The story
A Liverpool sports nutrition brand, made in-house
Applied Nutrition is a UK-based sports nutrition brand, founded in Liverpool in 2014. It sells protein, creatine, and a fast-growing pre-workout range.
The brand’s biggest advantage is that it manufactures most of its products in-house at its accredited Knowsley facility. That control lets the team get to market fast, whether it’s a new flavor or an entirely new line. Historically a B2B business, it’s now investing heavily in direct-to-consumer, and the results are showing.
The challenge
Points were piling up with nowhere to go
When Applied Nutrition’s D2C team stepped up its focus on retention, Smile was already running in the background, but it hadn’t been actively managed or optimized. Because the brand was growing so fast and earning so many returning customers, points had simply been accumulating without activation. Customers were building up balances without really knowing how many points they had, what they were worth, or how to use them.
The wider stack had the same problem: its tools were each working individually rather than together. In a repeat-purchase category as competitive as sports nutrition, that latent value was a missed lever, both for standing out and for converting one-time buyers into subscribers. Loyalty needed to be woven into every channel, email, SMS, app, and subscription, and it had to scale without adding headcount.
Our customers are earning points every time they shop, and the opportunity we’re most excited about is surfacing that value across every channel they’re already in. This is only the start of the journey with Smile, and the momentum so far has been fantastic.
The solution
Wiring loyalty into every channel customers already use
As order volume climbed, Applied Nutrition upgraded to Smile Plus, giving it the integrations, custom earning actions, and analytics depth to run loyalty at scale across a customer base of more than 120,000. Points reward repeat purchases, and newly launched referral rewards give the most loyal customers a reason to bring in the next one.
The focus now is making every channel work together. The team has integrated live points balances into Klaviyo email so customers are reminded of the value sitting in their account, not just sold to. And rather than competing, Smile and Recharge are being wired to work side by side, using loyalty as a lever to convert one-time buyers into subscribers and lift customer lifetime value.
What the program delivered:
- Activated latent loyalty: points balances surfaced across email and SMS so customers act on the value they’ve been quietly accumulating
- Smile Plus upgrade: moved to Smile Plus as order volume grew, adding deeper integrations and analytics for loyalty at scale
- Subscription growth: Smile and Recharge integrated to operate as one, converting one-time buyers into subscribers and lifting lifetime value
- Referrals live: newly launched referral rewards turn loyal customers into a growth channel, giving them a reason to bring in the next buyer
- Multi-channel activation: live points balances integrated into Klaviyo email for personalized, always-on reminders, run without added headcount
The stack
Shopify Plus, Klaviyo, Recharge
The results
Redeemers spend more and come back more often
Applied Nutrition’s program now has an engaged base of nearly 27,000 members. Redemption sits at 19%, above the Smile benchmark for comparable merchants, and 94% of orders earn points, so value is actively earned and spent rather than left idle.
The impact compounds among the most engaged customers. Members are worth 215% more in lifetime value than non-members and buy 76% more often. Redeemers go further still, spending 449% more each year and returning 210% more often than customers who never redeem. Since the team began actively managing Smile alongside the rest of its retention stack, the business has posted its biggest month-on-month D2C growth on record.
