How On Group achieved an 81% marketing opt-in rate with Dataships

Growing a Powerful Marketing List While Staying Compliant

For over 20 years, On Group has grown its reach in large part through strategic partners — including shopping television giants like QVC and Ideal World. As the retail landscape evolved and some partners exited the market, OnGroup's CEO James Greenwell saw the opportunity to deepen customer relationships by leaning more into direct-to-consumer.

"The impact of D2C on our business is absolutely massive," says James. For a business built around repeat purchases — most On Group products are reordered every 15–30 days — a robust marketing list is essential. Higher opt-in rates would enable replenishment reminders, re-engagement of lapsed buyers, and a stronger sense of community around each brand.

Knowing this, optimizing the checkout experience quickly became a top priority. On Group's brands had loyal customers and strong product-market fit, but capturing marketing consent under GDPR wasn't straightforward. GDPR requires explicit, active opt-in, typically via an unticked checkbox that many shoppers overlook or ignore. As a result, their marketing list didn't reflect the true scale or loyalty of their customer base.

James knew they needed a new approach to consent collection — one that preserved the customer journey, supported growth, and avoided major internal lift.

That's when he met the Dataships team at a D2C conference in London. He resonated with their pitch immediately — it was simple but bold: automate compliance at checkout to increase opt-ins.

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"We had to ask for permission for marketing consent, and most people just didn't want that friction, even our repeat buyers. But we're a repeat-purchase business; we need to keep people engaged after that first purchase."

Transforming Checkout into a Powerful Growth Engine with Dataships

Onboarding to Dataships was quick and required no lift from On Group's engineers. The marketing team deployed Dataships' dynamic consent widget across their Shopify storefronts in just a few weeks, starting with Protocol and U Perform.

Instead of relying on generic checkboxes and legal boilerplate, Dataships' dynamic consent at checkout adjusts to each customer's location with messaging aligned to local privacy laws. It makes opting in feel like part of the purchase — not an afterthought. Dataships also handles everything behind the scenes: verifying consent, syncing with Klaviyo, and storing the logs.

With Dataships handling consent collection, On Group no longer needs to manually manage lists or worry about compliance. Every opted-in customer is ready to receive marketing campaigns the moment their order goes through.

The shift unlocked new momentum for the team, allowing them to segment based on purchase behavior, re-engage lapsed customers, and send replenishment reminders that hit right on time.

On Group's marketing list is growing, and more importantly, it's reliable. "We know exactly who we're allowed to reach, when, and with what. There's no more second-guessing — we can just execute," notes James.

This has allowed the team to shift from being reactive to proactive. They now have a foundation they can build on — one that supports long-term plans around loyalty and lifecycle strategy. Dataships enables the marketing engine On Group has been aiming to build all along.

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"We've moved from chasing opt-ins to having Dataships manage opt-ins automatically while staying compliant. Dataships gave us exactly what we needed — a way to build a better relationship with every customer. It's now one of the essential tools in our stack."

On Group Increased Opt-Ins by 170% and Drove £80K+ in Repeat Revenue with Dataships

Dataships had a measurable impact across On Group's brands.

• 170% increase in marketing opt-in rate
• 1,200+ new subscribers added to marketing lists
• £80K+ in additional repeat-purchase revenue across On Group's portfolio

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With cleaner data and stronger consent infrastructure, On Group can make more informed decisions about where to invest. James and his team can see which products have strong retention curves, which customer cohorts are most responsive, and where churn affects margins.

Looking ahead, On Group is rolling out Dataships across its full brand portfolio, using it as the foundation for a more consistent and fully-owned D2C experience.

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"We've seen a dramatic change in the data — opt-ins are up, repeat revenue is growing, and we finally have a system we can rely on. That's why we're expanding Dataships across every one of our brands."