Every order you ship generates work that has nothing to do with growth. A WISMO ticket lands in Gorgias. A return request needs a policy check. A supplier spreadsheet has to become a product page. A stock count in Shopify disagrees with Amazon and with your 3PL, and someone has to figure out which one is lying.
Most DTC teams solve this the only way they know: more hands in the queue. Then Q4 hits, volume triples, and the same people are answering tracking questions at 11pm.
The fix isn't another macro or another hire. It's agents that read the ticket, check the order, and do the routine step — with a human approving anything unusual.