How the Headphones.com Founder Created Loyalty Startup Lantern to Reinvent Customer Retention
For nearly a decade, Andrew Lissimore, founder of Headphones.com, has served audiophiles passionate about premium sound gear. But while headphone enthusiasts love trying new products, Lissimore grew frustrated with spending heavily on Meta and Google ads to acquire customers again and again. He wanted a smarter, sustainable way to retain loyal buyers.
Searching the Shopify ecosystem for effective loyalty programs, Lissimore found most tools limited to points or tier-based rewards. So he built his own — a project that evolved into Lantern, a loyalty and retention startup designed for Shopify merchants to boost engagement and repeat sales effortlessly.
Lantern started as a patchwork of apps offering stamps, points, and referral bonuses, but managing them proved difficult. The fragmented setup hurt brand consistency and user experience.
“We wanted a Shopify-native loyalty platform that was easy to customize and integrate,” Lissimore said. “I convinced Shopify designers Kyle Peatt and Dominic McPhee, who built the Polaris design system, to help.”
Both later joined Lantern as co-founders — Peatt as Chief Design and Product Officer and McPhee as Chief Technology Officer. Today, Lantern has eight full-time employees driving its mission to redefine ecommerce retention.
Image Credits: Lantern
Lantern enables Shopify stores to manage customer accounts, loyalty programs, and referrals seamlessly — all without additional code. Retailers can reward customers for purchases, referrals, or even community engagement, with built-in analytics for tracking performance.
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Lissimore said running Headphones.com gave his team firsthand experience with retention pain points. “We were desperate to increase our repurchase rate. For us, retention wasn’t just growth — it was survival,” he told TechCrunch.
Since adopting Lantern, Headphones.com boosted its repeat purchase rate from 30% to 50%, cutting the average time between purchases from 198 days to 98 days.
Lantern’s client base now includes Counter, a skincare brand generating over $200 million annually, and footwear company Vessi. The platform’s built-in retention metrics clearly demonstrate ROI for merchants.
To accelerate growth, Lantern raised $3.1 million in seed funding led by Salesforce Ventures, with support from Sidekick Partners, Day One Ventures, and individual backers including Vessi’s Tony Yu. The company competes with LoyaltyLion and Yotpo, but aims to stand out with its flexible, merchant-first design.
Rob Keith, partner at Salesforce Ventures, said Lantern’s edge lies in its authenticity. “Andrew lived the retention problem firsthand, while Kyle and Dominic built the Shopify Polaris design system used by thousands of developers. That combination delivers a loyalty experience that feels native, not bolted on,” he said.
Keith added that features like built-in wallet functionality and seamless checkout rewards enhance both customer satisfaction and brand trust.
Looking ahead, Lantern plans to integrate AI-driven insights to help merchants analyze data, optimize retention strategies, and increase repeat sales.
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