ON-DEMAND RECORDING
Finnish Design Shop x Sellforte: Learnings and Insights from an ecommerce retailer MMM implementations
Chris is joined by Johanna Kuparipuro (Paid Media Lead at Finnish Design Shop) and Konsta Mustasilta (Product Manager at Sellforte) for a case study on global Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM). Johanna explains:
- Why Finnish Design Shop decided to implement an MMM tool [07:54] The need for objective data over biased channel reporting and the complexity of managing budgets across 180 countries.
- The challenge of trusting platform-specific data [13:51] Why internal teams often struggle to reconcile the massive differences between Google Analytics and ad platform reports.
- How MMM has changed marketing planning and optimization [16:16] The shift from "best guessing" to data-backed confidence in budget allocation and media mix.
- The benefits of the Sellforte Planning and Optimizer tool [18:01] How the team uses automated recommendations as a starting point for monthly budget splits between channels like Meta and Pinterest.
- Scenario planning for budget scaling [19:58] The ability to forecast the incremental sales impact of increasing or decreasing media spend by specific percentages.
- Key outcomes from the Marketing Mix Modeling pilot [27:51] Improving reporting speed, simplifying complex global workflows, and providing C-level executives with clear ROI metrics.
- Q&A: CRM data and in-house vs. external solutions [30:40] Discussion on incorporating email and sales data, and why they chose a specialized partner over building a model in-house.
00:03:00 – Introductions
Chris: Welcome to the case study webinar for Finnish Design Shop and Sellforte. I am Chris, and with me today are Johanna Karuru, the Paid Media Lead at Finnish Design Shop, and Konsta, a Product Manager at Sellforte. Johanna, tell us a bit about your role.
Johanna: I am responsible for all paid advertising at Finnish Design Shop. Monitoring channel performance and making budget allocation decisions is a huge part of my job, which is where Sellforte comes in.
Konsta: I focus on developing features for ecommerce companies like Finnish Design Shop and have worked closely with Johanna during this pilot.
00:06:20 – About Finnish Design Shop
Johanna: We are the world’s largest online store for Nordic design, furniture, and home decor. This is our 20th anniversary year. We are based in Finland but ship to over 180 countries globally, making us a truly global ecommerce player.
00:07:30 – Why Implement MMM?
Chris: Why did you decide to take MMM into use?
Johanna: There were two main themes. First, we needed objective data. Previously, we relied on Google Analytics and ad platform reporting, but none of them tell the "truth." They all try to take maximum credit. We wanted to know the incremental sales—the sales we wouldn't have gotten without advertising.
Johanna: Second was the complexity of the budgeting process. Every month we have to split budgets across channels (Meta, Pinterest, Google) and campaign types (PMax, Search, Brand). Repeating this for every market and region manually was extremely time-consuming and relied too much on "best guesses" rather than hard data.
00:15:45 – Key Learnings and Outcomes
Johanna: The pilot has greatly simplified our work. I don't have to go to multiple sources; I check Sellforte for their "version of the truth."
Johanna: My favorite part is the Planning Tool. I can give Sellforte next month's budget, and it suggests the split between channels and markets to maximize incremental sales. For example, if I see Pinterest outperforming Meta in a certain region, I can ask the tool exactly how much to shift. It takes into account more factors than a human can.
00:19:50 – Scenario Planning
Johanna: I also love the Dynamic Scenarios. I can create a plan for next month and then run a "what-if" scenario: "What if we invest 20% more?" The tool tells me exactly how to divide that extra spend and what incremental sales and ROAS to expect. This is incredibly valuable for justifying budget requests to our CFO and other C-level executives.
00:25:00 – The Sellforte Perspective
Konsta: The onboarding process was fast, taking about a month to ingest several years of historical data and build models for multiple countries. We've learned that for a company as complex as Finnish Design Shop, the value isn't just in the model, but in the harmonized reporting and forecasting that makes the media lead’s life easier.
00:29:40 – Q&A Session
Audience: Do you use CRM data?
Konsta: Yes, we model the true sales data taken directly from the Finnish Design Shop CRM [31:00]. Audience: Why not build this in-house?
Johanna: We considered it, but realized that since a dedicated company like Sellforte already exists with years of product design behind them, it is much cheaper and wiser to buy it than to develop it ourselves [33:00]. Audience: Do you analyze email and push messages?
Konsta: Yes, email is included in the model as a feature, allowing us to compare the effectiveness of CRM activities against paid media [35:30].
00:36:00 – Conclusion
Chris: Thank you, Johanna and Konsta. It’s been a pleasure. We’ll follow up via email for any remaining questions. Have a great week!