Alpinestars is a global motorsports brand with a devoted community and a product line that sits at the intersection of performance, safety, and style. When the team launched ecommerce in Europe, they faced a familiar challenge for established brands: a strong identity and passionate fans, but almost no email program in that market.
On Episode 2 of Lifecycle Lab, Domaine’s webinar series on CRM and lifecycle marketing, Alpinestars, Domaine, and Code (now part of Domaine) walk through how they built a powerful, data-driven email program for Europe from the ground up. The episode features Paola Perversi, Ecommerce Buying & Merchandising Manager at Alpinestars and Anna Puigdomenech, Klaviyo PM at Code, hosted by Domaine’s Director of CRM Stacy Strom. The conversation covers list growth, localization, membership, and segmentation across multiple markets, all while protecting the premium positioning of the brand.
This recap highlights the story, goals, and high-level strategy. The episode is now available on demand and goes deeper into the specific flows, campaigns, and examples of creative that sit behind their results.
Starting from a blank canvas in Europe
When Paola Perversi joined Alpinestars, Code had just supported the launch of their European ecommerce site. The US business had run email for years, but Europe was starting almost from zero.
Key starting points:
- No meaningful newsletter list for the European market
- Existing data from the US that included European customers, but without clear segmentation
- A wide range of countries, languages, and customer profiles in Europe
- A premium, technical product line that did not fit a heavy-discount email strategy
The first phase of the partnership with Code focused on fundamentals:
- Building a European email database in a structured way
- Separating European contacts from the wider global list
- Defining language and country groups
- Aligning on a shared goal: reach 20% revenue attribution to email for ecommerce, with healthy attribution across other channels
Most importantly, Alpinestars wanted an email program that reflected the value of the products and the depth of the brand. In Lifecycle Lab Episode 2, we dive into how Alpinestars placed less focus on promotional blasts and more attention on education, inspiration, and community.
Grounding the strategy in Alpinestars and their community
Code began the collaboration with Alpinestars by immersing themselves in the brand and its audience. Several factors shaped the strategy:
- Many people on the Code team already knew and loved Alpinestars, which created an immediate connection to the brand and its community.
- The team dug into the Alpinestars' site, social channels, and long history in motorsports to understand its values, product lines, and different business units (motorcycling, MX, auto, MTB, and sportswear).
- Because Code also built their European Shopify site, ecommerce goals and CRM goals stayed closely aligned.
A key turning point came when the teams met in person at Alpinestars’ R&D facilities in Asolo, Italy. Seeing how products are developed, tested, and refined gave the CRM team a deeper appreciation for the role of safety and engineering in every piece of gear. That perspective shifted the narrative in email away from simple promotion and toward technical storytelling, care guides, and behind-the-scenes detail.
Workshops with Alpinestars' ecommerce, social, and customer service teams added another layer. Customer service brought real questions and pain points, which helped shape the messaging and flows. Thinking of themselves within different segments also helped both teams imagine what the customer journey should feel like.
Why Shopify and Klaviyo sit at the core of the stack
Alpinestars and Code rely on Shopify and Klaviyo as the core of their lifecycle ecosystem in Europe. The integration between these platforms gives them a practical way to work holistically across on-site and off-site experiences.
With this stack, the team can:
- Sync ecommerce data from Shopify into Klaviyo and treat Klaviyo as the central source of customer data
- Integrate other tools, such as Gorgias, with both Shopify and Klaviyo to inform segmentation and messaging
- Target customers with open support tickets differently in Klaviyo, so they receive more considered communication while an issue is in progress
- Extend the Alpinestars membership program through email, with tailored messaging and benefits for each tier
The close collaboration between Code’s Klaviyo team and their Shopify development team also allows for more custom implementations. In Lifecycle Lab Episode 2, we dive deeply into how Alpinestars moved beyond basic templates and created experiences in email that reflect the same level of care they put into their site and their products.
Flows, campaigns, and tactics that drive incremental revenue
Once the foundations were in place, Alpinestars and Code focused on incremental revenue and long-term value rather than short-term discounts. Several areas stand out.
1. Membership-first strategy
Email plays a central role in growing and serving the Alpinestars membership community. The team combines newsletter strategy with membership-specific flows, rewards, and content. Members receive tailored journeys, and email helps communicate the value of joining and staying engaged.
2. Back-in-stock that fits long production cycles
Many Alpinestars products require long production lead times, as stock can sell quickly, particularly for high-demand items. The team designed a structured back-in-stock flow, triggered by “notify me” sign-ups, which has become one of their top-performing flows in terms of revenue. It helps recapture demand in a way that feels helpful rather than pushy.
3. Premium post-purchase experiences
Because Alpinestars sells high-end technical gear, post-purchase communication needed to feel elevated. The team created post-purchase flows with detailed instruction guides, care tips, and video content. These messages help customers get more from their purchase and reinforce the value and safety story behind the products. They also open the door to thoughtful cross-sell opportunities.
4. Browse abandonment with substance
Browse abandonment flows do more than remind customers about a product. They include technical information, inspirational content, and context around the business unit that a customer explored, such as motocross or adventure. This helps riders or drivers feel more confident in their decision and more connected to their specific segment of the community.
All of these flows benefit from ongoing testing. The Code team started with best practices, adapted them to the brand, and then ran structured A/B tests to learn how different segments respond. Alpinestars’ motto “race on Sunday, innovate on Monday” captures the mindset: launch, learn, and refine.
Segmentation, localization, and data as a puzzle
Europe introduces extra layers of complexity: different countries, languages, ages, spending levels, and racing cultures. To manage this, Alpinestars and Code:
- Use Klaviyo as the primary source of truth for customer data
- Segment based on interest and business unit, such as motocross, road racing, or mountain bike
- Add layers for engagement, purchase behavior, and membership tier
- Localize language and market-specific links so customers land on the right version of the store
During the webinar, both teams break down certain hypotheses that didn't hold up in testing. Testing and iteration were crucial to help Alpinestars refine flows and campaigns until they reached performance benchmarks that aligned with the overall goal for email revenue.
A partnership model that feels like one team
A major theme in the episode is collaboration. Alpinestars and Code treat each other as extensions of a single team. Alpinestars brings deep brand and customer knowledge. Code brings CRM best practices and technical expertise. Together, they move quickly, share information openly, and adjust based on performance rather than rigid plans.
The result is an email program that supports a premium brand, serves a complex European market, and contributes meaningfully to ecommerce revenue without relying on constant discounting.
