE brand, the business needed a fast, measurable turnaround in its digital channels to restore growth.

Email marketing is one of the most powerful tools for customer engagement and retention, but many ecommerce teams struggle to harness its full potential.

 

VIP Vaping’s existing email program was underperforming across every metric: declining acquisition, flat repeat purchases, low retention, and minimal personalization.

 

The core problem was clear: the business lacked a structured CRM framework with actionable KPIs, meaning the team couldn’t prioritize actions or measure meaningful impact.

 

Without this, retention strategies were reactive, campaigns were generic, and the business risked losing its customer base entirely.

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I partnered with BAT to implement a simplified, KPI-driven CRM framework focusing on five core metrics to drive measurable impact across the customer lifecycle:

 

  1. 1 – New Customer Acquisition – Improved visibility through targeted SEO and non-branded search campaigns to bring new buyers into the funnel.

  2. 2 – Second Orders / Repeat Purchases – Segmented first-time buyers by product type and tailored follow-up campaigns to encourage a second purchase.

  3. 3 – At-Risk Customers – Identified early signs of churn and delivered personalized communications to prevent customers from lapsing.

  4. 4 – Lapsed Customers – Applied proactive win-back campaigns using segmentation and behavioral insights to re-engage inactive buyers.

  5. 5 – Won-Back Customers – Leveraged additional data points to deliver relevant offers, increasing reactivation rates and driving revenue from dormant segments.

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40% increase in Database

By aligning these KPIs to organizational goals, the team could focus on the actions that truly drove commercial impact, using CRM as a central engine for retention and growth. Over an 18-month period, the results were dramatic:

  1. 1 – New Customers: -43% → +32% YOY

  2. 2 – Second Orders: Flat → +19% YOY

  3. 3 – At-Risk Customers: -6% retention → 30% fewer customers at risk

  4. 4 – Lapsed Customers: -6% re-engagement → +30% re-engagement

  5. 5 – Won-Back Customers: +46% → +153% YOY growth

kpi stats before

kpi stats after