In this episode of The Orita Podcast, AJ Patel (SVP of Growth) and Shelly Nghiem (Director of E-commerce) from U Beauty peel back the curtain on how a luxury skincare brand scales sustainably without chasing trends, over-discounting, or bloating the tech stack.They discuss:• Luxury in the age of Amazon. Why U Beauty embraces omni-channel while protecting its premium identity• Subscriptions that stick. How segmentation, perks, and cancel-flow insights power retention• Flows, not flukes. Why testing never stops on email• Gen AI with guardrails. What U Beauty avoids and where they see future upside for high-touch personalization• Agility vs. enterprise. Lessons AJ brings from Unilever Prestige to a nimble, fast-moving team• “Ultra hard mode” marketing. Why doubling down on core products beats over-rotation in luxury DTCFrom first-party insights to hands-on retention tips, this one’s packed with strategic and tactical gold for marketers and operators building premium brands in a crowded ecosystem.👥 Meet the guestsAJ Patel, SVP of Growth at U BeautyShelly Nghiem, Director of E-commerce at U Beauty🎙️ Hosted byAaron Schwartz, Co-founder & Co-CEO at Orita.ai🎧 Chapters[00:00] Inside U Beauty: Meet the Leaders Behind the Luxe[05:58] Subscription Gold: How U Beauty Keeps Customers Hooked[09:05] From Unilever to U Beauty: Big Brand Tactics for Nimble Teams[12:01] Email That Converts: Real Testing Wins (and Surprises)[14:58] Flows That Work: The Secret Sauce Behind U Beauty’s Retention[17:58] Paid + AI: Smart Performance Tactics That Actually Scale[20:59] Luxury on Amazon? Why It’s Not a Trade-Off Anymore[23:58] Beyond DTC: What’s Next in Omni-Channel for Premium Brands[26:56] What Every Brand Needs to Hear Before 2026 Hits🌐 Check out Orita.ai for more episodes of The Orita Podcast, where we sit down with the most interesting operators, marketers, and founders in e-commerce to talk about what’s working right now. Hosted by the Orita team. Orita uses machine learning to help brands send smarter, more profitable marketing, by figuring out who actually wants to hear from you and when.🚀 Get your free email audit from Orita, turn segments into superpowers: https://orita.ai🎧 Listen on Spotify & Apple📩 Subscribe for more founder‑grade retention intel