Marketing automation for retailers
Shoppers decide where to go before they leave the house, on their phones, often on the way. Maggie, your AI CMO, writes new-in posts, gift guides and Google Business offers for your shop and website, and you approve every one.
Free to start · No credit card · 30 free posts
Used by 600+ users and trusted by teams at
aeglesriphal.com
moonlakespa.com
shop.theteagroup.com
clo100.com
logtrics.io
mymorez.com
nextidal.com
otisapp.com
storaitelling.com
theheatpumps.co.uk
web-translations.com
exposeai.tech
orielipo.com
whitelabelcrowd.fund
elliptic.co
med.moonlakespa.com
netdex.co.il
orawellness.uk
reenest.com
syngage.ai
thepenthouseliving.com
zengolf.studio
imaintain.uk
rebuildingsociety.com
aurasocial.world
goaimex.com
moneyparents.com
newgenrenewables.uk
osmosisai.co
saunders.ac
teeza.app
thursdayclub.com
Why retailers struggle to keep their marketing going
Between the till, deliveries, staff rotas and the window display, the marketing is the job that slips to tomorrow.
New stock, no one knows
The delivery you waited weeks for arrives on Tuesday and goes straight onto the shelves. Regulars spot it by chance, and everyone else never hears it's in.
The big weeks catch you out
Christmas, back to school, Black Friday, the summer sale. They're your busiest trading weeks, and the posts that should have gone out a fortnight earlier are still in your head.
“Shops near me” finds someone else
People search for a gift shop, a shoe shop or a homeware store nearby, check the opening hours and go. A Google Business profile with no recent posts makes it easy to pick the shop that looks busier.
Up against the big online sellers
You can't win on next-day delivery or the lowest price. What you can offer, good advice and a carefully chosen range, only helps if shoppers know about it before they buy elsewhere.
The autumn range arrived on Monday. By the weekend, people came in asking for it.
It's early October at your independent homeware and gift shop. Boxes of the new autumn range are stacked in the back, the late-night Christmas shopping evening is booked for November, and the last thing you posted was about the summer sale.
You paste your shop's website into cmo.so. Maggie reads it and writes your brand profile: your homeware, candles and locally made gifts, the town-centre shoppers and visitors who buy from you, how your hand-picked range differs from the chain stores on the retail park, and your friendly, chatty voice. You correct one thing: you now stock a second local potter.
By Tuesday the drafts are waiting, each with a picture in your shop's look: a blog post on cosy autumn table ideas linking to the products on your website, a Google Business post announcing the new range with a button to your opening hours page, an Instagram post about the local potter and a Google Business event for the late-night shopping evening. You approve three from your phone between customers and add a line about free gift wrapping to the fourth.
The posts go out at the times you set for each channel and each one comes back with its link. While you're dressing the window for Christmas, Maggie is already planning gift guides for every budget, and Search Console in cmo.so shows which ones people are finding.
A marketing assistant who knows your trading calendar
Each of those problems has an answer, and you still decide what goes out under your shop's name.
New in, every week
Tell her what has just arrived, or let her read your product pages, and Maggie writes the new-in posts for your website and channels, linking to the products you sell online.
New stockGift guides and buying guides
Posts such as gifts under a set budget, how to choose the right size or what's new for the season, written for Google and for AI answers. Published to WordPress or WooCommerce, Shopify, Wix, Webflow or any site through the cmo.so API.
Blog on autopilotShoppers nearby find you
Regular Google Business posts keep your shop visible in local search, with offers, events such as a late-night shopping evening, and buttons that take people to your website or directions.
Google BusinessPlanned around your trading year
Christmas, Black Friday, Mother's Day, back to school, the summer sale. Posts are written and queued well ahead, so they keep going out during your busiest weeks.
Seasonal scheduleOne delivery, every channel
One idea becomes a post for each channel in its own style: Google Business for nearby shoppers, Instagram and Facebook for your regulars (in beta), and your website for search.
Every channelApprove between customers
By default nothing goes out until you approve it. Swipe through drafts in the iPhone app or at app.cmo.so, edit a line, skip a post, or pause a channel while you're closed.
ApprovalsYour marketing team, in your pocket
Real screens from the cmo.so app on iPhone.
From your shop's website to a season of posts in four steps
Enter your website
Maggie reads it and drafts your shop's brand profile in minutes.
Check your profile
Correct your ranges and brands, add your key trading dates and choose your channels.
Review the drafts
Your first week of posts arrives with pictures. Approve, edit or skip each one.
Let them go out
Approved posts go out at each channel's times and every one comes back with its link.
Why not just…
The usual ways retailers try to bring shoppers in, and where each one runs out.
…post on Instagram when the shop is quiet?
The shop is never quiet in December, and that's when posting matters most. Maggie writes ahead and keeps your schedule full while you're serving.
…pay for leaflets and local press ads?
They reach people once and then they're gone. Posts on your website and Google Business keep showing up every time someone nearby searches for what you sell.
…pay a marketing agency?
SEO and content agencies often cost around £1,000 a month, a big slice of a small shop's margin. Maggie writes and publishes every week from £15 a month.
…write it with ChatGPT?
You still brief it, check it, make the picture and post it yourself, and it doesn't know your range or your town. Maggie remembers your shop and puts posts out on schedule.
Cut the £5,900/mo marketing bill to £15/mo
Everything a marketing team does, done by Maggie.
| What needs doing | Without cmo.so | With cmo.so |
|---|---|---|
| Full-time marketing hire | £3,000/mo | Included |
| SEO and AI search (GEO) agency | £1,000/mo | Included |
| Content writer, AI-assisted | £500/mo | Included |
| Social media manager, freelance | £800/mo | Included |
| Designed pictures for every post | £300/mo | Included |
| SEO and GEO softwareRank tracking, site audits, AI visibility | £250/mo | Included |
| AI writing and image tools | £50/mo | Included |
| Working hours | Office hours | 24/7 |
| Total per month | £5,900+ | From £15/mo |
Typical UK costs for a small business in 2026, with AI already cutting freelance rates. Estimates only; your own quotes will vary.
- 5 social posts, 30 once verified
- 15 Maggie messages a day
- Upgrade any time
- 12 posts a day
- 150 Maggie messages a day
- All channels
- 96 posts a day
- 1,000 Maggie messages a day
- All channels
Per website, billed monthly. Blog and social posts share one allowance; your best plan sets how much you can talk to Maggie across all your websites.
Marketing automation for retailers: your questions
Still unsure?
What is marketing automation for retailers?
It's software that does the repeating work of marketing a shop: planning posts around your trading year, writing new-in, gift guide and social posts, making pictures and publishing them on schedule.
With cmo.so, Maggie does all of it from your shop's website, and nothing goes out until you approve it.
How do retailers get more customers online?
Retailers get more customers online by being easy to find and worth the trip: an active Google Business profile, helpful guides and new-in posts on their own website, and regular posts before every busy trading week.
Maggie, your AI CMO, writes those posts every week and queues them ahead of your key dates, and Search Console in cmo.so shows which ones bring shoppers to your site.
How much does marketing automation cost for a retailer?
There's a free plan with no card needed. Paid plans are per website and billed monthly: Air at £15 a month covers two posts a day, which suits most single shops, and Pro at £45 a month suits a growing retailer posting on several channels.
Founding members get lower prices for good on every plan until 1 January 2027. You can cancel any time.
Which channels should retailers start with?
Most retailers start with Google Business, because that's where shoppers searching nearby check what you sell and when you're open, plus their own website for gift and buying guides.
Instagram and Facebook are in beta and suit regular customers and visitors, and LinkedIn can help if you also supply local businesses. Each channel has its own posting times and queue.
Is it safe to let AI post for my shop?
Yes, because nothing goes out until you approve it. Approvals are on by default, and you can keep them on for every channel or let a channel you trust run on autopilot.
Social channels connect through each platform's official sign-in, so cmo.so never sees your passwords, and cmo.so never sells or rents your data.
Will cmo.so change my prices or stock?
No, cmo.so never changes your prices or stock. Maggie writes and publishes posts; she never changes products, prices or stock in your online shop or till system.
She can link posts to products on your website, so a gift guide can send readers straight to something they can buy or reserve.
Will my Christmas and Black Friday posts be ready in time?
Yes, they will. Add your key dates and Maggie plans topics around them and writes the posts weeks ahead, so you can approve them before the rush.
They then go out on schedule while you're busy, and you can pause a channel at any time if a line sells out.
Can it promote in-store events and offers?
Yes. Google Business posts can carry offers and events, such as a late-night shopping evening, a product launch or a meet-the-maker day, with buttons that link to your website.
Add the details and Maggie plans posts before the day on every channel you use.
We don't sell online. Is it still worth it?
Yes. Many shoppers check online before visiting even when they buy in person, so posts on your website and Google Business help them find you, see what you stock and know when you're open.
Maggie needs a website to publish blog posts to, which can be a simple shop site on WordPress, Wix, Webflow or Shopify.
We have more than one shop. Can cmo.so handle them?
Yes. If each shop has its own website, add both to one account and each gets its own brand profile, channels, schedule and approvals.
If your shops share one website, Maggie can write posts for each location's customers from the same brand profile.
Which websites does it work with?
cmo.so publishes to WordPress (including WooCommerce), Shopify, Wix and Webflow, and to any other website through the cmo.so API.
Each post is reported back with its link once it is live.
Can my staff approve posts too?
Yes. In Me → Team you can add people and choose what each can see or change, using presets such as editor or manager.
So your shop manager can approve social posts while you keep an eye on the website.
Tell your town what's new before the next busy week
Enter your shop's website. Your brand profile and first week of posts are ready in minutes, and nothing goes out until you approve it.
- Free plan, no card needed
- You approve every post
- Cancel any time