This is a real case study from our work at MrNoorDataHub No fluff, no fake screenshots. Just what actually happened when a client asked for 50 verified US ecommerce contacts and said “don’t send me scraped junk.”
I almost said no.
Then I remembered the last time we tried the easy route. 3,000 emails, 22% bounce, one reply that said “stop spamming me.” Never again.
So I cleared my desk, put the phone in another room, and sat down with one laptop. It was hot. 38°C outside, Karachi heat, fan moving slow. Chai got cold. I reheated it twice. That’s where this list was built.
First thing I did was delete 150 companies
Everyone talks about “top 200 ecommerce sites in the US.” Most of them are dead links, dropshipping stores, or brands that got bought and never updated their site.
I opened Semrush, Crunchbase, and just started clicking.
If the blog hadn’t posted since 2022, gone.
If the careers page still said “we’re hiring for 2025,” gone.
If the About page was three paragraphs of “we’re disrupting retail,” gone.
After two hours I had 50 companies that were actually live, shipping, and running ads right now. Names you’d recognize if you shop online. Brooklinen, Misfits Market, ThredUp, that kind of level.
Then came the part nobody likes
Finding the actual person.
“Contact us” forms don’t get replies. Info@ emails go to interns. You need the Head of Ecommerce, the VP of Digital, or the founder if it’s a smaller brand.
I use Apollo to see who holds those titles. But I don’t trust it.
I check LinkedIn right after. Has she posted this month? Is she still listed as working there? Last week I caught 7 contacts that were outdated. Would’ve wasted a whole campaign.
Hunter helps with email patterns. If john.doe@ works, I test the other formats too. Then I verify every single one. If it says invalid, it’s gone. I don’t care how senior the person is.
This took me almost 5 hours. It’s boring. You’re switching tabs, comparing dates, double-checking. But this is where you stop wasting money on bounces.
The phone number question
People always ask for direct lines. Fair. But I’m not putting someone’s personal cell in a public portfolio. That’s not how we do it.
What I do: verify the public customer service number from the site. For client delivery, we call it. “Hi, can I speak to ecommerce?” Most times you get transferred or get an extension. For the portfolio screenshot, I blur the last 4 digits. Looks real, stays ethical.
Why I don’t automate this
Tools are useful. I use Apollo and Hunter daily. But they’re helpers, not the worker.
If you export 5,000 contacts and call it a day, you’ll have a list full of dead titles and dead emails. I’ve seen it.
When you do it by hand, you catch things. You notice 12 of these brands just switched to Shopify Plus. You see 5 of them posted hiring posts for B2B sales last month. That’s what you use to write an email that doesn’t sound like a template.
It’s slower. It’s messy. It’s hotter than it should be. But it works.
What the client got
The sheet has 50 rows. Company, website, one-line description I wrote after actually browsing the site, CEO name, LinkedIn link, public phone.
I keep a private column for myself: Verified, Pending Call, Bounced. That never leaves my laptop.
The client sent 40 emails from this list. Got 12 replies. Booked 3 calls. Closed one deal.
Not bad for two days of work in a hot room.
What we’re doing now
We’re repeating the same process for UK and German ecommerce brands. Same method, different timezone, more chai.
If you need a list like this, I can build it. But I won’t promise 10k contacts by tomorrow. I’ll give you 50 that you can actually call without feeling embarrassed.
Results depend on your offer and follow-up. This process helps you reach real people, but it doesn’t close deals for you.
Want 10 rows from the list to check the quality? Message me. I’ll send a blurred sample.
Written by Noor Muhammad
Founder, MrNoorDataHub.com
4+ years doing manual B2B lead research for US and EU markets
