Case study

Building the business that built DCS Studio.

Maple Beech Co began as a handmade candle business and grew into a distinctive ecommerce brand through years of testing, refining and learning what actually drives growth. Its journey became the real-world foundation for everything we now do at DCS Studio.

2022Dessert candle range launched

$150k+Hands-on Meta advertising experience

AU + NZDirect-to-consumer and wholesale reach

In-houseBrand, Shopify, creative and advertising

Where it got hard

We had a good product. What we didn't have was a clear path forward.

Like many small business owners, we looked outside the business for answers. We invested in courses and agency support, but neither gave us the practical, business-specific direction we needed.

The courses

Plenty of information, but very little practical direction.

The advice was broad, quickly dated and rarely connected to our products, store or numbers. Group calls delivered more theory, but no one was helping us identify what Maple Beech Co actually needed next.

The agency

A costly monthly retainer before the foundations were ready.

We paid $2,500 a month, before ad spend, without the data or internal knowledge to judge what was working. The experience taught us that outside support can only do so much when the offer, creative and customer journey haven't yet been properly developed.

Learning Shopify without a development background
Creating a consistent brand and product imagery from scratch
Managing stock, production, fulfilment and marketing at the same time
Turning website traffic into profitable, repeatable sales

What we set out to build

Build a recognisable, profitable ecommerce brand we understood from the inside out.

Create a distinctive identity customers would recognise and remember.

Make the Shopify store simple to browse, trust and buy from on any device.

Develop a measurable advertising approach the business could afford to grow with.

Build direct customer relationships through email and repeat purchasing.

Improve average order value through stronger offers and thoughtful bundles.

Create another sustainable sales channel through wholesale.

What we changed

We stopped chasing quick fixes and strengthened the business as a whole.

Brand direction

Defined a clear position around colourful, nostalgic dessert candles
Created a consistent visual identity and brand voice across every customer touchpoint
Connected every product through one recognisable brand story
Used packaging and presentation to strengthen the customer experience

Shopify experience

Built a flexible store the business could confidently manage in-house
Simplified the mobile journey from discovery to checkout
Reworked collection and product pages around the information customers need to buy
Made bundles, shipping information and key offers easier to understand

Imagery and creative

Developed lifestyle imagery that communicates the feeling behind each fragrance
Tested studio and lifestyle creative to learn what customers responded to
Created a more efficient approach to producing consistent campaign imagery
Adapted each concept across the website, email and paid advertising

Advertising

Defined clear CPA, ROAS and average-order-value benchmarks
Built a structured process for testing and scaling creative
Used performance data to decide when to scale, pause or replace an ad
Brought campaign knowledge in-house instead of relying entirely on agencies

Customer growth

Grew an email list that could be reached without paying for every visit
Used launches and email marketing to encourage repeat purchasing
Introduced multi-buy bundles to improve value for customers and the business
Expanded from direct-to-consumer sales into wholesale across Australia and New Zealand

Where it stands today

A stronger brand, backed by measurable growth.

Sales~$1,000/day

in recent average daily sales, with approximately $100 a day in ad spend.

Advertising8 – 12x ROAS

in recent Meta results, with an $11–$16 average cost per acquisition.

Email4,000+

email subscribers available for launches, campaigns and retention.

Wholesale13 stockists

across Australia and New Zealand.

These figures reflect Maple Beech Co's recent performance at the time of publication; they are not a promise of what another business will achieve. Every brand has a different product, budget and market. The value of this case study is the thinking, testing and practical experience behind the results — not a guarantee that the same numbers can be replicated.

What we learned

Progress came from knowing what to focus on next — not from collecting more advice.

A beautiful website only works when the offer is clear and buying feels easy.

Strong creative can matter more than complicated audience targeting.

Advertising should not be scaled until the numbers show it can be done profitably.

Outside support works best when the brand, offer and foundations are already clear.

Owners make better decisions when they understand the systems inside their own business.

The right strategy depends on the business, its numbers and its stage of growth.

Why this became DCS Studio

We spent the money, made the mistakes and tested the strategies — so you don't have to.

Maple Beech Co gave us the practical ecommerce experience we struggled to find when we were starting out. DCS Studio turns that experience into clear, affordable support for other product-based businesses — from brand direction and Shopify design to creative and advertising education. Our role isn't to promise a shortcut. It's to help you make better decisions, avoid unnecessary costs and build a business you understand how to run.

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