Why a Fractional Ecommerce Director Beats a Retainer Agency in 2025
The traditional agency model is broken for scaling Shopify brands. Here's the commercial case for going fractional — and what you actually get for your money.
The Problem With Agencies
Most ecommerce brands on Shopify are paying £3,000–£8,000/month to an agency and getting a rotating cast of junior account managers. The senior strategist who sold you the contract? You'll see them at the quarterly review. Maybe.
The agency model is structurally misaligned with your interests. Their incentive is to keep you retained — not to solve problems so efficiently that you no longer need them.
What Fractional Actually Means
A fractional director is not a consultant who writes decks. It's a senior operator who owns a defined part of your business — in this case, your ecommerce P&L — and executes alongside your team.
With Atherstone Digital, that means:
- ▸Weekly sprint calls with a set agenda and defined deliverables
- ▸Direct Slack access — no account manager layer
- ▸Technical execution — I build the things we agree need building
- ▸Commercial accountability — my fee is tied to your growth trajectory
The Numbers
A full-time ecommerce director costs £80,000–£120,000/year in salary alone. Add NI, pension, benefits and you're at £100k+. A good agency retainer runs £5,000–£10,000/month — that's £60k–£120k/year for work that's split across 10 other clients.
A fractional engagement with Atherstone Digital starts at £3,000/month. You get senior strategy and technical execution, without the overhead.
Is Fractional Right For You?
The fractional model works best for brands doing £500k–£5M in annual ecommerce revenue who:
- ▸Have a product that works and a customer who loves it
- ▸Are being held back by technical debt, poor attribution, or lack of strategy
- ▸Can't justify a full-time director hire yet
- ▸Are frustrated with agency account management
If that's you, book a strategy call.