The line between "cost center" and "growth engine" isn't always clear β until you start measuring what actually moves the needle.
At Dataships, that line came into sharp focus in Q1.
What began as a compliance solution has transformed into something much more powerful β a reliable system for unlocking incremental revenue through smarter consent.
This quarter, we doubled down on proving that value. We've shipped A/B testing tools to redefine how we show impact and aligned our product roadmap around a simple truth: Compliance can't just check a box β it has to drive outcomes.
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Dataships now sits at the intersection of compliance and revenue, helping brands turn the fleeting checkout opt-in moment into measurable value. Our core focus is incrementality β not just increasing opt-in rates but showing the actual lift in retention and repeat purchase behavior over time.
This came out of a real need. Attribution today is a mess. Brands often work with overlapping tools, all claiming the same lift. They need confirmation that every vendor drives true value. We've seen this firsthand: 10 vendors taking credit for the same $500k revenue bump, but you only have $1M in the bank.
By operationalizing rich incrementality tests, we give brands visibility and confidence that we only charge for the results we actually impact. That's where we focused in Q1:
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As a result, our GTM play has shifted. We doubled down on Shopify Plus, where scale and global compliance complexity make those incremental gains even more meaningful. For these brands, a small uptick in checkout opt-ins can generate thousands of additional high-intent subscribers β without changing their offers, traffic, or strategy.
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As we shifted our positioning toward incrementality in Q1, we needed a clearer, more defensible way to demonstrate Dataships' revenue impact. This led to two key product investments.
The first was our A/B testing framework, built to compare a brand's existing checkout opt-in experience with Dataships' Dynamic Consent. It runs across live traffic and tracks the difference in opt-in rate between a control group and a variant group using our widget.
The second was an updated impact reporting process to translate that opt-in difference into:
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These features have been critical for customers like Benchmade, where a new growth hire wanted to prove the incremental value of Dataships.
Instead of defending the tool with a pitch, we ran a test. The results projected a mid six-figure revenue lift in the first year, proving Dataships' value and reframing the platform internally as a revenue tool.
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We made two key hires in Q1 to support our shift toward incrementality and our growing focus on Shopify Plus brands. These roles were scoped specifically to improve the customer journey and accelerate product delivery.
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As we scale, our goal is to build a platform that naturally integrates with the tools brands already rely on. That's the focus for Q2: Expanding our ecosystem coverage for cohesive consent collection, regardless of the tech stack.
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"Now that we're well established on Klaviyo, our next push will allow brands to funnel marketing contacts into any platform. That means incremental audience and LTV growth and a single source of truth for compliance regardless of the platforms being used." β Michael Storan, Co-Founder & CEO
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Here's what's coming in Q2:
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And there's still more in the works.
Ready to unlock more from your checkout? Connect with our team to try Dataships for free today or learn more about what's next.