Industries — who we serve

Fitness & Sports

Fitness and sports brands live and die on performance — of the product and of the funnel. Athletes and enthusiasts research gear hard, buy on trust and results, and come back when it works. We build Shopify stores and paid-media engines that turn that intent into repeat revenue. For strength brand Versa Gripps, we drove a 6x blended ROAS and 66% more orders.

Book a growth audit See our work

The challenges we solve

Selling considered products online isn’t like selling impulse buys. These are the headwinds the category throws at you — and a generic Shopify build doesn’t address any of them.

Performance claims that must convert

Shoppers want proof your gear performs — demos, reviews, and clear specs turn interest into confident purchases.

A crowded, ad-driven category

Fitness is a paid-media arms race. Efficient acquisition and strong creative decide who scales profitably.

Repeat purchase & loyalty

The best revenue is the second order. Email, subscriptions, and community keep athletes coming back.

Sizing, fit & returns

Apparel and gear fit is make-or-break. Clear sizing and fit guidance cut returns and build trust.

Seasonal & resolution spikes

New Year, seasons, and product drops drive demand surges your store and fulfillment must handle smoothly.

How we grow your brand

Three levers that actually move the needle

01 · Convert

Convert the researcher

We turn dense product knowledge into buying confidence — PDPs that answer the real questions, comparison and finder tools, and CRO tested against your actual traffic, not best-practice guesswork.

02 · Acquire

Acquire efficiently

Paid search and paid social built around your margins and seasonality, not vanity ROAS — so growth is profitable, not just big.

03 · Retain

Grow lifetime value

Email, SMS, loyalty, and post-purchase experiences that turn a first-time buyer into a repeat customer and a referral source.

The First Pier method — how every engagement runs

Strategize

Tie every build to a growth outcome.

Integrate

Connect the tools and data that run the store.

Measure

Prove it in revenue, retention, and ROAS.

Iterate

Ship, learn, refine in fast sprints.

Proof

Results we’ve delivered

Growth Marketing for Versa Gripps

Adspend

Blended ROAS

+66%

Orders

Weebly to Shopify Migration for Versa Gripps

+55%

Orders

+66%

Revenue

+13%

AOV

Brand Expansion for Versa Gripps

Services

What we bring to your store

Shopify & Shopify Plus development

Stores built for technical, variant-heavy catalogs — fast and ready to scale.

Conversion rate optimization

Testing and buying-guide UX that converts high-consideration traffic.

Paid search & paid social

Google Ads and Meta built around your margins and seasonality.

Klaviyo email & SMS

Flows and campaigns that carry customers across seasons.

Retention & loyalty

Programs that reward repeat and referral-driven customers.

Migration to Shopify

Move off a legacy platform without losing SEO or sales.

Why First Pier

Why brands choose First Pier

Senior team, no handoffs

You work directly with the people doing the work — senior Shopify specialists, not an account manager relaying to an offshore queue.

Shopify specialists

We build, optimize, and scale on Shopify and Shopify Plus every day — from technical catalogs to conversion and retention.

Maine-built, growth-obsessed

Headquartered in Portland, Maine, we partner with brands across the U.S. and measure our work in revenue, retention, and ROAS.

In their words

What clients say

“No idea was too big — they were able to run with everything.”

Versa Gripps

Improved SEO, PPC & engagement

“They're always advancing — always looking at what's coming down the pipeline.”

Hyperlite Mountain Gear

90% growth (2016) · 50% B2C growth (2017)

RECOGNIZED BY CLUTCH

Award-winning ecommerce work

First Pier is recognized by Clutch across Shopify, ecommerce development, design, and performance marketing — nationally and here in Maine.

Top Shopify Company · U.S.

Top E-Commerce Developers · U.S.

Clutch 1000 · 2025

Top Squarespace Company · U.S.

Top Conversion Rate Auditing · U.S.

Top Design Company · Maine

Top Digital Marketing · Portland

Global Award · Spring 2026

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you work with fitness and sports brands specifically?

Yes. Fitness and sports is one of our deepest verticals — we drove a 6x blended ROAS and 66% more orders for strength-training brand Versa Gripps, and we build both the Shopify store and the paid-media engine that turns athlete intent into repeat revenue.

How do you help us prove our gear actually performs?

We build product pages with demos, reviews, and clear specs front and center, so shoppers get the proof they need to trust performance claims before they buy — turning research into confident purchases.

Paid acquisition in fitness is brutally competitive — how do you keep it profitable?

We pair efficient paid acquisition with CRO and retention, so you're not just buying traffic — you're compounding the value of every customer you acquire. That's how we got Versa Gripps to 3x ad spend at a 6x blended ROAS.

How do you reduce returns from sizing and fit issues?

We build clear sizing guidance and fit tools directly into product pages, so customers buy the right size the first time — cutting returns and protecting margin.

Why First Pier for a fitness or sports brand?

We're a Portland, Maine-based Shopify agency with 8+ years building ecommerce brands, recognized by Clutch as a Top E-Commerce Developer in the U.S. — and we build both the store and the loyalty programs that turn one sale into a habit.

Book your free growth audit

Tell us where you want to grow. A senior First Pier strategist will review your store and send back a prioritized, no-obligation growth plan.

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