Calla Shoes was growing fast—but didn’t want to lose the personal touch that built its loyal following. With Attentive, the team found a way to stay close to customers while scaling growth.

Growing without losing the personal touch with SMS

When Calla Shoes adopted Attentive at the start of 2024, the first focus was SMS, a channel that promised the immediacy and intimacy the brand was looking for. For CEO Jennifer Bailey, it became a vital way to maintain strong customer relationships as their audience grew. SMS allowed Calla to create personal, one-on-one conversations at scale, with each message feeling as tailored as a chat between friends.

Attentive emerged as the natural partner for this expansion. Its robust segmentation capabilities and hands-on partnership approach aligned perfectly with Calla’s needs, helping the brand bring a more human touch to every campaign.

“We needed a solution that could scale with us and still feel personal. Attentive allowed us to build behavior-based campaigns that genuinely resonated, and we saw results almost immediately.”
- Jennifer Bailey, CEO, Calla Shoes

Moving from Klaviyo to Attentive email

After establishing a strong foundation with SMS, Calla Shoes turned its attention to email. Switching platforms can feel daunting, so for a small marketing team, simplicity and support were non-negotiable.

“We’re a small team, so efficiency is everything. Managing two separate systems was time-consuming, and we wanted a unified view of our customer communication. From a reporting perspective, having everything in one place is a win. It’s made it much easier to spot trends and make informed decisions.”
- Jennifer Bailey, CEO, Calla Shoes

Attentive’s platform offered a single, unified space where email and SMS could work in harmony. The onboarding process was quick and intuitive, leading to hours of time savings each week, improved data accuracy, and clearer visibility into what’s working and where to optimize.

“We were worried about the amount of manual work we assumed would be involved in the switch, but within two weeks, we were up and running, and the interface made everything feel seamless.”
- Jennifer Bailey, CEO, Calla Shoes

After four weeks with Attentive’s email platform: 

• Cart abandonment journey open rates increased to 71%
• Cart abandonment journey revenue rose by 74%
• Triggered email performance across all abandonment journeys (session, browse, and cart) drove a 359% increase in revenue. 

These journeys, which combine timely follow-ups with product imagery and personalized recommendations, have become a powerful driver of conversions.

Bringing SMS and email together for retention and growth

SMS and email now work in tandem. Short time-sensitive and personal moments such as tailored promotions, restocks, and limited drops are prioritized via SMS for immediacy, while email nurtures longer-term engagement and deepening relationships through storytelling, updates, and brand-building content.

“The two channels complement each other perfectly. We stay top-of-mind without overwhelming our audience. We were hesitant at first, but it works like a dream. About 50% of our customers make a second purchase within six months.”
- Jennifer Bailey, CEO, Calla Shoes

For such a lean team, Attentive’s customer success team became a true strategic partner, refining segmentation, launching new journeys, and continuously optimizing performance. Consolidating under Attentive gave Calla a seamless extension of its team, enabling the brand to move faster, smarter, and with greater confidence.

“The partnership approach is one of the things we love most about Attentive, they’re as invested in our success as we are.”
- Jennifer Bailey, CEO, Calla Shoes

For brands still juggling separate email and SMS tools, Calla Shoes offers clear advice, consolidation pays off.

“We were on Klaviyo for email, but we wanted everything in one place. After switching, we saw better open rates, stronger revenue, and higher deliverability. It’s been a total game-changer.”
- Jennifer Bailey, CEO, Calla Shoes

Driving higher intent subscribers with engagement steps before SMS and email sign-up

Calla Shoes has seen strong performance from adding opportunities to engage with its SMS and email sign-up units before asking for contact information. For example, using tap-to-reveal a mystery discount drove up to 2.9% CTR, and question-based prompts saw 2.4% CTR, while standard sign-up units without a pre-engagement step average around a 1.8% CTR. 

Calla Shoes also refresh their creative regularly, updating imagery to match current campaigns and seasonal moments which helps them maintain strong list growth.

For peak shopping periods, the brand leans into themed prompts. During BFCM, Calla Shoes asks visitors, “Do you want early access to our Black Friday sale?”, delivering  4.3% CTR.

Advanced segmentation delivers stronger returns

Calla’s success comes from precision. Every message is sent with purpose, based on purchase history, engagement frequency, and preferences.

“We’re really careful about how we use our budget. Segmentation is key, we don’t send every message to every person.”
- Jennifer Bailey, CEO, Calla Shoes

During a bank holiday campaign, Calla focused SMS sends on previously loyal customers who hadn’t purchased in six months. The result was a £46 spend generating £1,000 in revenue, a 22x ROI.

Connecting and building trust with Gen X and Boomer audiences

For Calla Shoes, segmentation isn’t just about performance, it’s about connection. Marketing to an older demographic comes with unique challenges. Gen X and Boomer audiences are often more cautious about digital communication.

“Scams are prevalent for this age group, so building trust is essential. We make sure our messages feel real, relatable, and from a human voice.”
- Jennifer Bailey, CEO, Calla Shoes

Email campaigns are often sent from the founder’s voice, helping to reinforce the sense of community that defines Calla Shoes. The “Team Top Picks” campaign features real staff favorites and a personal note from Jennifer. This authentic touch drove an open rate of 73%.

A unified strategy driving remarkable ROI and deeper customer connections

Since unifying email and SMS with Attentive, Calla Shoes has achieved outstanding results. The brand saw:

•  248x program ROI in the US
•  74x ROI in the UK
• Triggered email revenue increased by 302% across both markets during the first four weeks compared to the previous period with their former ESP
• UK SMS campaigns also delivered a 21x ROI year-to-date