How waterdrop unlocked repeat revenue through consent optimization

Scaling Internationally Without a Compliance Roadmap

waterdrop^® is  growing fast. New product lines. New markets. New customer segments discovering the brand through retail, Amazon, and owned channels. But with that growth came a problem most high-velocity DTC brands encounter: consent infrastructure couldn't keep up.

"waterdrop^® is growing rapidly—from markets and product ranges," explains Pia Ortner, Team Lead of CRM  for eight markets managed from the headquarters at waterdrop^®. "The customer base gets more diverse. There are more reasons to buy, different motivations and behaviors. We have to keep up and build the structure to support that."

Operating across regional e-commerce stores meant navigating GDPR, CCPA, TCPA, double opt-in requirements, and soft opt-in allowances—each with different interpretations depending on the jurisdiction. The default consent checkbox wasn't built for this level of nuance. It treated every customer the same, regardless of whether they were shopping from Berlin, London, or Los Angeles.

"From a CRM perspective, if we don't have consent, we don't have anything. It's the basis for everything we do."

Staying compliant required constant vigilance. Important nuances in privacy regulation change over time, and to stay abreast of them, waterdrop^® would have to manually monitor complex legal updates, then research, implement, and test changes across multiple storefronts. Without a proactive partner surfacing these changes—like changes in Germany's laws that could unlock more growth, or Italy's double opt-in clarifications that required tighter compliance—waterdrop^® risked either leaving revenue on the table or operating out of compliance. For a brand operating in 50+ countries, that wasn't scalable.

“For me, it’s about having legal aspects handled efficiently, so we don’t lose time and can focus on growth,” Pia explains.

Checkout represents one of the most powerful levers in consent collection—the moment when the customer's trust is strongest and the regulatory leverage is greatest. Getting that moment wrong either means sacrificing audience growth or taking on compliance risk.

Beyond email, SMS presented its own challenges. In the US, SMS is widely accepted and trusted. But capturing SMS consent at checkout without disrupting the purchase flow—and automatically ensuring TCPA compliance remained up to date—required infrastructure waterdrop^®  didn't have.

The team needed a solution that would automate compliance, optimize consent rates, and scale across markets without adding headcount or operational complexity.

Compliance on Autopilot, Growth on Demand

waterdrop^® implemented Dataships across their European markets before Pia joined the team. When she arrived and audited the tech stack, the value was immediately clear.

“What caught my eye first was how convenient it is with the legal aspects," Pia recalls. "I haven't seen anything like it. But then, obviously, the opt-in rates were significantly higher too.

Dataships replaced waterdrop^®'s default consent flow with a dynamic widget that automatically adapts to each shopper's location and the most current privacy regulations. A customer in Berlin sees Germany's soft opt-in flow. A customer in Milan sees Italy's double opt-in requirements. A customer in Los Angeles sees CCPA-compliant messaging.

No manual configuration. No legal reviews for every new market. No risk of non-compliance.

"It's incredibly easy. Dataships just fits into the flow."

The infrastructure works in three ways:

1. Automated compliance that proactively adapts to regulatory changes

When Dataships identified a new legal change allowing soft opt-in in Germany, they reached out to waterdrop^®'s team with a recommendation. The change was implemented, and the DACH region's email consent rate saw a 65-point lift that unlocked tens of thousands of new subscribers.

"We really value that proactive approach," Pia says. "Our legal team can review it quickly because Dataships provides everything in a compact way. Then we implement, and it just works."

This dynamic is especially valuable for a brand operating across jurisdictions where regulations evolve constantly. Instead of waterdrop^®'s team monitoring changes in 50+ countries, Dataships does it automatically.

"With the amount of countries we ship to, proactively monitoring regulatory changes across all markets ties up significant legal resources" Pia explains. "Dataships enables us to assess potential impact immediately and respond to new requirements as soon as they emerges."

2. SMS expansion without friction

waterdrop^® initially used Dataships for email consent. But as the team explored SMS as a retention channel, they saw an opportunity to extend the same infrastructure.

Dataships enabled waterdrop^® to test SMS consent in the UK, Italy, and the US without building custom flows or navigating carrier compliance requirements. In the UK, SMS consent rates hit 83% within two months.

Critically, in the US, their SMS opt-in rate improved by 3 points, unlocking a highly engaged audience that is typically quite difficult to build

"In the US, SMS is important," Pia notes. "People are used to it. They trust it. But you really have to fight for that consent. So if you have it, you have a more engaged community than with other channels. It pays off in the end."

The key: SMS consent is captured at the same moment as email, in a unified flow that doesn't disrupt checkout. Subscribers flow directly into Klaviyo,waterdrop^®'s email and SMS platform, with full attribution by source.

3. Integration that eliminates operational overhead

Pia's team didn't have to rebuild workflows or retrain on new systems. Dataships syncs consent data directly into Klaviyo, and the new subscribers start converting immediately.

"We didn't need to offer a discount or redesign anything," Pia says. "The new contacts started converting right away."

That seamless integration freed waterdrop^®'s CRM team to focus on what they do best: building lifecycle campaigns, loyalty programs, and retention flows that turn one-time buyers into repeat customers.

By automating compliance and optimizing consent at checkout, waterdrop transformed their highest-intent conversion point into a revenue engine that scales across borders.

The numbers across 8 regional stores:

• 175% uplift in net-new marketable contacts captured at check out
• 277% peak uplift in email MCR Rate
• Email consent rates at check out ranging from 27% to 91% depending on market and compliance requirements

Market-by-market email performance:

SMS trials in US, UK and Italy unlocked highly enaged audiences:

• UK SMS: 83% consent rate
• Italy SMS: 69% consent rate
• US SMS: 3.71% consent rate

"Dataships really adds value here," Pia says. "We can rely on compliance, and we can boost growth at the same time."

Perhaps most importantly, waterdrop now operates consent collection across 8+ markets, 2 channels, and 50+ countries, without requiring in-depth legal reviews for every new entry or rule change.

"Consent optimization and compliance infrastructure are boosting our international growth. Each country has its own rules. It would require significant resources to continuously monitor regulations across all countries we deliver to. We really value Dataships’ proactive approach and expertise: they inform us, we give it a quick review, implement it—and it just works.”

— Pia Ortner, Team Lead, CRM, waterdrop

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