In this exciting live episode of Own Your Commerce from SubSummit in Dallas, our host Jay and Matthew Holman from Subscription Prescription share insights on Bold’s new features called MAXIMIZERS. These are designed to convert one-time buyers into loyal subscribers, simplify the subscription process, and enhance customer experiences. Whether you're a seasoned Shopify subscription business or just getting started, this episode is packed with valuable information to help you optimize your subscription strategy.

Why You Should Listen?

• Learn practical ways to implement new features and strategies to maximize your subscriptions.
• Gain insights from industry experts on overcoming common subscription challenges.
• Enjoy the lively atmosphere of SubSummit with engaging conversations and real-world examples.

For more information on how to maximize every subscriber, visit: Bold Commerce.

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Want to listen to other episodes? Click here!

In this episode we feature a comprehensive discussion on Voucherify, focusing on its role in enhancing ecommerce through innovative promotion strategies, including loyalty programs, dynamic discounts, referral schemes, and most importantly how to get it right for your store! 

🛒 What is Voucherify, and how does it transform the ecommerce promotional landscape?

🎁 How does Voucherify extend beyond basic promotional tools offered by ecommerce platforms?

🤖 Can Voucherify provide examples of unique promotions it enables, such as dynamic discounts and bundled promotions?

🎯 What constitutes a good promotion, and how does Voucherify aim to achieve it?

📈 How does Voucherify help brands leverage their customer base for better promotion and retention strategies?

🚀 What real-life impact has Voucherify had on brands like EasyJet during challenging times?

🌟 Why is flexibility in promotion strategies critical for ecommerce brands, according to Voucherify's approach?

This episode features a conversation with Eli Finkelshteyn, co-founder and CEO of Constructor.io, a product discovery platform built on AI and tailored for ecommerce. We dive into Constructor.io's approach to enhancing ecommerce search experiences, its notable clients, and the evolving nature of product discovery. We also dig deep into the nuances of ecommerce search, including the balance between technology and human shopping behaviors, and Eli offers insights into future trends in online retail.

🤖 How does Constructor.io enhance e-commerce search with AI?

🛍️ What distinguishes product discovery from traditional search?

📈 How do different e-commerce verticals like grocery and apparel utilize search differently?

💡 What innovative features are reshaping e-commerce search and product discovery?

🚀 How is Constructor.io aiming to compete with or complement giants like Amazon in the e-commerce space?

📊 Why is understanding user intent critical in improving e-commerce search outcomes?

🌐 What future advancements in e-commerce technology and product discovery are anticipated?

Deepak Jain, the founder of Wink, a biometric identity and payments authentication platform, discusses the technology and its applications in commerce. Wink uses advanced AI and machine learning for face, voice, and device recognition to enhance security and convenience in transactions. Jain shares insights on the patent journey, the workings of Wink, its benefits in commerce, and future prospects.

Some topics we discuss are:

🤔 How did Jain transition from mobile security to founding Wink, and why is intellectual property so crucial in his journey?

📲 What makes Wink transform cameras into powerful biometric sensors, and how does it redefine transaction security?

🔐 Is biometric authentication truly more secure and accurate than traditional methods, and what sets Wink apart?

💡 How does Wink integrate with various payment methods, and what implications does this have for the future of commerce?

🛒 Can Wink revolutionize e-commerce by effectively reducing fraud and enhancing user experience, and if so, how?

🌐 What is Jain's vision for a safer internet, and how does Wink aim to combat bots and fake profiles?

🛍 Why does Jain praise Apple's online store model, and what lessons can e-commerce brands learn from it to improve customer experience?

Join Shaun Vanderkaap, head of commercial for Link Money, on the future of online payments through open banking. Open banking enables consumers to pay directly from their bank accounts, offering benefits like reduced costs for merchants, lower churn rates, and decreased fraud risks.

Some topics we discuss: 

📈 Shaun Vanderkaap brings over a decade of experience in the payment sector, emphasizing the growth of open banking payments in the U.S.

🏦 Link Money introduces a secure and efficient open banking payment method, allowing instant transactions and reducing e-commerce lag associated with traditional ACH transfers.

💳 Open banking provides a seamless payment alternative to credit cards, enabling subscriptions and offering cost savings for merchants.

🔄 The system offers higher approval rates and lower churn for subscriptions, benefiting both consumers and merchants.

🛍️ For consumers, the process involves a one-time bank account link, simplifying future transactions and enhancing security.

💡 Shaun discusses incentives for consumers to switch to bank payments, including potential discounts and rewards.

🔒 Open banking ensures robust security, utilizing bank-grade authentication methods and reducing fraud compared to credit card transactions.

In this episode of Own Your Commerce, host Jay Myers engages in a compelling conversation with Noah Oken-Berg, the Co-Founder of Above The Fray Design. The focus of the discussion centers around Magento, an ecommerce platform that has become a cornerstone for businesses seeking flexible and scalable solutions.

Noah, with his wealth of experience, unravels the layers of Magento's appeal, emphasizing its adaptability for a wide spectrum of businesses. The episode explores the  balance between customization and out-of-the-box solutions, shedding light on how Magento stands out in the competitive ecommerce landscape.

Some of the topics we discuss are:

• Magento's Versatility and Business Impact: Noah shares why businesses, from SMBs to enterprise-level operations, find Magento to be a robust and enduring choice. The discussion touches upon the unique characteristics of Magento that cater to a diverse range of business needs.
• Challenges and Opportunities in ecommerce: Jay and Noah chat about how to stay ahead in a rapidly changing digital landscape and how to leverage Magento's capabilities for long-term success.
• The Checkout Experience and Bold Solutions: Noah and Jay explore the critical role of the checkout process in ecommerce success. They discuss the importance of personalized and optimized checkout experiences and how solutions like Bold are making bold strides in enhancing this crucial conversion point.

Tune in to gain a deeper understanding of Magento, learn about the evolving dynamics of ecommerce, and discover how businesses are navigating the digital landscape with Above The Fray. Noah Oken-Berg’s expertise and insights make this episode a must-listen for anyone keen on mastering the intricacies of Magento and ecommerce innovation.

In this episode, Jay and M.academy Owner Mark Shust discuss the nuances of Magento and Bold, and how these powerful platforms help brands uncover the complexities of online stores, shedding light on the challenges and opportunities that arise. Discover the secrets behind successful online businesses, as Mark offers practical advice and thought-provoking insights, highlighting the importance of personalized experiences and the impact of customer-centric approaches. Get ready to be inspired and informed by the expertise and wisdom of this industry leader.

Some of the topics we discuss are:

• ​​M.academy's Role in Magento Education: Mark delves into the role of his Magento-focused education platform, M.academy, highlighting its contribution to educating individuals and businesses about the intricacies and capabilities of the Magento platform. He discusses how M.academy aims to empower users with the knowledge and skills necessary to leverage Magento's flexibility and customization features effectively.
• Flexibility and customization of Magento: Mark emphasizes on Magento's flexibility and discusses how the platform allows businesses to tailor their online stores to meet their specific needs and preferences.
• Bold Checkout Innovation: The conversation touches upon Bold's innovative checkout solutions and how their platform enables brands to create modern, customizable checkout experiences tailored to different customer segments, device preferences, and purchasing behaviors.

Welcome to Own Your Commerce Podcast! In this engaging episode, our host, Jay Myers, the Co-Founder of Bold Commerce, sits down with a true industry veteran, Maier Bianchi, Founder of Bemeir, an ecommerce solutions agency with over 20 years of experience in the retail, ecommerce, and technology sectors. Maier's career spans an impressive range of roles and departments, from IT management to sales, customer service to software development, making him a true jack-of-all-trades in the world of ecommerce.

With a diverse background that includes working with various verticals such as fashion, health and beauty, automotive, and cannabis, Maier's insights are incredibly valuable for business owners and entrepreneurs at all stages of their journey.

In this episode, Jay and Maier delve deep into the world of ecommerce and technology. They explore the challenges and opportunities within the industry, the importance of empathy-driven commerce, and how businesses can grow sales through customer relationship optimization practices, mobile channels, and effective feedback collection methods. Maier shares his favorite tools, tips, and advice for entrepreneurs looking to thrive in the ever-evolving world of ecommerce.

Some of the topics we discuss are:

• Maier Bianchi's Diverse Journey: Maier shares his remarkable career journey, which spans over 20 years and includes roles in various aspects of the retail and ecommerce world, from inventory management to software development. His diverse background provides unique insights into the industry.
• The Significance of Empathy-Driven Commerce: Maier discusses his philosophy of "Empathy-Driven Commerce" and how understanding and connecting with customers and various perspectives is crucial for business success.
• Tips for eCommerce Growth: Both Jay and Maier offer practical advice for ecommerce businesses, focusing on Customer Relationship Optimization (CRO) practices, the importance of mobile channels, and effective feedback collection methods. They emphasize the value of resilience and building a strong support network for business owners.

Are you struggling with ecommerce challenges like improving your checkout process, increasing conversions, and staying competitive? In this episode, Jordan Brannon, CEO of Coalition Technologies, shares his expertise and passion for solving e-commerce challenges. He discusses the importance of staying adaptable in business and offers valuable insights into boosting your e-commerce success.

Plus, there's an exclusive offer for listeners. Don't miss this opportunity to learn and grow in the ever-evolving world of ecommerce.

Some of the topics we discuss are:

• ecommerce Challenges and Strategies: The episode discusses various challenges and strategies related to ecommerce. It covers topics such as improving the checkout process, increasing conversions, and staying competitive in the ecommerce industry.
• Passion and Adaptability in Business: Jordan emphasizes the importance of staying passionate about your business and being adaptable to changes and new responsibilities as a business owner. He shares insights on how to keep the entrepreneurial spirit alive and continue to grow as a company.
• Offer and Promotion: Jordan offers a generous promotion of four hours of free service to listeners and discusses how interested parties can redeem this offer. 

In this episode of Own Your Commerce, host Jay Myers engages in a captivating conversation with Peter Karpas, CEO of Bold Commerce.

The duo delves deep into the intricate world of ecommerce checkout, unveiling Bold Commerce's approach to transformation. Peter shares insights into his journey, the mission behind Bold Commerce, and why checkout is the heart of ecommerce success. They explore the challenges of the current checkout landscape, introduce the concept of Third Generation Checkout, and shed light on the  Checkout Flows.

From composable commerce to actionable strategies for brands, Peter guides listeners through the evolution of checkout. Unplugged anecdotes and memorable takeaways make this episode an enlightening journey toward optimizing profitability through innovative checkout experiences.

Some of the topics we discuss are:

• The Checkout Revolution: Redefining ecommerce Landscape: Peter Karpas shares his journey to becoming the CEO of Bold Commerce and sheds light on the state of checkout today, including its challenges and the distinction between exceptional and lackluster checkout experiences.
• Unlocking Third Generation Checkout and Checkout Flows:The groundbreaking concept of Third Generation Checkout is introduced, along with the power trio framework that aims to transform the way brands approach checkout.
• Actionable Insights for a Checkout-Optimized Future: Practical steps are outlined for brands looking to enhance their checkout experiences and prevent revenue loss during the checkout process.

Also mentioned in the podcast: Adam Grant, AfterPay, Amazon, American Express, Apple Pay, Buds Art Books, Etail, Ferrari, Gartner, Indigo - Chapters, Instagram, Intuit, Klarna, MACH Alliance, Magento, Mastercard, Meta, Oracle, Paypal, Product Rebels, Procter and Gamble, Shoptalk, Sezzle, Stewart NG Books, Tiktok, Visa, Vista Print, Xero.

Welcome to another exciting episode of Own Your Commerce! Joining our Host, Jay Myers, Co-Founder of Bold Commerce, is John Roman, the CEO of BattlBox, one of the most beloved subscription brands in the market. John's journey is nothing short of inspiring, and he's here to share his story with all of us.

In this episode we will dive deep into the world of BattlBox and explore the mind of John Roman, a true industry trailblazer. After leading several successful sales organizations in the telecommunications and software space for almost a decade, John ventured into the world of ecommerce investments. When his college friend launched BattlBox in early 2015, John knew he had to be part of this exciting venture. In 2016, The BattlBox Group made a significant move by acquiring Carnivore Club, an artisanal meat subscription box company, further solidifying their position in the subscription box market.And that's not all! In 2021, BattlBox and Carnivore Club caught the attention of Emerge Brands, leading to a remarkable acquisition worth $18.95 million. John's visionary leadership played a key role in this incredible achievement.

Throughout this episode, John shares invaluable insights and lessons he's learned on his entrepreneurial journey. 

Some of the topics we discuss are:

• From Sales Leadership to ecommerce Visionary: We explore John's transition from leading successful sales organizations to becoming an investor in ecommerce companies. We'll learn how his involvement with BattlBox from its early days led him to join the company full-time, propelling it towards exponential growth.
• Building a Beloved Subscription Brand: John shares the strategies and tactics that contributed to the immense success of BattlBox as one of the most loved subscription brands in the market. 
• The Path to Acquisition: John discusses the journey that led to this significant milestone and how it opened up new opportunities for both companies, BattlBox and Carnivore Club

Welcome to a special bonus episode of the Own Your Commerce Podcast! In this exciting episode, we’re chatting with two guests: Sree Sreedhararaj, the Chief Technology Officer of Sephora, and Thomas Mulried, Head of Sales and an industry expert from Orium, a leading agency specializing in composable commerce.

Sephora, a renowned beauty retailer, has undergone a remarkable digital transformation in recent years, positioning themselves as an industry leader. Join us as Sree shares the inspirational story behind Sephora's digital journey, offering invaluable insights into their strategic approaches and how they have effectively conquered the market. Regardless of whether you're a Sephora customer or simply intrigued by their digital prowess, this conversation will undoubtedly inspire you.

But the excitement doesn't stop there. We also have Thomas Mulried, an expert from Orium, who provides key insights into the world of composable commerce. If you're not familiar with composable commerce, don't worry! Thomas will guide us through the fundamentals, making this episode accessible to all listeners. Whether you're already committed to composable commerce, "composable-curious," or completely new to the concept, this conversation will equip you with a better understanding of how to maximize the return on investment in your own composable commerce journey.

From Sephora's groundbreaking digital transformation to Orium's expertise in composable commerce, this conversation offers a wealth of actionable advice and inspiring stories. Tune in to gain exclusive access to the strategies and tactics employed by Sephora and Orium, empowering you to make informed decisions about your own ecommerce journey.

Some of the topics we discuss are:

• Sephora's Digital Transformation: Learn about Sephora's inspiring digital journey, from their early stages to becoming a force in the market.
• Strategies for Digital Success: Gain insights from Sephora's CTO, Sree, as he discusses the specific strategies and tactics that have propelled Sephora to the forefront of the industry.
• Maximizing ROI with Composable Commerce: Dive into the world of composable commerce with Thomas Mulried from Orium, a leading agency in this space. Learn about the concept of composable commerce and how it can maximize your return on investment.

In this episode of Own Your Commerce, our host Jay hits the floor at Shoptalk, one of the largest commerce conferences in North America, to speak with 11 of the industry's best thought leaders, influencers and trendsetters. Join us as we uncover the top trends in commerce with insights from Brian Walker, Brian Anderson, Chris George, Darin Lynch, David Schripsema, John Roman, Kelly Goetsch, Richard Gillbert, Rick Watson, Rick Kenney and Thomas Mulreid. From the future of e-commerce to the latest technologies driving retail, this episode offers valuable insights and strategies that will inspire you to own your commerce. Tune in to discover what these experts have to say about the state of commerce today and where it's headed tomorrow.

Guests: 

• Brian Walker, Chief Strategy Officer at BloomReach
• Brian Anderson, CEO of Nacelle
• Chris George, Co-Founder of SubSummit
• Darin Lynch, CEO at Irish Titan
• David Schripsema, Director of Strategic Partnerships at Assemble
• John Roman, CEO at BattlBox
• Kelly Goetsch, Chief Strategy Officer at commercetools and Co-founder & Chairman of the MACH Alliance
• Richard Gillbert, Director, Strategic Partnerships at PayPal
• Rick Watson , CEO at RMW Commerce Consulting
• Rick Kenney, Leading Lights
• Thomas Mulreid, Head of Sales at Orium

Welcome to another episode of Own Your Commerce Podcast! In this episode, we're diving into the world of Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) services, with a special focus on FuturePay - a revolving credit platform that helps online merchants lower customer acquisition costs and increase repeat business. Our guest, Tim Harris, Co-founder of FuturePay, shares valuable insights on how the platform works, its advantages over traditional credit cards and BNPL services, and how merchants can integrate it into their checkout process.

Some of the topics we discuss are:

• Understanding FuturePay: Tim will share the background of FuturePay, benefits of MyTab, its need for it in the market and how it has evolved.
• Differences and Highlights: What’s the difference between FuturePay, BNPL, and credit cards and what value each brings to shoppers and merchants.
• Take a look into the Future: Get a sneak peek into the future of FuturePay and what’s in store for its innovative payment method.

So, if you're an online merchant looking to improve your checkout process and attract more customers, this episode is a must-listen! Join us as we explore the world of BNPL services and discover how FuturePay can help you take your business to the next level.

SPECIAL BOLD MERCHANT OFFER -  Sign up before 4/13/2023 and get 0% merchant fees for 3 months after signup. Click here ➡️ https://bit.ly/40nFv2P

Special BONUS episode with guests from PUMA, Harry Rosen and Forrester. 

Dylan Valade, Head of Global E-Commerce Technology at PUMA and Tovi Heilbronn, Director of Digital Product & Experience at Harry Rosen reveal the strategies used designing their commerce tech stacks, and the successes they've seen. 

Also joining us is Senior commerce analyst from Forrester, Joe Cicman, who gives us insight into similar trends he's seeing in the marketplace.  

PUMA is a massive brands, selling in almost every country, in thousands of retail locations, in various digital channels, website, mobile apps, and with their main brand and sub brands. 

Harry Rosen is a 70 year old iconic fashion brand that is innovating their digital commerce experience a lot faster than so-called "young modern" brands. 

Both of these brands are iconic in their own way, and industry vets joining us openly share about their learnings in what has worked for them building out their digital commerce experience.

If you're running an online business, customer feedback is crucial to your success, and in this episode of Own Your Commerce, host Jay Myers interviews Callum McKeefery, founder and CEO of Reviews.io, a platform dedicated to collecting customer reviews for online retailers. 

Callum's expertise in e-commerce has led him to recognize the importance of customer feedback, and during the discussion, he highlights the early days of Reviews.io, its competitors, and the features that make it stand out from the crowd. 

One of the most important takeaways from the episode is the significant role of reviews in improving customer experience, weeding out bad actors in the industry, and ultimately elevating your business's performance. 

Some of the topics we discuss are:

• Callum's history in e-commerce
• The early days of Reviews.io
• It’s competitors
• And the new (and very exciting!) integration with Bold Subscriptions

If you're an online retailer looking to improve your business, this episode is a must-listen, as it offers valuable insights and practical advice on the importance of customer feedback in the e-commerce industry.

Customizable, flexible and incredible customer experience.

That’s what composable commerce provides, but is it for everyone? 

Our guest today, Thomas Mulreid, Head of Sales in Orium, brings a deep understanding of the Composable/Headless Commerce ecosystem and the future it holds to major brand transformation projects. In this episode we will go through definitions, examples and driving factors to get you well-versed in the composable space. 

Learn what composable commerce is, what is the difference between composable and headless and what are their benefits of going composable. 

Some of the topics we discuss are:

• New Year - New Brand: Get to know Thomas and his role at Orium, North America’s leading composable commerce consultancy & systems integrator.
• What is Composable Commerce?: Learn how the commerce space has evolved to become composable commerce, why brands are embracing it and the difference between composable and headless commerce.
• Missing pieces of the composable puzzle: Are there characteristics that are common among brands embracing composable?  Is there an ideal operating model that businesses should adopt to be successful with composable?
• Why is checkout important in the composable space?: How well do brands understand checkout performance? 

We’re excited to welcome Wei Jiang, President and CEO of Citcon, a fascinating company that enables worldwide international commerce. Citcon is a leading payment technology that connects the world’s businesses with more than 100+ mobile wallets, local and alternative payment methods. 

In this episode we will go over the challenges that merchants and consumers face when shopping domestically and internationally. As well as why merchants should consider additional payment methods that Citcon is offering to ecommerce.

Some of the topics we discuss are:

• What is Citcon: Why was it started and what is the value it brings to merchants? 
• Payment Options? The more the merrier!: Why should merchants consider the additional payment methods that Citcon is offering to Ecommerce? 
• Bold and Citcon: How does Bold & Citcon work together? 
• Customer Experience: How do payment options and customer experience correlate and what does it look like?
• Be a trend-setter: What are some growing trends and challenges of digital payments in the ecommerce space?
• And more!

Other link: 

• Bold Commerce
• Citcon

Turn your business idea into a fully developed subscription box business by learning the know-how’s of the business!

This week, we welcome Liam Brennan, Co-Founder of BusterBox. BusterBox is a dog subscription business that sends out a themed box of healthy treats and fun toys to thousands of happy dogs every month across Ireland and the UK. Liam also trains and helps hundreds of subscription box owners scale up and build their dream business through his Subscription Box Experts Program.

Some of the topics we discuss are:

• What is BusterBox: Learn how Liam Brennan ended up in the subscription world and how he started BusterBox.
• Stay on the lookout: What are some of the main struggles subscription box businesses are seeing
• Incentivize your customers: What are some main ways to increase retention and reduce churn. Including some tips to using discounts and incentives to your favor!
• Analyze and optimize: What are the most important metrics subscription brands should track and much more!

Resources:

The Own Your Commerce Podcast is brought to you by Bold Commerce. Learn more about how to generate recurring revenue for your business by adding subscriptions to checkout. Click here to learn more.

Say Hello to Noibu and Good-Bye to Website Errors!

Noibu allows retailers to detect, prioritize and resolve revenue errors on your shop that's directly impacting revenue. They serve some of the largest retail brands around the world including Avon, Champion, Guess and more. In this fascinating episode we unpack the importance of detecting and resolving ecommerce errors and the MASSIVE revenue impact it can have on a brand's website. 

Learn how to detect, prioritize and resolve revenue impacting errors on your ecommerce website.

Some of the topics we discuss are:

• What is Noibu?: Get to know this week’s guest and how they resolve critical ecommerce errors
• You don't have errors right? It's not about things you do wrong, with thousands of different devices, browsers, and other variables, there are customers not able to checkout on your shop right now. 
• A Quantifiable Solution: How are website errors causing revenue loss and are being overlooked? And why do bugs happen?
• Squash the Bug: How are top retailers in the ecommerce space able to detect and resolve revenue impacting errors on their websites? And why should you invest in tech-depth.
• Noi-Boarding: Interested in Noibu and what it can offer to your brand? Listen to this week’s episode now!

We’re excited to welcome Adam Levinter to the Own Your Commerce podcast. Widely regarded as a subscriptions expert, Levinter is the founder and CEO of Scriberbase and author of The Subscription Boom: Why an Old Business Model is the Future of Commerce. An entrepreneur, podcaster, thought leader and passionate ecommerce expert, Levinter brings the latest news, insights, and ideas from the exciting world of subscriptions to this discussion. 

Some topics we discuss: 

• How to launch, scale, and optimize a subscription business for future growth.
• The history of the subscription business model and why it's the future of commerce.
• The shift from a transactional economy to a relationship-driven one being driven by the subscription model.
• Strategies and key metrics for countering subscriber churn and growing lasting relationships.
• Tips for brands on how to reduce churn, growing membership and LTV, and drive recurring revenue. 

Did you know that 82% of Internet’s traffic comes from video? For CEO & Founder of VideoWise, Claudiu Cioba, stats like this represent a tremendous opportunity for ecommerce brands. Dive into a fascinating discussion about interactive video content and how it has already begun to revolutionize ecommerce. Cioba founded a dedicated shoppable-video solution for ecommerce in 2021 and has already seen significant results for brands embracing this next-gen approach.

Some topics we discuss: 

• The significance of video content to shoppers and brands today.
• How Cioba came up with the idea for VideoWise and launched in 2021.
• Success stories from brands using video and interactive commerce.
• Data and key findings from the world of video commerce.
• Is shoppable video the right solution for you ecommerce store or enterprise brand?

We are pleased to welcome Alok Ahuja, CEO and Founder of the innovative same-day local delivery solution, Trexity. Think of it like Uber Eats, but for ecommerce delivery. Whether trying to keep up with ever-increasing customer expectations, or servicing a local marketplace, Trexity enables brands to offer same day local delivery and makes it smooth and easy. Ahuja has worked for Shopify and brings 15+ years of software technology and ecommerce experience to this conversation, with key insights and advice for any brand looking to remove the friction from delivery. 

 Some topics we discuss: 

• The importance of providing an intimate, reliable delivery experience for customers.
• Leveraging local delivery for subscriptions to increase customers lifetime value. 
• D2C brands hyper focus on owning the entire customer experience from manufacturing to delivery. 
• The changing landscape of commerce and how local and brick & mortar retailers can add value through delivery. 
• The “Amazon factor” and how it has raised the bar of what customers expect.  

We are excited to welcome Rick Watson to this week’s episode of the Own Your Commerce podcast. Watson is the CEO and Founder of RMW Commerce Consulting where he supports investors and management teams (B2C, B2B, or Omnichannel) plan, execute, and optimize major digital initiatives. In this episode Watson shares his 20+ years experience in ecommerce and what brands can do to ensure their technology strategy is optimized to deliver results. 

 Some topics we discuss: 

• The state of Direct-to-Consumer and Omnichannel retail. 
• 3p marketplaces vs. direct stores. Which model ultimately wins?
• The impact of technology on retail brands and how to craft the perfect technology or supply chain strategy. 
• Watson’s experience architecting the WHP+ platform that powers AnneKlein.com and JosephAbboud.com. 
• Shopify vs. Amazon. 

Guest bio:

Rick Watson has spent 20+ years as a technology entrepreneur in the ecommerce industry, having worked with companies like ChannelAdvisor, BarnesandNoble.com, Merchantry, and Pitney Bowes. While serving as CEO of Merchantry, he led the company to a $30M acquisition by Tradeshift. Watson also directed the cross-border product strategy of Pitney Bowes, a $450M business, comprising Borderfree and the eBay Global shipping program. Today he is the CEO & Founder of RMW Commerce Consulting and hosts The Watson Weekly podcast. Fun fact: he has visited Siberia in Russia 3 times. 

We are excited to welcome Jason Greenwood, Founder of Greenwood Consulting, to episode 35 of the Own Your Commerce podcast. Greenwood brings 20+ years of experience helping brands across ANZ and beyond expertly architect compelling digital shopping & brand engagement experiences. GWC was founded to offer B2B and B2C brands the same quality of ecommerce consulting services often only available to ‘sexy retail brands.’ 

Some topics we discuss: 

• Defining “stealth commerce” and what it means for the future of ecommerce. 
• The secret to creating compelling digital shopping & brand experiences.
• Which brands a composable or headless commerce solution is right for. 
• AI-commerce and the future of purchase automation. 
• Unpacking the complexities of B2B commerce compared to the B2C space.  

Guest bio:

Jason Greenwood is the Founder & Lead Consultant at Greenwood Consulting and has spent 20+ years helping brands creating compelling digital shopping experiences. A passionate ecommerce writer, mentor, content creator, and keynote speaker, Greenwood is the host of the At the Coalface Podcast and the author of the At the Coalface Digest. He does all this from a tiny off-the-grid sustainable home in Auckland New Zealand where he lives with his wife. 

Links and resources:

At the Coalface Podcast

At the Coalface Telegram Channel 

Greenwood Consulting

We are excited to welcome Andrew Maffettone, a marketing expert with over 15 years of experience in ecommerce, to Own Your Commerce. Not only has he owned and managed multiple marketing companies in the ecommerce space but has also worked in-house at multiple online selling companies, driving brands to new heights. With his knowledge of marketing and business strategy, love for staying ahead of the curve, and ability to execute marketing solutions, he created BlueTuskr, a team of specialized experts dedicated to the growth and success of ecommerce sellers.

Some topics we discuss: 

• How to Operate an 8-Figure ecommerce marketing department with one employee.
• Paid advertising attribution: Why ecommerce digital marketing has gone traditional and how to measure It.
• Structuring Google Ads shopping and search campaigns to scale your ecommerce business.
• Ecommerce SEO: The exact process and tech stack Maffetone uses to explode organic traffic and improve ROI.
• Why an ecommerce omnichannel approach is how all sellers will be marketing in the future.
• The importance of a CRM and why high-volume sellers are making the switch.
• The perfect Instagram marketing process For ecommerce sellers.

Guest bio:

Andrew Maffettone (Maff) is the Founder of BlueTuskr, a full-service marketing company for e-commerce sellers. With 15 years of experience, he has proved himself to be a leader in the field. Andrew's entrepreneurial knowledge and success allow him to excel in his industry as well as helping others grow theirs. His knowledge in branding, social media, SEO, web design, graphic design, email marketing, and more, providing exceptional results consistently. He also hosts the always entertaining and informative E-Comm Show podcast. 

Links and resources:

• BlueTuskr
• The E-Comm Show

In this episode of Own Your Commerce, we are excited to welcome Chase Clymer, Co-Founder at Columbus-based agency Electric Eye. Clymer and his team specialize in helping ecommerce brands look their best and make more money. They do this by creating Shopify-powered sales machines from strategic design, development, and marketing decisions. Clymer is also the host of Honest Ecommerce, a weekly podcast providing online store owners with honest, actionable advice to increase their sales and grow their business. 

Some topics we discuss: 

• How to create exciting digital experiences that also help brands scale.
• The impact of speed on ecommerce conversion (why fractions of a second matter).
• Electric Eye’s Growth in-house strategy called the Brand Scaling Framework.
• The difference between healthy acquisition and unhealthy acquisition (what’s sustainable).
• Clymer’s exciting journey from touring musician to founder and entrepreneur.

Guest bio:

Chase Clymer is the Co-founder of Electric Eye, an agency that increases sales for ecommerce brands. He is also the host of Honest Ecommerce, a weekly podcast, community & educational resource providing online store owners with honest, actionable advice to increase their sales and grow their business. 

Links and resources:

• Electric Eye
• Honest Ecommerce

Yasmin Nozari, Co-Founder and COO of Peel, loves looking for the “a-ha” moment in customer data. Peel offers automated analytics for Shopify stores, helping merchants focus on what they do best and leave the number crunching to the experts.

A former Math teacher, Nozari has always had a passion for numbers and enjoys helping brands figure out how to turn customer data into strategies that drive revenue and growth. If you run an ecommerce company and are looking to get more out of your customer metrics, or you simply want to up your knowledge of ecommerce data analysis, this episode is packed full of valuable insights you’ll enjoy. 

Some topics we discuss: 

• What are the industries greatest struggles when it comes to analyzing and understanding data? 
• Are there any metrics worth keeping an eye on that don't necessarily lead to an immediate action? 
• If you had to offer companies only three metrics what would they be? 
• Which metrics do ecommerce brands access the most, the least? 
• What are the most important metrics subscription stores need to be aware of?

Guest bio:

Yasmin is the cofounder & coo of Peel -- she leads the customer product experience, sales & marketing. She has a ton of fun finding the "a ha" moments in the data, working with merchants to find more insights and building the software to make it all scale. She was previously working in tech in product roles at a bunch of startups. She started her career as a classroom middle school math teacher.

Links and resources:

Peel 

Peel Subscription Insights 

When you start an ecommerce store, you’re global from day one. That means that even if you're based in Toronto, you may have customers in the United States, Europe, or anywhere in the world. For this reason ecommerce merchants need to constantly make sure they are compliant with global data and privacy standards. That’s where Enzuzo comes in. 

Today’s guest Mate Prgin, CEO of the Waterloo based data security solution, specializes in helping brands of all sizes ensure they are up-to-speed on everything from handling sensitive customer data to being compliant with global privacy laws. This episode is an absolute must-listen for anyone selling online. Learn everything you need to know to avoid the costly penalties of non-compliance while offering your international customer base the best purchasing experience. 

Some topics we discuss:

• Zero-party data and the impact it can have on merchants.
• When starting a DTC brand, things you can do pre-launch to make sure that your privacy policy and practices are in order.  
• What ecommerce store owners should be thinking about in terms of GDPR/CCPA and new privacy laws coming. 
• The consequences of getting data privacy wrong.
• The most common mistakes merchants are making when it comes to privacy and compliance.

Guest bio:

Mate is the founder and CEO of Enzuzo, and a serial entrepreneur.  Previously he was CEO and founder of Avvasi, a Big Data analytics company, that was bought by NetScout (NTCT). Prior to that Mate was CEO of VideoLocus, a video streaming technology company that was bought by LSI (now BRCM).  Mate has a bachelor degree in Systems Design Engineering from the University of Waterloo, and an MBA for Richard Ivy school of business. 

What metrics matter for ecommerce brands today? We asked Richard Kestenbaum, a New-York based investment banker and co-founder of Triangle Capital who has spent the last 20 years working with consumer facing brands. Kestenbaum brings a tremendous wealth of knowledge and experience  — from fashion, apparel, and beauty, to pet retail and subscriptions. A regular contributor to Forbes business blog, Kestenbaum shares the latest ecommerce trends, technology, and metrics you should be aware of whether you are just starting out, or leading a high-growth enterprise. 

Some topics we discuss:

• Metrics and key indicators used to determine whether a business is performing well or not.
• The rapid rise of the subscription economy and what the future holds for subscription brands. 
• Why certain subscription verticals are performing better than others.
• How AI has influenced retail and the future of machine learning commerce. 
• Omnichannel vs. Omniretail and the rise of “anywhere” commerce.
• The top challenges facing retailers in commerce today, the latest trends and technologies shaping the marketplace. 

Guest bio:

Richard Kestenbaum has been an investment banker for over 40 years and founded New York based Triangle Capital in 2003. Since then he has developed a long and successful track-record completing transactions for clients in consumer-facing businesses. With a focus on mergers, acquisitions, and capital raising, Kestenbaum shares his knowledge and experience regularly on a blog about consumers and trends hosted by Forbes.com. 

Links and resources:

• • Forbes
  • Triangle Capital
  • The new omniretail: Getting to anywhere commerce
  • Beyond the Product 

Patrick Campbell, Founder and CEO of the Boston-based ProfitWell, has helped thousands of subscription brands optimize every step of their subscription — from onboarding, marketing and pricing, through retention, churn, and even cancellation. Campbell is a firm believer that even after a subscriber cancels there is still a huge opportunity to retain revenue. If you’re a subscription brand looking to take revenue optimization to the next level, this episode is packed full of tips, advice and actionable takeaways from one of the leading voices in the subscriptions world. 

Some topics we discuss:

• Subscription churn and the meaning of “not all churn is equal.” 
• The difference between regrettable churn and non-regrettable churn, voluntary vs. involuntary churn. 
• Tactics for reducing churn and increasing retention for subscription brands. 
• Key reactivation strategies merchants may be missing out on.
• Insights on different subscription durations - monthly, quarterly, annually.
• Cancellation flow optimization and offboarding strategies you can use to win customers back and keep them. 

Guest bio:

Patrick Campbell is the Co-Founder and CEO of ProfitWell, the industry standard software for helping companies like Atlassian, Autodesk, Meetup, and Lyft with their monetization (through Price Intelligently) and retention strategies. ProfitWell also provides a turnkey solution that powers the subscription financial metrics for over eight thousand subscription companies (it’s free and plugs right into your billing system). Prior to ProfitWell Patrick led Strategic Initiatives for Boston based Gemvara and was an Economist at Google and the US Intelligence community.

Links and resources:

• Profitwell 
• Patrick Campbell: Why Understanding Churn, LTV & Value Based Pricing is crucial to your store’s success
• Webinar: Subscriptions 2021: Reduce churn and foster lasting relationships
• Blog: How to reduce churn and foster lasting relationships  
• Beyond the Product

Meet Jill Dunn and Carlene Higgins — two long-time beauty editors turned podcasters now breaking into their own entrepreneurial journey. The Breaking Beauty podcast features the latest in beauty news, product reviews, and culture through a beauty lens, with an impressive roster of guests from Makeup by Mario to Dr. Pimple Popper. In this episode, Co-creaters Dunn and Higgins and Own Your Commerce host Jay Meyers go deep in a passionate discussion about the latest tech, trends, and stories from the frontlines of the booming beauty industry. Ecommerce beauty aficionados, you won't want to miss this episode! 

Some of the topics we discuss are:

• Jill Dunn and Carlene’s Higgin’s exciting careers in beauty and how the Breaking Beauty podcast came to be. 
• Highlights and stories from the Breaking Beauty podcast that has featured many epic beauty industry guests. 
• How they’ve transitioned from podcasters to entrepreneurs with the launch of their own beauty products.
• The latest tech, trends, and buzz from the increasingly digital world of beauty. 
• How technology has influenced the “anywhere commerce” trend in beauty and other industries. 
• The rise of beauty subscriptions and the most popular subscription boxes on the market. 
• The rise of social selling, social media influencers, and beauty AI. 

Guest bios:

Jill Dunn and Carlene Higgin’s are all about separating the greats from the gimmicks. Having interviewed the biggest trailblazing beauty founders for magazines for more than a decade — from Pat McGrath to Kat Von D — they've gotten to know many of the genius creators behind the most top-shelf beauty products, whether it sells every 30 seconds around the world, or whether it's the cult find them and their fellow beauty journos hoard by the sample.

Together in the Breaking Beauty podcast, they explore the inside stories behind these icons and icons-in-the-making (and just how did these people break in to the beauty business anyway?), straight from the mouths of the industry’s most inspiring gloss bosses. They’re big believers that with all the gutsiness and passion it takes to launch a powerful beauty brand, #foundersrule.

Links and resources:

• Breaking Beauty
• Flip 
• Sephora
• Sunday Riley
• Lula Rich series
• Birchbox
• Top Box
• Allure
• FabFitFun
• Beauty Pie
• Under the Influence
• Function of Beauty
• Thirteen Lune
• Nordstrom

Rokt might be the best-kept secret in ecommerce — brands can increase their revenue instantly by adding a simple plugin. As the CCO (Chief Commercial Officer) and a founding member of Rokt, Elizabeth Buchanan is on a mission to help brands unlock more revenue. On average, Rokt users see an instant 20-40 cents per transaction! Wondering if you could be getting more out of every transaction? You NEED to listen to this episode. 

Some topics we discuss: 

• Elizabeth’s Buchanan’s exciting 20+ year career in marketing and tech and how Rokt came to be. 
• Some brands that have had success with Rokt’s three main solutions: Rokt Ecommerce, Rokt Ads, and Rokt Calendar. 
• How AI and machine learning can help brands optimize their revenue by making more on every transaction. 
• How brands can instantly add 20-40 cents of revenue to every transaction. 
• What Rokt is doing to help brands pair the right offer with the right customer every time
• Tips, tricks, and the number one things any business can do to optimize their revenue
• Advice for businesses who are just starting out, or those that are established and looking to scale and grow. 

Guest bio:

A proven tech and business leader, Elizabeth Buchanan is the CCO (Chief Commercial Officer) of Rokt. One of the company's founding members in 2012, today she leads the strategy and execution for their marketing, people, and business development. Before Rokt, Buchanan spent over 20 years in technology and marketing, working with brands like Yahoo, Uber and WPP. Buchanan also currently holds board positions with the NGO Vital Voices Global Partnership and S4 Capital. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and children.

Welcome to Own Your Commerce Season 2! We're kicking off with an episode we've been excited to share featuring Andrew Forman, Founder and CEO of Givz — the donation incentives app for Shopify. Founded in 2017, Givz is already disrupting the discount-heavy ecommerce space by giving brands the opportunity to offer donation incentives with purchases (Eg., spend a hundred dollars, get $20 to give to a charity of your choice). The amazing part is they are finding these sorts of offers actually can convert higher than traditional discounts. Today, forward-thinking companies work with Givz to grow sales and celebrate the personalized causes their consumers care about. 

Some of the topics we discuss are:

• Why discounts are so problematic for the long term profitability of a business.
• What factors modern consumers are really driven by other than price.
• How today’s brands are  embracing the move towards social good.
• How giving away money to give away can actually outperform a traditional discount. 
• The business benefits of donation-driven marketing, plus some less intangible, longer-term positive effects. 
• Personalized purpose and the future of conscious consumerism. 

Andrew Forman is the Founder and CEO of Givz, a donation incentives solution for Shopify. Prior to Givz, Andrew spent six years years in investment banking and was the treasurer of a nonprofit organization. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA in Mathematics and Economics from Hamilton College. He lives in New York, is a proud father of two, and still tries to make time for recreational sports.

• Givz
• Shopify app store link
• How to run high-converting ecommerce promotions without discounts
• 4 types of cause marketing (with examples) 
• NPS score
• Venmo
• Charity Water

Before building tools for ecommerce brands, Adii Peenar helped co-found the now popular WooCommerce platform for Wordpress. Since his WooCommmerce days, he's built, launched and successfully sold a Shopify app called Conversio; authored a book called Life Profitability; and now, has created a new product he refers to as "your extra head of operations." 

Cogsy turns data into accurate forecasts for businesses so they can make better decisions about inventory and free up extra capital. It actually does more though, giving customers accurate re-stock dates right on product pages when out of inventory. Cogsy couldn't have come at a better time as the holidays approach amidst a looming inventory crisis. 

In this episode we discuss:

• Adii Pienaar's fascinating career that started with co-founding WooCommerce.
• His approach to entrepreneurship and philosophy on what it means to lead a profitable life. 
• How Cogsy is solving inventory management issues for ecommerce brands. 
• Who is an ideal customer for Cogsy?
• When Cogsy works perfectly for a brand, what does it do? 
• How Cogsy can enable brands to achieve operational excellence. 

Guest Bio: 

Adii Pienaar is the founder of Conversio. Prior to Conversio, Adii was co-founder of WooThemes/WooCommerce, where he explored what it meant to be an entrepreneur while learning about building software for ecommerce stores. He is the author of Life Profitability, and recently founded Cogsy, an inventory tracking management tool for ecommerce stores. 

Kelly Vaughn & Rhian Beutler bring nearly a decade of experience in the ecommerce and Shopify ecosystem to the new company they’ve formed called Govalo — a gift carding solution for Shopify merchants. Their solution couldn’t come at a better time as many entrepreneurs are experiencing supply chain issues that are threatening to interrupt their busy holiday selling season.

Govalo is more than just a gift card app though, they see gift cards as a key acquisition and retention strategy and have developed a unique solution to help merchants automatically offer gift cards when their products are out of stock. They way merchants are able to easily offer consumers an on-brand alternative for the gift they were hoping to get that special someone. Govalo only recently launched and they are already revolutionizing the way Shopify brands are able to offering gift cards and manage a looming supply chain crisis.

If you are a Shopify merchant looking for a solution to your holiday supply chain issues, or are just looking for a riveting and entertaining discussion at the forefront of the world of ecommerce, you aren’t going to want to miss this entertaining and thoughtful discussion. 

Topics discussed: 

• The current shipping and supply chain situation threatening many Shopify merchants this holiday season. 
• Kelly Vaughn and Rhian Beutler’s rich history in ecommerce and the story of how they came together to form Govalo. 
• Why gift cards could be at the center of gifting this holiday season and the need for this app. 
• Why are there shipping containers stuck in the ocean and how does Govalo play into that? 
• Insightful data on ecommerce stores and gift cards. 
• Examples of online brands doing gifting and gift cards especially well. 
• What's in store for the future of gift cards and the gifting space? 

Kelly Vaughn 

Kelly Vaughn is a developer and entrepreneur who brings over a decade of experience in ecommerce as Co-Founder of Govalo — the gift card solution for Shopify merchants. Before Govalo, she founded The Taproom, building custom development solutions for fast-growing brands on Shopify and Shopify Plus. She also co-hosts Ladybug Podcast & Commerce Tea podcast, and is the Author of Start Freelancing Today. 

Rhian Beutler

Rhian Beutler is the co-founder and COO of venntov, the creators of SEO Manager, Order Lookup, and ClockedIn. She loves search engine optimization, UX, Google Analytics, and has spoken about SEO all over the world. Rhian is passionate about small business success, and for over a decade, has utilized her background in SMB banking and retail operations to help merchants grow their business both online and offline. 

Govalo 

Blog post: What happens when this doesn't work 

Commerce Tea

The Taproom

Ladybug Podcast

Start Freelancing Today

venntov

SEO Manager

Order Lookup

ClockedIn

Kathleen Booth brings years of marketing experience to her role as Chief Marketing Officer at clean.io — the digital engagement security platform designed to help businesses control the third-party code that runs on their ecommerce stores. Over 8 million sites, including The Boston Globe, Caraway, and Barstool Sports, rely on clean.io to protect their user experience, revenue and brand.

Booth doesn’t hold back in this passionate discussion, warning the ecommerce world about the pitfalls of malvertising and other forms of ecommerce revenue loss associated with coupon extensions. 

The bottom line is this: any ecommerce brand running promotions could be losing as much as 10% of their revenue if they aren’t keeping what Booth calls “clean coupon hygiene.” For anyone selling online with promotions, this is not an episode to miss. 

Topics discussed: 

• The relationship between digital engagement security and coupon extensions.
• How coupon extensions have evolved to influence ecommerce conversions, cart abandonment, and average order value. 
• The emergence of “coupon hack” sites and tools and illicit malvertising. 
• How to tell which sales were actually influenced by a coupon extension and which were not. 
• Next steps that ecommerce retailers should take to tighten up their discount strategies and ensure they are profitable.

Named by TopRank as one of the 50 Top B2B Marketing Influencers in 2019, Kathleen Booth also hosts the The Inbound Success Podcast as well as the Ad Ops All Stars Podcast. She is also an avid LinkedIn creator (#KathleenHQ) on topics relating to marketing and entrepreneurship. 

Booth spent the first 10 years of her career as an international development consultant, advising sovereign governments and international aid organizations on strategic communications for public sector reform projects. She helped launch Quintain Marketing in 2006 and grew it into a nationally-known digital marketing agency and HubSpot Platinum Partner. 

Today she is the Chief Marketing Officer at clean.io, a digital engagement security platform that provides over 8 million brands greater control over the third party code that executes on their websites, protecting their revenue, digital experience, and brand.

Jason Cottrell is the Founder and CEO of Myplanet, a software studio committed to reimagining what is possible in today’s commerce landscape. Headquartered in Toronto, ON, Myplanet specize in headless commerce, best-in-breed data infrastructure, and helping brands—from New Balance to Harry Rosen—tailor digital solutions that futureproof and grow their business. 

Join us for a dynamic discussion about the state of commerce, and what the future holds for brands and builders embracing the MACH Alliance (microservices, API-first, cloud-native, headless) ecosystem. Find out what winning brands are doing to succeed in a post-pandemic economy that relies more than ever on an air-tight digital experience. 

Topics discussed: 

• What it means for a brand to have a well executed digital experience. 
• How brands like Harry Rosen and New Balance transformed their digital presence with a composable commerce architecture.  
• Why it’s important that Myplanet is an adapter of the MACH Alliance framework. 
• What MACH architecture and the ecommerce landscape will look like in 5 years. 
• How IoT (Internet of Things) technologies are changing the industry. 
• The biggest mistakes today’s brands are making.

Guest Bio: 

Join CEO and Founder of Myplanet, Jason Cottrell, for an exciting discussion on the current state and future of commerce and the digital experience. Listen to industry-leading insights, key takeaways, and what brands are doing to win, or lose, in today’s competitive and rapidly changing commerce landscape.

Resources/Links:

• Myplanet
• MACH
• What is headless commerce?
• Harry Rosen
• New Balance
• Petco
• commercetools
• Starbucks

Join us for a dynamic interview with John Williams, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Amplience, the API-first, headless content management platform for enterprise retailers. John has helped power customer experiences for some of the world’s most innovative brands, including Mulberry, Traeger, and Crate&Barrel. 

Learn about why more retailers are moving away from monolithic platforms and embracing the MACH (Microservices based, API-first, Cloud-native SaaS, and Headless) ecosystem. If you work in enterprise retail or B2B, ecommerce, or have your own platform or microservice, you won't want to miss out on some valuable insights from an ecommerce veteren who was doing headless commerce before it was a thing, and has been instrumental in helping brands build powerful customer experiences. 

Some topics we discuss are: 

• How Amplience helps power experiences for the world’s most innovative brands
• The importance of content as a service in today’s space 
• How composable commerce and headless commerce are different
• What MACH Alliance is and why it’s important for Amplience to be a part of it 
• The biggest challenges in getting brands to understand headless commerce
• Common misconceptions about Amplience, Headless, and the space in general 
• The exciting future of Amplience and the next 5 years of the industry 

John Williams is a highly energetic individual with an impressive track record of matching technological innovation with business strategy. He completed his MBA at Imperial College alongside an impressive full-time position as CTO at LBI, Europe’s leading digital agency at the time. John became Amplience’s CTO in 2010 and has proven to be a genuine asset who thrives in highly complex and commitment environments where precision execution, innovation and leadership are critical. 

Links/Resources:

Amplience

LBI International

MACH

Traeger

Crate&Barrel

Bold Commerce

What is headless commerce?

Join us for an in-depth interview with Cody Wittick, CEO and Co-Founder of Kynship about what works, and what doesn’t, for influencer marketers. Wittick got his start with QALO, the brand that created the silicone wedding ring industry, and has worked with influencers like Lebron James, Jason Aldean, Mike Trout, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. as well as micro influencers across a variety of industries. 

Learn tips and strategies from an industry leader who wants you to judge his brand on sales, not clicks. In this insightful conversation Wittick reveals his influencer marketing mission, the steps brands should take today, and how to truly cut through the noise and drive measurable results. 

Some of the topics we discuss are: 

• What are we seeing on a macro level with influencer marketing? What's different today than it was 5 years ago? 
• If a brand wants to start leveraging influencer marketing today, what steps should they take? 
• How do you measure the ROI of influencer marketing? 
• What are the best distribution strategies for the content? 
• What's a good strategy for micro influencers? 
• How to choose the right influence marketing platform. 
• What's going to happen with influencer marketing in the next 3-5 years and how can brands get ahead of the curve now?

Cody Wittick began his influencer marketing journey at QALO, the brand that created the silicone wedding ring industry. From there he grew their influencer roster to over people including household names such as Lebron James, Jason Aldean, Mike Trout, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. as well as micro influencers within the industries of TV personalities, Crossfit, outdoor enthusiasts, and pets.

Paul do Forno brings over 25 years of experience in digital technology and commerce to today’s conversation. He’s led the digital experience for some of the world’s most iconic brands, including General Electric, Siemens, Target, Foot Locker, and Hyatt, and has been a key driver of the digital transformation that has shaped the modern commerce experience.

Today he is a Managing Director at Deloitte Digital and a leading voice in ecommerce and all things digital. 

A digital transformation has occurred, accelerated by the rapid rise of ecommerce and a global pandemic. In this dynamic discussion, do Forno dives into his holistic approach to the commerce experience, highlighting some of the opportunities and challenges facing enterprise and B2B brands today. 

Here are some of the key topics we discussed: 

• The digital transformation that is happening in front of us 
• The biggest threats and opportunities for scaling brands
• How brands are evolving to have a holistic view of the commerce experience
• Staggering statistics and massive opportunities for B2B
• Are headless and composable commerce architectures right for your brand?
• What to expect in digital commerce over the next 3-5 years 

Paul do Forno is a Managing Director at Deloitte Digital and a leader in the Commerce Practice. He brings over 25 years of experience in strategy, digital, and technology, leading the Commerce Practice Eminence initiative as well as the go-to-market for B2B Commerce. In the past, Paul has led some of the world’s largest digital platform programs with brands like General Electric, Siemens, Target, Foot Locker, Hyatt, and many more, driving commerce and digital transformations. He is a frequent speaker at digital and ecommerce events as well as being featured as an ecommerce subject matter expert on many publications. He has worked closely with the research analysts and holds several executive advisory board positions with top digital platform vendors.

Commercetools is taking a fascinating approach to enabling digital commerce. They are referred to as a true cloud, headless commerce platform, providing the building blocks for the new digital commerce age. Those building blocks are 350 consumable APIs that let you build anything commerce experience you want! 

Fun fact, they coined the term "headless commerce" in 2013, long before it was as popular as it is today. 

Examples of brands that use Commerce tools are Audi, Tiffany & Co, Universal Music, Carhartt, and many more. Plus mutual brands with Bold such as Harry Rosen who leverages their suite of API's with Bold Checkout and other technologies to really create something special. Shameless plug, but definitely check out HarryRosen.com when you have a chance. 

It's a fascinating conversation that I think everyone will learn something from. Enjoy! 

Some of the topics we discuss are:

• What exactly is Headless Commerce and why should brands consider it. 
• How did Headless Commerce start, evolve, and where is it today 
• Definition of the MACH alliance (Microservices based, API-first, Cloud-native SaaS and Headless.)
• What is Composable Commerce? 
• What types of customers use commercetools and why?
• Who are competitors to commercetools, and what would make commercetools different/better? 
• For you to say commercetools has won, or achieved its goal, what needs to happen 
• What are the biggest trends Kelly is excited about in commerce

Harley Finkelstein joined Shopify in 2010. Originally as a merchant selling t-shirts on the platform.  Today he serves as President of the company and his passion for entrepreneurship is as alive as ever.  As president of Shopify, Harley's life mission is to empower as many entrepreneurs as he can and remove every barrier to entrepreneurship possible.

What exactly does Harley do on an average day at the office? What are the big challenges Shopify is working on now, and what's in store for Shopify in the future?

In this episode we dive into all that, and more! 

Some of the topics we discuss are:

• What does a day at Shopify look like for Harley? 
• What is Harley most passionate about right now. 
• What does it mean to requalify for your job every year?
• What is Harley so passionate about entrepreneurship? 
• The difference between a business owner and an entrepreneur. 
• What does mentorship mean to Harley, and what he recommends for you. 
• What are the ecommerce trends, and challenges Shopify is tackling? 
• What chapters of Shopify are written, and what's left to write? 
• What are some of the most unknown advantages and benefits of Shopify?
• Oh, and what did Harley eat for breakfast!

Harley Finkelstein is an entrepreneur, lawyer, and the President of Shopify. He founded his first company at age 17 while a student at McGill. Harley completed his law degree as well as his MBA at the University of Ottawa, where he co-founded the JD/MBA Student Society and the Canadian MBA Oath. Harley is an Advisor to Felicis Ventures, and one of the “Dragons” on CBC’s Next Gen Den. Recently, he received the Canadian Angel Investor of the Year Award, Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 Award, and was inducted into the Order of Ottawa. From 2014 to 2017 Harley was on the Board of the C100, and from 2017 to 2020 he was on to the Board of Directors of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). Harley is currently starring on Discovery Channel’s I Quit, a television series about hopeful entrepreneurs who decide to quit their 9-5 jobs to focus full-time on their side hustles. 

• Shopify 
• Shopify Plus 
• Moustache Bikes - (the bike Harley rides) 
• Allbirds - Shopify Brand referenced.
• GymShark - Shopify Brand referenced. 
• https://www.fastcompany.com/most-innovative-companies 
• La Bottega - Harley's favourite grocery shop 
• DavidsTea - Brand of tea Harley likes

Chris George is the Co-Founder and Chairman of SUBTA, the Subscription Trade Association. SUBTA supports thousands of ecommerce brands helping them add and scale a subscription or membership offering on their ecommerce stores. 

⭐️ SPECIAL NOTE: To register for webinar with Chris George this coming Tuesday (April 13th) at 11am Pacific, click here. 

Gartner Research predicts that by 2023, 75% of all DTC brands will have a subscription membership offering. So if you're not already thinking about subscriptions, it might be time to start! 

Subscriptions aren't just for coffee and shampoo refills anymore! We're seeing brands in just about every vertical (Clothing, Beauty, Consumer Electronics, Wellness etc) launch some form of membership offering.  Whether it's membership for exclusive access, VIP pricing, access to content, etc. 

Chris was also the founder of a successful subscription company, Gentleman's Box, which he had a successful exit from a couple years ago. So he's been on both sides of the field! 

Some of the topics we discuss are:

• How to sell an experience - the difference between selling one-time vs a subscription 
• Why not getting your customers through the checkout might be the best kept secret. 
• What are micro-commitments, and how and why you would use them. 
• Quarterly, monthly, annual? What's the best frequency?  It makes a difference! 
• What should your subscription brand's"North Star" metric be?
• How does Chris find his meaning in his work? 
• What are some trends we can expect for subscriptions in the next year or two

About our guest:

Chris George is a co-founder and chairman of the Subscription Trade Association (SUBTA), and a serial entrepreneur who has successfully launched and managed seven businesses and sold two. As one of the creators of the wildly popular and recently acquired Gentleman’s Box, Chris has spoken to aspiring entrepreneurs and established industry professionals at events like Digital Summit, SubSummit, and several academic institutions. His strong business acumen and

understanding of the role of marketing and branding solidifies him as a burgeoning force in the realm of entrepreneurs.

• SUBTA - https://subta.com/ 
• Gentleman's Box - https://gentlemansbox.com/ 
• SubSummit - https://subsummit.com/ 
• Chewy - https://www.chewy.com/ 
• Kongbox - https://www.kongbox.com/ 

"Speed to Market" vs "Speed to Innovate"? What's the difference, why does it matter, how should you approach each, and can they work together? 

Karim Marucchi joins us to discuss the differences between Open Source vs SaaS, the strengths of each, how they're different, how they work, and most importantly, how they can work together!

Karim is the CEO of Crowd Favorite and one of the most forward thinking leaders in the digital experience platform space, and all things open source. He works with some of the largest brands in the world such as Disney, Lexus, Cambell's National Geographic, helping them innovate on WooCommerce, an open source platform. 

BONUS: Our Chief Revenue Officer at Bold joins us on today's show! 

• Advantage to using SaaS over OS (when comparing)
• Advantage to using Open Source over sass (when comparing)
• How do you look at this for Enterprise level solutions and for small and medium sized business? (is it only for the Enterprise?)
• How do you start looking at this strategically when your in the “evaluation phase”
• How do Headless Commerce & Open Source work together
• What trends are happening in commerce on wordpress / Woo?
• What types of brands should choose Woocommerce as their platform?
• What does the future hold for Open Source ecommerce?

Karim Marucchi, CEO of Crowd Favorite, has over 20+ years of experience in launching digital strategies. From bootstrapping one the first digital production teams in the industry, to leading global teams within the WPP Group, to taking agencies public; his wealth of expertise in leading digital teams across the globe has helped curate and expand his vision to lead Crowd Favorite in helping Enterprise organizations integrate successful Open Source into today’s Digital transformation strategies.

Close to 20,000 brands use Shogun to build beautiful and totally customized pages for the ecommerce sites. Brands like K-Swiss, Timbuk2, MVMT Watches, Chubbies Shorts, Leesa Mattress, and so many more. 

A lot of those same brands also leverage the speed and flexibility of a headless front-end. Recently Shogun launched Shogun Frontend, which is a Progressive Web App (PWA) tool that allows stores to build a LIGHTNING FAST headless front end that loads in sub-second speeds. 

In this episode we dive into exactly what a PWA is, why stores should consider it, and how it works within a headless architecture. 

If you're a scaling ecommerce brand, this is an episode you won't want to miss! 

Some of the topics we discuss are:

• How a Progressive Web App works as an ultra fast headless front end.
• Why do so many stores see 70% of traffic on mobile, but 70% of sales on desktop, and how might this be a massive opportunity for you. 
• What is the difference between Shogun Page Builder and Shogun Front-End
• What does Finbarr think of Headless commerce? It's pros, cons, and who should consider it.
• How can a PWA front-end help a brand.
• What brands should consider a headless PWA front end. Which should not.

Finbarr is the CEO & Co-Founder of Shogun and former software engineer at Y Combinator. He's a Scottish guy living in California and one of the first results on Google for Finbarr!

Previously he's built two businesses, Shogun (a CMS and Headless PWA with thousands of paying customers) and a web development business he started when he was 18. He loves finding creative coding solutions, and has written code to process millions of dollars worth of orders at companies like Pebble, Groupon and Exec.

• Shogun Page Builder 
• Shogun Front End 
• Nomad Goods

Discover how Simon Rodrigue recently led Staples through a complete digital transformation in a fraction of time (and cost) using a best-in-breed "modular" approach to ecommerce. 

With over 300 retail locations, and a plethora of services (print, wholesale, school etc), plus managing unique pricing for the Staples Preferred program, syncing an ecommerce solution between it all that ties in seamlessly, managing pricing, curbside pickup, and other aspects was no small feat! 

Simon is someone who understands ecommerce like very few. Staples is evolving, and so is their digital presence.  This episode gives a glimpse into how they think about ecommerce, their approach to solving it, and how this sets them up for success in the future. 

The best thing about Simon and Staples, is they really are just getting started! 

Some of the topics we discuss:

• Build vs Buy and how Staples thinks about solving complex ecommerce requirements. 
• How has the pandemic affected Staples and lessons they've learned adapting.
• How their ecommerce tech-stack allows them agility and flexibility never before possible. 
• What it was like launching a digital solution for curbside pickup across 300+ stores in under 72hours
• How Stapes de-risked the move from their legacy systems to their new modular (best of breed), approach.

Our Guest: Simon Rodrigue

Simon Rodrigue is a recognized leader in the retail transformation taking place today, with over 15+ years of executive experience in the space. Most notably, Simon is the SVP and Chief Digital Officer at STAPLES Canada where he is a key member of the leadership team transforming one of Canada's most iconic retail brands.

Simon was also the former SVP of eCommerce for Walmart Canada where he was responsible for all aspects of the online business, technology, digital marketing, and integration with stores in Canada. During this time, in addition to rapidly growing the business, he introduced store pickup and grocery home shopping to the Canadian market.

Simon was also the VP of Product Management / Site Experience North America as well as General Manager of Canada at Travelocity. He was the Associate Vice President of eCommerce at Sears Canada and held several operational and merchandising leadership roles within The Home Depot Canada before serving as their Senior Manager of eCommerce and Interactive Marketing launching Homedepot.ca into the Canadian marketplace. He also served as a Senior Business and Marketing Consultant with Nortel Networks Global Services, enabling start-ups and aiding Fortune 50 companies to develop global emerging business strategies.

Jon Kennedy built what is probably one of the biggest ecommerce communities around. 100,000+ active members with thousands waiting to get in!  He started out buying and selling on eBay and launched stores on various platforms before gradually finding his way to Shopify. Today he runs a development agency geared for brands looking for quick "bite-sized" ecommerce development needs. Along his journey though, he founded one of the biggest ecommerce entrepreneur community groups on Facebook ever. 

• Jon’s career beginnings in pro sports marketing
• His enlightenment moment with Shopify
• The unique Shopify niche Jon found for his agency
• The massive ecommerce Facebook group
• How to ask people the right questions to get constructive, engaged feedback on your store
• The happiness metric and other ways to optimize your business.

For over 20 years, Robbie Kellman Baxter has been a subscriptions advocate and expert, literally writing the book on subscriptions (well, two actually). She used the expertise she gathered from consulting for Netflix, Oracle, eBay, and more to pen The Membership Economy and The Forever Transaction.

Today she shares her innovative outlook on subscriptions that she calls the “membership mindset.” It’s about building your organization, experience, and brand around helping people solve their problems or reach their goals for the long term.

Whether you’re currently running a subscription or plan on launching one, this is an episode you don’t want to miss!

• How she got involved with subscriptions, including consulting for Netflix back when she was subscribed to their mail service
• Thinking about your brand with a “membership mindset”
• Understanding and communicating what your customers get out of your subscription
• How to know when to offer free trials
• The power of onboarding and reinforcing their decision
• How to find and hold onto the right customers to optimize LTV

Links and resource https://robbiekellmanbaxter.com/ Membership Economy Forever Transaction

Subscribe to learn more about taking your commerce to the next level!

Colin Bodell worked as a technologist for Amazon, Groupon, and American Eagle — to name a few — before joining Shopify Plus last year as VP of Engineering. Today he gives us his valuable insights on Covid-19’s accelerating effect on ecommerce and his prescient first experience with Shopify. He’ll also share how merchants can use data to renew old school personal relationships with customers and how Shopify's merchant-first philosophy seeks to democratize that data.

• Colin’s experiences working with Amazon, Shopify, and more
• How to grow your business by listening to your customers
• Anticipating future needs of your customers
• The growth of direct-to-consumer commerce
• The role of personalization and recommendations
• The importance of democatizing data and commerce
• Colin’s first experience with the agility of Shopify
• Covid's accelerating effect on ecommerce and how to embrace change

Kurt Elster has been growing “unofficially” with Shopify since its infancy.

In today’s episode, the host of the one and only Unofficial Shopify Podcast talks about how his entrepreneurial spirit took him on an unconventional path to ecommerce success — and over 1 million podcast downloads.

He also covers how to ace key elements of the ecommerce experience that most stores struggle to get right, like positioning and CRO.

In addition to the Unofficial Shopify Podcast, Kurt runs a consultancy, Ethercycle, that has helped dozens of SMB merchants excel on Shopify.

Topics covered:

• Kurt’s unconventional path to success in ecommerce 
• The best ways to troubleshoot your online store
• How to turn visitors into customers
• The underused potential of copywriting
• The power of positioning 
• Black Friday messaging during COVID-19

• theuserisdrunk.com
• The Brain Audit by Sean D’Souza
• Pit Viper Sunglasses

• Only invest in content with measurable outcomes
• How to truly put yourself in your customers’ shoes and understand what they want
• Bobbing and weaving: how to use startup agility to compete with the big guys
• The importance of building out a weekly content calendar
• How to use storytelling intrigue to break the mold
• How Tommy used his acting background to break into ecommerce marketing
• Writing: Practice makes perfect

• Maryville University - 54% of readers trust blogs over brand 
• Clearscope - Optimizing your content for SEO 
• The Ultimate SEO Tutorial For 2020 by Backlinko - Basics of SEO
• Andy Crestodina on Internal link building - SEO ranking hack
• Screaming Frog - Mapping out links
• Story by Robert McKee - Tommy Walker’s “storytelling tome”
• Hooked by Nir Eyal - Silicon Valley thought leader

• Beardbrand 
• The Hundreds
• Urban Outfitters
• Zappos
• Warby Parker

Even though many stores count on their email list to drive sales and traffic, they probably put more time and money into social media ads than actively collecting email addresses. But if somebody visits their site and doesn’t buy anything or leave their email, they potentially wasted the money they spent getting them there in the first place. 

Today, Privy co-founder and CEO Ben Jabbawy tells us about how he helps brands actively grow and leverage their list with simple but creative tactics for email gathering. Today, over 500,000 stores use Privy’s pop-ups and other software to gather emails and build money-making relationships with their audience. No matter how big you are, you could always do more to get emails from more people who visit your store. Give it a listen to learn how!

Key topics discussed: 

• The importance of growing your email list
• Using tool with the same level as sophistication Facebook or Google uses for ad retargeting to collect emails or prevent cart abandonment
• What's the difference between checkout abandonment and cart abandonment and why does it matter? 
• Better ways to collect emails than the standard "here's 10% off" offer. 
• There's so much more you can do with the emails you collect! Running ads against them on Facebook being a big one. 
• Creative ways to connect with and convert your audience with emails and popups.

Aaron Orendorff is the former Editor in Chief at Shopify Plus and one of the very best at understanding how to leverage content to grow an ecommerce brand. I learnt a ton during this conversation! 

Aaron gives us tactical advice for the holidays, specifically around Amazon Prime Day. If you don't think Prime day affects you, you're wrong. Listen to the episode and you'll learn why. That's just the first 2 minutes though. Aaron does a brain dump on tactical things you can do RIGHT now to improve your online store. From SEO quick wins, to how you should use content, and NOT use content, and so much more.

This is an episode you don't want to miss. 

• Amazon has announced October 13th is Prime Day. Aaron covers exactly what you need to do to be ready! 
• Not all emails are equal! Depending when you capture them makes a BIG difference. 
• Are you using quizzes in your store? You probably should be! 
• The three key reasons you need to invest in content as an ecommerce brand 
• NEVER KILL YOUR SUPPORT ARTICLES. There's a good chance they might be the highest ranking pages for search. There's a better way to handle outdated articles.

Links / Resources 

• Bamboo Earth - Great example of a quiz funnell (also does subscriptions)
• Kongbox.com - Great example of a quiz funnell (also does subscriptions)
• HeyGlowup.com - Great example of a quiz funnell (also does subscriptions)
• Bold Options - Used for adding gift wrapping as an option to a select group of products, a specific collection, or every product in your store. 
• Bold Upsell - Gift Wrapping as an upsell at checkout
• Bold Motivator - Add gift wrapping as a free gift when customers spend a certain amount. 
• Tracksmith - Example of an ecommerce brand that does content really well. 
• Nuggs - Aaron's totally into these guys right now.

Patrick Coddou (co-founder of Supply.co) shares the inspiring journey, packed full of wisdom and insights on building a successful DTC brand. 

From literally nothing, to now a very successful, well known and respected DTC brand, Patrick tells us some of the mistakes he made, some things he got right, and what he's working on right now to take the company even further. It's a conversation that won't just inspire you, it will give you actionable takeaways that you'll want to apply at your business today. 

Some of the topics we discuss are:

• Why work ethic is so important and how Pat can't stand ads for getting rich quick in ecommerce. 
• What Patrick did to get customers and grow in Supply's early days, and what he's doing now to take it to the next level. 
• "Jobs To Be Done" framework. What is it and why is it so important brands understand it and market accordingly. 
• Shark Tank! Patrick at not one, but TWO offers on Shark Tank. 

Taxes have become more and more complicated over the years and you'd be blown away by how much misconception and misinformation there is on how you need to collect and remit tax. 

If you run an ecommerce store, you NEED to understand tax properly. On our show today we have Greg Chapman, the SVP of Business Development at Avalara, a leading tax compliance software platform for ecommerce brands. He discusses a few of the intricacies of the tax system, specifically for online retail. 

This is an episode you shouldn't miss! As an online merchant, small or large, you need to understand tax and get it right. 

Some of the topics we discuss are:

• What exactly are online merchants responsible for collecting and remitting when it comes to taxes. 
• Why are taxes so hard? Why don't merchants just use the tax settings built into ecommerce platforms like Shopify, BigCommerce, Magento etc. 
• What is considered Physical Presence and Economic Nexus, how does it affect taxes, and what do stores need to understand about it.
• What are tax considerations when you start selling internationally? 
• What are some of the biggest mistakes merchants make when it comes to taxes that get them in the most trouble. 

If you've been to the beach lately, you might have seen what looks like two volleyball nets stitched together in a square. It's a game called Crossnet, it's like volleyball and four-square combined and it's taking the world by storm, growing like crazy! 

Just a few short years ago though our guest, Chris Meade, and his co-founders had an idea with $10K they could scrounge together. This isn't just an inspirational story though. This is a story about the tactics used, specifically around social media and advertising to propel growth, and I mean GROWTH!! 

Crossnet is shipping 500-1000 units a day and growing. They didn't just get there by having a great idea, they have been strategic every step of the way. 

Get the notepad out! In this episode we'll dive into what exactly they did to fuel their insane growth.

Some of the topics we discuss are:

• Specific tactics to grow traffic by platform (Facebook, Instagram, Snap, LinkedIn etc) 
• How Crossnet collect and leverage email to drive traffic / sales 
• How Crossnet leverages User Generated Content to the extreme to 10X engagement on social media
• Crossnet has made mistakes along the way too, what can you learn from them
• How referral marketing has played into their growth strategy

There's often disconnect between creative and performance marketers when it comes to social media marketing. Figuring that out is just one of the things that helped Steve Weiss grow MuteSix from to over 200 people in just a few short years. 

"If I could educate my creatives how to be more data driven and if I could educate my performance marketers how to be more creative I'd have a winning company. In a humble way, that's how we started" 

In this episode we chat about some of the latest trends in social media marketing and tactics specifically for ecommerce. 

• What are some of the biggest ecommerce brands doing to leverage social media 
• What's the deal with TicTok? How are ecommerce brands using it and is it worth investing time into? 
• What would Steve do if he ran an online store and only had $1,000 to spend on social media marketing? 
• What would Steve do if he ran that same store but had $100,000 to spend?  
• What's the latest with influencer marketing? Does it still work? What about micro-influences?

Steve is a lifelong entrepreneur, marketer, and the Founder and CEO of MuteSix, an iProspect Company, and an award-winning, full-funnel digital and creative studio founded in 2014. He is responsible for the overall vision, strategic leadership, service delivery, culture, and growth of the creative agency that has generated over a billion dollars in trackable revenue for its clients. 

Under Steve’s direction, MuteSix has earned the distinction of most awarded Facebook social advertising agency, with more Facebook & Instagram marketing case studies than any other agency. MuteSix has grown into a comprehensive and integrated global marketing agency with prominent clients across all major industry B2B/B2C sectors, including leading brands in retail, e-commerce, luxury, nonprofit, technology, sports, publishing, and financial services. 

Steve is a frequent speaker at paramount industry events and serves as a regular commentator on ad-tech topics and trends as they relate to the digital advertising ecosystem.

Patrick Campbell (Profitwell CEO) joins us to discuss some of the metrics every ecommerce store owner should be calculating, should understand, and should monitor. 

What is value based pricing? How do you calculate the LTV (LifeTime Value) of your customers? Why do people still calculate churn wrong? These are all things ecommerce merchants should be intimately familiar with, even more so if you run a subscription ecommerce business.

Some of the items discussed: 

• What is value based pricing, and how should ecommerce merchants think about it? 
• How should you calculate churn and LTV? 
• Why do customers really churn, or cancel subscriptions? 
• Free trials, try before you buy, freemium, annual vs monthly billing... How does a store decide the best approach to all these options?