E-commerce Consultant Serving Raleigh, Durham & the Triangle
Desired Path is a fractional e-commerce consulting practice based in Durham, North Carolina. I work with DTC and consumer brands across the Triangle -Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, and beyond- on Shopify conversion optimization, platform migrations, and customer retention strategy.
Whether you're a local startup or an established brand looking for senior e-commerce leadership without the full-time hire, I bring 10+ years of experience scaling companies like Everlane, VSCO, Birdy Grey, and Backbone.
The Triangle has one of the fastest-growing startup ecosystems on the East Coast, but not every brand needs—or can afford—a full-time e-commerce executive. Fractional consulting gives you senior leadership embedded in your operations 10-20 hours per month. You get strategic guidance, vendor oversight, and hands-on problem-solving without the overhead of a full-time hire.
Why Triangle Brands Choose Fractional Consulting
Solution Selection & Vendor Evaluation
Before you build or buy, making sure you're solving the right problem with the right tool. Requirements mapping, platform evaluation, build vs. buy analysis. Avoiding expensive mistakes before you commit.
E-commerce Platform Migration Magento to Shopify migration. WooCommerce to Shopify migration. BigCommerce to Shopify Plus. Replatforming from custom or legacy systems. I handle clean transitions without losing data, customers, or momentum. Whether you need a straightforward move or help navigating a complex Shopify Plus migration, I've done it before.
Subscription Platform Migration Migrating from Recharge to Smartrr or other subscription platforms. Moving homegrown subscription setups to modern tools. I help you evaluate the right subscription platform for your business and execute the migration without disrupting your subscribers.
Custom Shopify Development
Theme work, custom sections, product pages, checkout modifications. Builds that match your brand without fighting your platform.
Tracking & Analytics
Tagging architecture, conversion tracking, attribution setup. Data that actually tells you what's working.
Reporting & Dashboards
Visibility into your business. Custom dashboards and reports you can use to make decisions, not just technically impressive spreadsheets.
Build the
Foundation
Services for Triangle E-commerce Brands
Shopify Conversion Optimization Technical SEO, site structure, page speed, checkout flow optimization. Fixing the leaks that cost you conversions. I audit your Shopify store performance and fix what's holding you back.
Email, SMS & Push Marketing
Klaviyo flows, segmentation, lifecycle messaging. As a Klaviyo consultant, I build retention systems around real customer behavior—not platform defaults. I help you get more from your existing email and SMS investment.
Customer Retention & Subscription Strategy
Platform selection, custom UI, retention flows, integrations. Reducing subscription churn requires more than tweaking cancellation flows. I help you build subscriptions customers actually want to keep and customer retention systems that compound over time.
User Research & Experimentation Surveys, unmoderated studies, A/B testing, on-site experimentation. Understanding what customers actually do and validating changes before committing.
Grow
Revenue
Order Routing & Fulfillment Automation
Logic that handles complexity. Routing orders to the right warehouse, automating handoffs, reducing manual work.
Inventory & Warehouse Integrations Connecting your systems so inventory is accurate and fulfillment runs smoothly.
Shipping, Tax & Duty Optimization Getting shipping rates, label generation, and tax/duty calculations right. Reducing costs, avoiding surprises at checkout, and keeping international shipments from getting stuck in customs.
Omnichannel & Retail Integration
Buy online pick up in store, big box distribution, retail POS sync. Connecting DTC and retail so they work together instead of competing.
Customer Support Infrastructure Helpdesk setup, workflow design, team scaling. Support operations that can handle growth without burning out your team.
International & Localization
Localizing storefronts, payments, fulfillment, and messaging for new markets. Expanding without recreating every problem you already solved.
Marketplace Integration
Connecting your brand to third-party marketplaces. Listing management, inventory sync, and operational workflows that don't create more problems than they solve.
Scale
Operations
About Me
I'm Brian Alenduff. I've spent over ten years as a product leader and fractional head of product at consumer startups including Everlane, VSCO, Birdy Grey, and Backbone. I've helped scale teams from ten to hundreds of people and revenue from under $1M to hundreds of millions.
I've consulted for brands like Moinkbox, Anchorhead Coffee, and 2SL Design, and advised companies including YesPlz.ai and Gorgias. I've worked across apparel, consumer electronics, mobile apps, real estate, food and beverage, trading cards and collectibles, and marketplaces. I've built internal tools, launched international markets, managed Magento to Shopify migrations, scaled support teams, and handled the messy operational work that sits between a brand's ambitions and its infrastructure.
I started Desired Path because I kept meeting founders and operators who were stuck. They were either trying to do everything themselves or paying agencies who didn't fully understand their business. They didn't need another vendor. They needed someone who could own problems end to end, the way an internal leader would.
That's what I do. I work as an embedded e-commerce consultant, typically on a retainer basis, with brands doing $1M+ in annual revenue. I'm not looking for quick projects. I'm looking for long-term relationships where I can help you build something that lasts.
Let’s Talk
Based in Durham, I work with brands throughout the Research Triangle and North Carolina, including:
Durham
Raleigh
Chapel Hill
Cary
Morrisville
Research Triangle Park (RTP)
Wake County
Orange County
I also work with brands nationwide—location isn't a barrier to partnership.
If you're a Triangle-area brand looking for e-commerce leadership, I'd love to hear what you're working on.