Within our marketing team, email is a vital channel. Not just to drive traffic, but also to stay relevant for different target groups: from sole traders and contractors (up to about 10 FTE) to fanatical DIYers. I am Shaun Gerling, Online Marketing & Communication Specialist, and my responsibilities include branding, email marketing, CRM data, social media, and webcare.

At the time, we worked with a custom webshop, which meant integrations and automation weren’t always ‘plug-and-play’. Nevertheless, we wanted to use email marketing more intelligently. That’s why we use Maileon as our email marketing platform and have step-by-step built connections and flows, such as a Google Tag Manager integration and abandoned cart flows via contact events.

Meanwhile, we are in the process of migrating to a new, professional e-commerce platform: BigCommerce. Due to internal changes in web development, this is the best next step for us. We expect that integrations and automation will soon run differently, as we will be able to establish a direct connection.

What challenges did we face in our email marketing?

1) GDPR compliance and data control

One of the biggest reasons for switching was compliance. We wanted the certainty that we process data properly and according to the rules, and that this is technically well-arranged.

Is Mailchimp still GDPR-proof?

2) More freedom in templates and design

We were looking for an email tool that would allow us to manage the design ourselves. With many product categories and different target groups, you don’t want to be stuck with standard templates or limited editors.

3) Scalable personalisation (within our technical reality)

With 1,500 products, relevance is key, but it must remain feasible. Furthermore, we have a relatively high number of Outlook users, which presents additional design limitations. And because our webshop is custom-built, there was no standard integration for dynamic product recommendations.

Automations like abandoned cart also depend on stable events (for example, via GTM).

In short: we were looking for a solution that is GDPR-proof, offers significant design control, and is strong in segmentation and automation, even when not everything is connected by default.

Why we chose Maileon (and what it delivered)

An onboarding that empowers you

We found the onboarding very pleasant: plenty of detail, but also room for self-discovery and asking questions. In the beginning, we worked with a sort of sample setup, but now we are building more and more ourselves.

Templates: Full control, faster switching

One of the first benefits: we can design and adjust templates ourselves to match our corporate identity. This is important for brand consistency, but also practical. Promotions, seasonal campaigns, or stock-driven updates need to be implemented quickly.

Contact fields & custom fields: Segmentation that actually works

My favourite part of Maileon is the contact fields and custom fields. These allow us to record customer information and utilise it for personalisation and segmentation.

In practice, we use this to:

• Record interests (brands, suppliers, product groups).
• Send targeted campaigns to niche audiences (even for smaller numbers).
• Build data as a foundation for automation and retargeting.

Want to know more: email marketing for businesses in e-commerce and retail 

Heatmaps and reporting: Optimising based on behaviour

The heatmap functionality is useful because we can immediately see where recipients are clicking. We use this not just for reporting, but also as input: which blocks work, where do people drop off, and what makes sense for a follow-up campaign?

Combined with reporting (subscriber growth, performance, email client analysis), this helps us look beyond just opens—especially since Outlook represents a large share of our users.

Automation builder: Logical building without the hassle

For us, automation isn’t a “nice extra”; it’s a way to scale relevance. What I find strong about the automation builder is how intuitively it works with blocks and conditions.

We use automation, for example, for:

• Conditional flows based on opens and clicks.
• Follow-up actions based on engagement (retargeting).
• Segment-driven campaigns.

A concrete example of how we use this: We built a flow specifically for new newsletter subscribers who haven’t created an account on our website yet. After two weeks, they automatically receive a friendly reminder to create an account. We already have their email address, but we want to learn more about who our customers are. With that extra account data, we can refine segmentations and communicate even more relevantly. A small flow, but a smart way to build customer knowledge without extra manual work.

RFM segmentation: Communicating based on customer value

We also apply RFM segmentation (Recency, Frequency, Monetary). Using internal data (and help from a data specialist), we divide customers into segments such as “About to Sleep” or “Potential.” This allows us to better align campaigns or flows with the phase a customer is in: reactivation, repeat purchase, or loyalty.

Want to learn more about marketing automation in B2C or B2B businesses? 

Conclusion & Next Steps

For us, this journey shows that you can mature your email marketing even with a large assortment, multiple target groups, and a custom e-commerce stack. With Maileon, we have a platform that allows us to:

• Process data in a GDPR-proof manner within the EU.
• Have enough freedom to manage templates and design ourselves.
• Have strong building blocks for segmentation, personalisation, and automation.
• Make results measurable (such as that €57,000 conversion from newsletters).

A great example of how that flexibility worked in practice: the abandoned cart flow. Because our webshop was custom at the time, there was no ready-made integration. With a clever workaround via Google Tag Manager and contact events, we still got the flow working—and successfully. It’s proof that with Maileon, you can also build outside the box.

We are now migrating to BigCommerce as our new e-commerce platform. This comes with built-in abandoned cart functionality, making the custom workaround unnecessary. But the story behind it remains valuable: it’s possible, even if your tech stack doesn’t make it easy for you.

Our roadmap remains ambitious. We are working on:

• More advanced automation, also for the B2B target group.
• Further personalisation based on product interests and behaviour.
• Exploring WhatsApp integration and SMS functionality.
• Smarter use of customer data via flows like our account reminder for newsletter subscribers.

Ultimately, for us, email is about connecting with the recipient’s needs without marketing drowning in manual work. And that is exactly where Maileon helps us: flexible, scalable, and ready to keep building.