How MatchaYu Tea Achieved 66% Year-on-Year Growth – While Many Brands Were Shrinking

Premium ceremonial-grade matcha, a solo founder, and the toughest year eCommerce has had in a decade.

How We Started.

When Erin created MatchaYu Tea, her vision was simple: bring premium, ceremonial-grade Japanese matcha to Australians who value quality, wellbeing, and the small rituals that make a big difference in daily life.

But running an eCommerce brand – especially as a solo founder – is rarely simple.

When Erin first started, the brand was growing – but it wasn’t growing fast enough for her to comfortably quit her job or feel confident she was making the right strategic moves.

That’s when she began working with one of our eCommerce marketing strategists – and everything started to shift.

At the time, she was juggling a part-time job, raising her young daughter, running her online store and wholesale orders, plus doing all the marketing herself.

And just to make things more challenging, this growth happened during one of the toughest years eCommerce has had in a decade.

Many brands were shrinking due to softening consumer demand, higher advertising costs, declining organic search traffic thanks to AI-driven changes in Google, not to mention overall economic uncertainty…

Despite all of that, MatchaYu didn’t just survive. It grew – fast, and profitably.

The Challenge.

Before we began working together, MatchaYu had three main roadblocks:

1. Traffic wasn’t scaling predictably or profitably

Meta ads had shown promise, but Erin didn’t yet have the strategy or confidence to scale without risking her margins.

2. Retention could be stronger

Matcha is a naturally repeatable product, but MatchaYu’s returning customer rate wasn’t reflecting its potential.

3. Erin was stretched thin

With no marketing team, limited time, and a young family, she needed strategies that were high leverage – not just more tasks to juggle.

And then, right in the middle of the growth year:

4. MatchaYu ran out of its core product for almost a month

Seasonal supply gaps meant there was literally nothing to sell – a nightmare scenario for most brands.

But the systems, strategies, and automations Erin had implemented kept the brand warm, visible, and in demand until stock returned.

The Strategy.

Together, we focused on three core growth pillars matched to Erin’s limited time and the brand’s biggest opportunities.

1. Increase traffic – without losing profitability

Once Erin had a tested creative strategy, a clear ad structure, and weekly optimisation guidance from her strategist, Meta ads became a reliable growth engine.

Crucially, the campaigns were built around premium buyer psychology – the customer who values craft, ritual, and quality – rather than generic platform best practices designed for volume buyers.

Meta ads results:

→ 160% increase in Meta ad revenue, achieved with no decline in overall ROAS

→ Scaled sustainably throughout the year, even as most brands struggled with rising ad costs and tighter auctions.

2. Boost customer lifetime value (CLTV)

With repeat purchases being a huge opportunity for a consumable like matcha, we rebuilt Erin’s email marketing ecosystem from the ground up.

Klaviyo results:

→ 86% increase in total Klaviyo-driven revenue

→ Automated flows accounted for 66% more revenue than the previous year

→ Returning customer rate increased by 17%

Even when stock was unavailable, customers stayed loyal, engaged, and ready to buy again when inventory returned.

3. Increase profit per customer

With clearer forecasting tools and ongoing strategic guidance, Erin began making decisions grounded in solid data rather than instinct alone.

→ This led to a 10% increase in Average Order Value (AOV).

Combined with profitable scaling and stronger retention, MatchaYu didn’t just grow top-line revenue – it became more profitable overall.

The Results.

During one of the hardest years eCommerce has had in a decade, MatchaYu achieved:

→ 66% year-on-year eCommerce revenue growth, plus wholesale growth on top

→ 60% increase in site traffic, scaled profitably

→ 160% more revenue from Meta ads, with stable ROAS

→ 86% increase in Klaviyo revenue

→ Automated flows producing 66% more revenue year-on-year

→ 10% higher AOV

→ 17% increase in returning customer rate

All while many other brands were flat or shrinking due to higher CPMs, declining organic search traffic, and tighter consumer spending.

MatchaYu didn’t just outperform itself. It outperformed the market.

A life-changing turning point.

The growth wasn’t just exciting – it was transformative.

Because Erin wasn’t just hitting bigger numbers. She finally felt:

→ In control of her marketing

→ Confident in her decision-making

→ Clear on what levers to pull

→ Supported by a team of experts

→ Able to plan and forecast with accuracy

And with predictable, profitable growth behind her, Erin quit her part-time job, went all-in on MatchaYu Tea, and is now building the business she always believed was possible.

She credits the transformation to:

→ Learning the most high-impact, modern growth strategies

→ Having tools that made planning and tracking simple

→ Regular strategic guidance and access to platform experts

→ Accountability to stay consistent and focused.

In Erin’s words:

“I finally feel confident in what I’m doing – confident enough to go full-time in the business. I understand the numbers, I know what to focus on, and I can actually see the results of my efforts. It’s changed everything.”

YOUR TURN

This kind of growth doesn't happen by accident.

What worked for MatchaYu wasn’t a template. It was a custom strategy designed around their brand, their buyer, and their specific market – directed by a senior strategist who got to know the business inside out.

That’s what we do – at three different levels of partnership, depending on where your business is. Some founders start with one of our self-paced Growth Playbooks. Others hire a strategist to direct their team. And some hand the whole engine to us through our Brand Growth Partnership.

Whichever level fits, it starts the same way: a real conversation about your brand.

About Productpreneur Marketing.

Productpreneur Marketing is a senior eCommerce marketing strategy agency working exclusively with premium brands across Australia, New Zealand, and (occasionally) further afield. Our average client stays with us over two years – not because they’re locked in, but because the work continues to compound.

We work in three tiers. Self-paced Growth Playbooks for founders who want to do the strategic work themselves. Hire a Strategist engagements for brands ready for senior strategic leadership directing their existing team. And full Brand Growth Partnerships for premium brands ready to hand the entire marketing engine to a specialist team.

Our founder, Catherine Langman, brings two decades of digital marketing experience – including senior work with Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Blackmores, and RMK Shoes – plus a decade as a premium eCommerce founder herself, having launched, scaled, and sold an award-winning international brand. That dual lens – marketing strategist and eCommerce operator – is what shapes how every member of our team thinks about your business.

We don’t just run campaigns. We build growth systems – designed specifically for premium buyer psychology, not generic platform best practices.

Productpreneur Marketing