E-Commerce with Coffee?!

By Amber EngineBusiness

E-Commerce with Coffee?! episodes

November 14, 202116. What Levers “Move the Needle” on Amazon? with Shannon Roddy, Founder of Marketplace Seller Courses
Shannon Roddy is the founder of the Amazon Brand Success Academy Course. He joins E-Commerce with Coffee?! to speak to host Nate Svoboda about which levers brands have to pull for success on the ultra-competitive e-marketplace.
Unlike some high-profile Amazon gurus who tapped e-commerce “secrets” that gave them an instant success, Shannon started with some failures by omission and big “a-ha” moments. When he started to gain traction (and knowledge), he flew fast.
Moving into Amazon-focused topics, Shannon weaves through several central strategies that brands need to learn more about. He offers multiple metaphors that help listeners visualize the concepts he touches on.
“We have limited time, money, and energy,” Shannon reminds us. The question is how to invest what we have.
Shannon then talks a lot about what it is to give 100% of anything. “You don’t have to give something 100% of your time. You do have to give it 100% of the time it needs to be successful.” Amazon is no exception, he assures us.
If you don’t have 100% of the time Amazon strategy requires, Shannon says, hold off. It isn’t worth it until you can give it what it needs.
For brands who do already have the resources (or can outsource whatever talent isn’t in-house), giving Amazon its required 100% comes down to how many products you choose to focus on at once. This is where Shannon’s insights on the Amazon Flywheel and his own Amazon Trifecta come into play.
Listen in to hear more detail in the full episode! Shannon gave an extraordinary interview that will be sure to leave you with more ideas than you can count.
What to listen for:
Listen in for the story of how Shannon started his own product 10 years ago. He actually created the product for himself, but then people started to ask, “can I get one?” The story of how he gained his expertise after that is a memorable one.

Amazon strategy, Shannon tells us, is a “combination of knowing best practices and policy changes.” There’s no silver bullet because success on Amazon requires an ecosystem of strategies. Check out Shannon’s Complete Amazon Checklist to learn more.

“Brands don’t know what they don’t know,” Shannon says, just like he learned when he started his own brand. The biggest hurdle today is how brands often piecemeal their knowledge together. No number of tips or information nuggets will create a solid foundation, and Shannon explains why.

Brands can become their own advocates if they stay up to date on Amazon’s policies. That way, when a vendor or consultant does propose something that contradicts the newest policies, the brand doesn’t take on unnecessary risk. Shannon’s Free Amazon Masterclass is a great resource to get started.

Shannon is also a big fan of email marketing and email customer service, so listen in to learn why. Customer retention is a natural part of the Amazon strategy he teaches, and it shows.

Learn more from Shannon and get specific actions for your brand with his On-Demand Amazon Coaching.
A love letter from our sponsor:
If you're a brand listening and you can relate, don't stop here! Visit the Amber Engine blog for more tips, strategies, and insights to sell more online. We love e-commerce, and our product information software (PIM) and data enrichment strategies simplify and speed up your rollout to Amazon and other marketplaces. Our clients launch in weeks instead of months, eliminate the guesswork, and enable interdepartmental collaboration to drive a winning presence online.
Stay awesome,
Amber Engine
33 min
October 31, 202115. Navigating the E-Commerce Technology Landscape with Derric Haynie, Chief Ecommerce Technologist at Ecommerce Tech
Derric Haynie is the Chief Ecommerce Technologist at Ecommercetech.io. He researches and discovers the right apps and software solutions for Shopify stores and brands selling elsewhere in e-commerce. Half of Derric’s day is spent in demos and the other half is spent consulting clients—and it shows! He joined the E-Commerce with Coffee?! podcast for a fascinating conversation about tech and app solutions in e-commerce.
It all started when Derric grew his own e-com tech company and went through over 200 tool demos of other apps as he positioned his own.
Today, especially after 2020 and its whirlwind implications to e-commerce, tech solutions are more important than ever. Yet, most of the tools out there for e-commerce brands either solve problems they don’t know they have or are redundant app-to-app.
That’s where Derric comes in. He advises brands on which tools make sense considering all the unique factors in play. Some tools aren’t made for small brands, for example, and others are made exclusively for them! Still, other tools don’t work if you have over or under a certain sales volume, etc.
Whatever the case for each brand, Derric and his team are there to advise. In this episode of E-Commerce with Coffee?! Derric comes in with all his knowledge to talk about the fast-moving tech landscape. Listen in for his insights on what tools are changing e-commerce and what brands should do about it.
What to listen for:
Who would want to listen to demos for a living? Derric Haynie, that’s who. Derric spends half his day reviewing tools and the other half advising companies; listen in to hear the full story of how Derric got here.

Getting buy-in from leadership on new tech solutions is much harder than it should be. Derric offers some wisdom on how to get that buy-in so your business can grow.

What's in an effective demo? Derric spells that out in the interview. “You have to explain ‘here’s why this is important and here’s how it makes you money,’” Derric says. This answer is far more important than any app’s functionality. “There’s a lot of feature parity right now, so tech companies need to communicate their differentiation factor.”

Price testing is one of the four “Ps” that Derric says too few brands are doing. Depending on how fast or slowly you want to move inventory, there are ideal times to either raise or lower price points. Derric muses, “everyone's forgetting that you can change your price!”

“Somewhere between review, loyalty, and SMS [software solutions], most brands are missing at least one of those,” Derric observes.

Consumers are moving even more into buying with their hearts, and the savviest brands are figuring that out fast. This requires greater transparency and a louder voice about the practices and values important to each brand.

“Unique, individual brands selling unique, individual products,” Derric repeats. Listen to the full episode for additional tips, predictions, and more!
A love letter from our sponsor:
If you’re a brand listening and you can relate, don’t stop here! Visit the Amber Engine blog for more tips, strategies and insights to sell more online. We love e-commerce, and our product information software (PIM) and data enrichment strategies simplify and speed up your rollout to Amazon and other marketplaces. Our clients launch in weeks instead of months, eliminate the guesswork, and enable interdepartmental collaboration to drive a winning presence online.
Sincerely,
Amber Engine
36 min
October 17, 202114. Critical Steps to Launch a Brand on Amazon with Daniela Bolzmann, Founder of Mindful Goods
Daniela Anaviarte Bolzman, the CEO and founder of Mindful Goods, is a savvy Amazon brand strategist. She joins E-Commerce with Coffee?! this week to dig deep into what creative marketing can do to make products stand out and sell in the increasingly competitive market.
Daniela has so much to offer in experience and knowledge that she even pooled some of her favorite resources (and a discount code for “launch ready listings”) on a landing page for E-Commerce with Coffee?! listeners.
Daniela’s team at Mindful Goods connects consumers to brands in more engaging (and competitive) ways. Her creative troop comes up with truly ingenious ways to keep more eyes on clients' product pages while taking consumers on an unforgettable, immersive experience.
Daniela spells out her three-step process and explains how she leads with that process on every consultation she gives. Even when brands choose not to work with her, they still walk away with the steps they need to take to build a brand presence on the world’s biggest e-marketplace.
Listen to the full episode for yourself because it’s riddled with tips and engrossing factoids about branding on Amazon. You’ll come out with multiple action items and even more ideas—so buckle up!
What to listen for:
Listen in to learn how Daniela got where she is, professionally and geographically. Based out of Chicago, Daniela also spends significant time each year in Peru (a luxury she has thanks to working virtually). She was accidentally stranded there at the start of the pandemic, though, making for one fascinating story to start off the interview.

Once Nate and Daniela start talking about Amazon listings, you’ll learn what Daniela’s amazing creative team does to optimize branding, visibility, and conversions. Her company, Mindful Goods, was even recognized recently for making “exemplary product pages” in an Amazon case study.

Daniela explains how product listings optimization (through her or any other service) isn't just a starting point for brands, it’s also a reinvesting point. There are legacy brands with a longstanding presence on Amazon who are finding sales slip now as more competition enters the market. They’ve never had to optimize to stand out, but now, they’re in the same camp as brands that are just starting. Optimization is the name of the game.

Daniela also talks about her process for what she calls a “mini-audit” where she looks at where a brand is with the three steps she applies for all her clients’ strategies. The process is the same for existing brands and those just entering e-commerce, though it’s applied differently. Listen to the full interview to learn how that mini-audit goes.

This exceptional interview wraps with how to protect your brand, because even with the best Amazon strategy you should never just rely on Amazon. Listen to the full episode for more!
A love letter from our sponsor:
If you're a brand listening and you can relate, don't stop here! Visit the Amber Engine blog for more tips, strategies and insights to sell more online. We love e-commerce, and our product information software (PIM) and data enrichment strategies simplify and speed up your rollout to Amazon and other marketplaces. Our clients launch in weeks instead of months, eliminate the guesswork, and enable interdepartmental collaboration to drive a winning presence online.
Stay awesome,
Amber Engine
43 min
October 03, 202113. Branding Secrets to Stand Out In E-Commerce with Hannah Giro, Founder of PR Brand Marketing
In this episode of E-Commerce with Coffee?! host Nate Svoboda talks to Hannah Giro. Hannah speaks about Amazon sellers, what makes them special, and why she loves to work with them through her company PR Brand Marketing.
The interview kicks off with a discussion about the importance of branding on Amazon. Even though Amazon essentially owns the user experience and branding on the behemoth platform, what branding sellers can achieve produces benefits like the Amazon Halo Effect, or the boost of sales on products elsewhere because of the branding done on Amazon.
Optimizations of all kinds on Amazon are rooted in doing the right kind of keyword research for Amazon, Hannah explains. This means knowing what tools to use—both on and off Amazon.
One of Hannah’s favorite tools to educate Amazon sellers on is A+ content, which takes up a whole segment of the interview as she and Nate weave through related questions about using and improving it.
Listen to the full interview for more of Hannah’s insights, including a recent client’s example of 3Xing their sales of lightbulbs. There’s an Amazon strategy for everyone and it’s Hannah’s job to put those strategies into action.
What to listen for:
Hannah has worked with many companies that didn’t even have their branding clearly defined, even after years in business. One of her favorite parts of working with these companies is the satisfaction she sees when they can step back at a finished branding guide and say, “this is us.” In the interview, she explains what branding today entails.

Hannah and Nate also talk about the Amazon Halo Effect or the boost of sales on products you sell off of Amazon as a product of the SEO and branding you do on Amazon. With 66% of consumer product searches starting on the behemoth e-marketplace, the impact of a smart Amazon strategy can be far-reaching.

The interview also touches on Hannah’s onboarding process with clients at her firm, PR Brand Marketing. Listen in to get the full scoop, but first, know this: it all starts with keyword research, but it has to be the right keyword research.

Tons of keyword optimizing tips come out in this interview, like the importance of using your main keyword with the first 17 characters of product titles.

There are also some important tools (on and off Amazon) sellers should use that Hannah hashes out for listeners. For example, email marketing will soon be possible for Amazon sellers to blast through the platform itself. In the meantime, A+ content gives brands a huge leg up in today’s more competitive e-commerce landscape. Listen in for how Hannah recommends brands make the most of A+ content and more.

The longer people stay on a product page, the more likely it is they’ll add that product to their cart. That’s what all the strategies Hannah talks about in this interview ultimately lead to. She gives a great example of a lightbulb product page and how her client leveraged today’s visual and product data trends to 3X sales.
A love letter from our sponsor:
If you're a brand listening and you can relate, don't stop here! Visit the Amber Engine blog for more tips, strategies, and insights to sell more online. We love e-commerce, and our product information software (PIM) and data enrichment strategies simplify and speed up your rollout to Amazon and other marketplaces. Our clients launch in weeks instead of months, eliminate the guesswork, and enable interdepartmental collaboration to drive a winning presence online.
Stay awesome,
Amber Engine
21 min
September 19, 202112. Launch vs. Grow, E-com vs. Other—Learn to Leverage Your Advantages with Dan Ben-Nun, CEO at ADSPACE
Dan Ben-Nun, founder and CEO at AdSpace and founder of the popular e-commerce brand Inkkas, joined E-Commerce with Coffee?! host Nate Svoboda for an unforgettable conversation about historic trends and new requirements of direct-to-consumer (DTC) e-commerce.
Dan got into DTC when everything was new: Shopify, Facebook ads, influencer advertising, and even Kickstarter. He came in at the ground floor of the technologies that reshaped commerce forever. Dan started so early on Facebook ads, in fact, that the behemoth social network wrote a case study about his brand.
All this experience early on in the DTC revolution shaped Dan, too, and the way he thought about scaling an e-commerce business. He took all the lessons he learned and developed a methodology that, since then, has been applied to hundreds of successful e-commerce brands.
Dan’s methodology is based on five pillars:
Product-market fit

Customer acquisition

Lifecycle marketing

Reporting and analytics

Website experience
When this interview arrives at the topic of market saturation (and brands that are lightyears ahead in e-commerce), Dan insists that there’s never a start or end date to starting a new business model. Even brands just looking to e-commerce can be successful, he says, they’ll just have different strategies than those that existing brands used.
The interview wraps with talks about successful ad strategies, especially what video ads gained Inkkas in recent months. Listen to the full episode to hear what Dan has to say on the topic and everything else he covers in this episode of E-Commerce with Coffee?!
What to listen for:
Dan has been around direct-to-consumer (DTC) e-commerce for about 15 years, and for almost 10 of those he’s been building brands. The first was Inkkas, his e-commerce footwear brand inspired by native cultures of the world. And with its explosive success, Dan went to work for other brands as a strategic growth marketer. Listen to the full interview for the origin story of Inkkas, which is sure to captivate.

Dan then gets into the five pillars of e-commerce, according to the model he built for brands after his own success with Inkkas. Listen in to learn what the pillars are and how to optimize each. “Whether you have a wholesale business, retail business, or e-commerce business,” Dan assures us, “there are some universal, foundational methods that position you for success.”

Later in the interview, Dan dives deep into marketing channels. He talks about the gap between brands that are already established in e-commerce versus those just coming to market. There are ways to get your footing and Dan explains what some of them are.

“Creative [content] is now the most important advertising asset,” Dan explains. Today’s video trends include things like the quirkiest videos getting greater engagement. The first two seconds of an ad video, Dan says, must break the zombie-like scroll action. Then, the rest of the video has to deliver real value to make the scroll-stop technique seem worth it to consumers.
A love letter from our sponsor:
If you're a brand listening and you can relate, don't stop here! Visit the Amber Engine blog for more tips, strategies and insights to sell more online. We love e-commerce, and our product information software (PIM) and data enrichment strategies simplify and speed up your rollout to Amazon and other marketplaces. Our clients launch in weeks instead of months, eliminate the guesswork, and enable interdepartmental collaboration to drive a winning presence online.
Stay awesome,
Amber Engine
38 min
September 05, 202111. Building a Brand on Amazon - Then and Now with Liran Hirschkorn, CEO at Incrementum Digital
Liran Hirschkorn joins E-Commerce with Coffee?! for what is one of the most informative looks at Amazon we’ve heard yet on the show.
Liran’s own experience growing brands and consulting hundreds more at Incrementum Digital has given him a wealth of insights into the “then” and “now” of Amazon, and curious insights into the future.
This interview covers multiple unbeatable topics, especially for brands just getting started on Amazon, like:
What did these 15 months of pandemic mean for the supply chain and for niche saturation for Amazon sellers?

What have recent changes to the Amazon platform meant for sellers, new and old?

How can a brand learn to “fail fast and fail forward” on the platform while coming out stronger for it?
Liran gives detailed answers to these questions and more. Listen to the full episode for all his insights, examples, and insider tips.
What to listen for:
Liran got his start in wholesale modeling and quickly grew a successful Amazon brand and private label. Listen in to learn how he got there.

Amazon ads have gotten more complicated over the last few years, which is right when Liran started helping other brands learn ad strategies to get a solid footing on the platform. Thus, Incrementum Digital was born.

Liran has also seen some major changes for Amazon sellers in the last few years. For example, bigger organizations are acquiring successful Amazon brands to create mega-competitive conglomerate brands.

The Amazon platform itself has changed, too. For example, incentivized reviews (which were once an easy way to gain many early reviews) were done away with. Listen to what Liran says this means for sellers today.

In some niches, “you have to lose money for a set time until you can get enough reviews,” Liran explains. New sellers should consider how deep their pockets are when entering into a niche that already has big players.

Liran also talks about some of the hurdles for new brands selling on Amazon. Products can get taken down, and competition is stiff. This fuels the love-hate relationship many sellers have with the platform, because ultimately, the opportunity to reach Amazon consumers is still too great to pass up. Liran talks about SOPs you can develop to be prepared for this. “The opportunity is greater than the headache,” he assures us.

“Once you launch a product, within 12 months you’ll know if it has real demand,” Liran explains. What’s more, if you feel like you’re “fighting an uphill battle within the first two months from launch,” he adds, that’s an important sign that your Amazon strategy or product isn’t working. The first month is the most important for the Amazon algorithm's take on your brand. Listen in to what Liran says you can do about it.

Amazon actually likes new brands and products to challenge existing brands, and Liran explains why in simple terms. He concludes, “if you're not converting early on, it's not a traffic problem.”
A love letter from our sponsor:
If you're a brand listening and you can relate, don't stop here! Visit the Amber Engine blog for more tips, strategies, and insights to sell more online. We love e-commerce, and our product information software (PIM) and data enrichment strategies simplify and speed up your rollout to Amazon and other marketplaces. Our clients launch in weeks instead of months, eliminate the guesswork and enable interdepartmental collaboration to drive a winning presence online.
Stay awesome,
Amber Engine
47 min
August 22, 202110. Amazon Strategy and “Products with Potential” with Christian Kelm, VP Product at Amalyze
Summary
In this episode of E-commerce with Coffee?! we talk to Christian Kelm, VP Product at AMALYZE. This analytics software firm focuses on multi-layered insights into Amazon search terms and consumer behavior, and Christian’s passion on these topics cannot be overstated.
The interview opens, in fact, with host Nate Svoboda’s usual question about caffeine. Christian answers with a quick smile, then launches into a deeply thought out reply about exactly what energy supplements work best for his brain.
Based on Christian’s energy throughout the episode, it’s clear he’s hacked the balance that works stupendously for him.
From there, Nate and Christian dig into Amazon SERP analytics and competitor research, and Christian’s input on every point is meticulous. He covers many topics, including:
Revenue-driving keywords

Extracting opportunities from market trends

Extracting opportunities from “missing variations”

Portfolios of products

SERP volatility

Competition research

Negative keyword research

Adjusting strategy
Listen to the full episode of E-commerce with Coffee?! for all of Christian’s insights!
What to listen for:
Christian definitely has his own two cents on caffeine, energy drinks, and Vitamin B12. Listen to how he’s leveraged these in business and life in general.

Christian also talks about the power of targeting revenue-driving keywords instead of search-volume-only keyword SERPs. This kind of insight is what AMALYZE provides, and marks a turning point in the possibilities in SEO strategy.

Search volume alone doesn’t give brands insights into relevance or potential, Christian explains. The “movers and shakers” understand their clients in a deeper way, and Christian explains how.

Christian talks about going with market trends versus looking for opportunities where a product variation is “missing.” Both have their advantages, and both can be done successfully—if done right.

SERP site volatility refers to how frequently top-ranking results change for the keywords you want to rank for. Based on that volatility, Christian explains, you can prioritize which opportunities to move on first (because you can't move on everything all at once).

Competition research is good for more than just SERPs, too. For example, you can use it for “negative keyword research” to determine what you're NOT (so you don't waste resources optimizing for those terms or irrelevant synonyms of your target keywords).

“What I like to look at is customer behavior and changes in customer behavior,” Christian says. He then talks about brand analytics that go beyond just what the consumer is looking for—instead, it’s important to weigh that against what consumers are buying at the end.

“You can only adjust your strategy when you have one,” Christian points out. And if you just copy what your competitors do, or what your coach does, you’ll only get results as good as your competitors or coach. To get your own results, you will need your own strategy.
A love letter from our sponsor:
If you're a brand listening, and you can relate, don't stop here! Visit the Amber Engine blog for more tips, strategies, and insights to sell more online. We love e-commerce, and our product information software (PIM) and data enrichment strategies simplify and speed up your rollout to Amazon and other marketplaces. Our clients launch in weeks instead of months, eliminate the guesswork, and enable interdepartmental collaboration to drive a winning presence online.
Stay awesome,
Amber Engine
47 min
August 08, 202109. DTC Customer Acquisition with Steve Dinelli, Chief Digital Officer at Barrington Media Group
Steve Dinelli, Chief Digital Officer at Barrington Media Group, joins this episode of E-Commerce with Coffee?! to talk about the direct-to-consumer (DTC) e-com world.
Steve first tells the story of his own surprising trajectory, from starting a customer acquisition firm out of his garage to later arriving at Barrington Media Group with years of high-profile work (and success) to speak to.
The journey taught him many lessons, and over the interview, Steve points to multiple topics where he feels differently now than he did just a few years ago.
The DTC landscape is changing. The cost of customer acquisition has gone consistently up for more than half a decade, and now Steve says there’s no sign of it stopping. The barrier of entry to DTC is now so low, Steve explains, that even teenagers are starting Shopify storefronts and seeing success. The booming competition is what has driven prices up.
Steve explains how hitting the right notes with your target customers only looks simple from the outside. Even the most tangible results are powered by some of the most agile and market-conscientious strategies behind them.
Listen to this episode of E-Commerce with Coffee?! to hear about these key DTC strategies for yourself.
What to listen for:
Steve tells a fascinating story of how he got into digital marketing and customer acquisition as a “for fun” project on the side, and how it quickly snowballed. Steve’s story is like so many others in digital marketing today because many of the roles the pros have didn’t even exist five years ago.

Steve then gets into how much lower the barrier of entry is today for online brands. Even teenagers, he says, are getting in on Shopify dropshipping. The lower barrier of entry has come with higher barriers (i.e., more competition and bigger investments) to acquire customers. “I’ve seen things over the last five or six years become a lot harder for DTC brands,” he says.

The success of other DTC brands seems so tangible to the brands looking in that success in e-commerce seems more easily attainable than it is. With more competition now than ever, Steve breaks down what brands need for their own e-commerce success.

Steve’s also learned a lot recently about the offline world that fascinates him, like with direct mail. Listen to the episode to hear what Steve says about paper types, envelopes, and other must-consider details that shape how prospects receive a message.

Steve also has his own two cents on working with marketing agencies who “do it all” versus single-silo experts. He’s had his own evolution in recent years on which he prefers.

DTC brands need to “start on Facebook and Google,” Steve says. “Get traffic and see if your product is going to work.” Then (and only then) is it time to look at other paid customer acquisition channels and strategies.

Knowing where your customers come from is the most important part of customer acquisition, Steve explains. Listen to the full episode to hear what he has to add about Google versus Facebook.
A love letter from our sponsor:
If you're a brand listening and you can relate, don't stop here! Visit the Amber Engine blog for more tips, strategies, and insights to sell more online. We love e-commerce, and our product information software (PIM) and data enrichment strategies simplify and speed up your rollout to Amazon and other marketplaces. Our clients launch in weeks instead of months, eliminate the guesswork, and enable interdepartmental collaboration to drive a winning presence online.
Stay awesome,
Amber Engine
38 min
July 26, 202108. The Scaling System Every E-Commerce Brand Needs with Chase Clymer, Co-Founder of Electric Eye Agency
In this episode of E-Commerce with Coffee?!, host Nate Svoboda interviews Chase Clymer of Electric Eye. The digital marketing master has worked from his unlikely origins in a rock band to the head of a marketing agency as a product of his insatiable desire to learn new strategies and optimizations for product-based businesses.
Perhaps a dash of nerdiness has helped, too.
Indeed, the very name Electric Eye comes from a beloved metal song—but don’t let that fool you, because Chase is the kind of guy you’d love to get a beer with but he also knows how to get down to business.
In this episode of the podcast, Chase talks through the principal benefits of using Shopify for product-based businesses. He also talks about his “Brand Scaling Framework,” which can be managed by his team at Electric Eye or by anyone else if applied correctly. The result? Month-over-month growth of all the metrics that matter, equating to a fatter bottom line.
Listen in for all of Chase’s insights on this episode of the podcast!
What to listen for:
Chase first got into his marketing career as a freelancer, simultaneously helping a pal of his who was skilled but not as savvy on the business side of things. Chase helped him and, as a result, grew. Before they knew it, the two friends had started an agency together.

“True service marketing is a whole different monster,” Chase points out as he talks about new trends on the horizon. Listen in for Chase’s insights on this trend and how to keep up with trends in general.

“Our goals in the business keep evolving,” Chase says. This is the nature of digital marketing, because change happens so fast. With new technology comes new possibilities (and new KPIs for his clients).

“Once you find a strategy that works, double down on it,” Chase says. Listen in to him explain why one funnel that works beautifully is so much better than 12 funnels that sort of work.

“Product-market fit” is the hardest part of launching a business, Chase says. He then breaks this down in hugely relatable terms. “Just put blinders on until you have this figured out,” he says. “Until then, the rest is just noise.”

Chase then digs into why he recommends Shopify over other platforms. He does point out, “the further you get away from the DTC model, the less Shopify makes sense for you.” Digging into which platform is right for what business is another question Chase dives deep into in the interview.
A love letter from our sponsor:
If you're a brand listening and you can relate, don't stop here! Visit the Amber Engine blog for more tips, strategies, and insights to sell more online. We love e-commerce, and our product information software (PIM) and data enrichment strategies simplify and speed up your rollout to Amazon and other marketplaces. Our clients launch in weeks instead of months, eliminate the guesswork, and enable interdepartmental collaboration to drive a winning presence online.
Stay awesome,
Amber Engine
36 min
July 11, 202107. The Future of E-commerce Content with Emily Ferguson, Director of E-Commerce at Marie Claire
In this episode of E-Commerce with Coffee?! Emily Ferguson—the Director of E-Commerce at Marie Claire—joins host Nate Svoboda for an in-depth look at e-commerce content, tech, and ROI.
The interview bounces around each of these key pillars of e-commerce because Emily, herself, has a hand in all of it. Situated physically and figuratively between advertising, design, and branding and even the account managers at Marie Claire, Emily develops new products for the brand and is given the autonomy to do whatever it takes to polish and promote the company’s delivery of its chic personality.
Emily’s autonomy and big decision-making came after a powerhouse career where she built her own brands. Emily actually started off in the fast-paced trading sector of banking, but fashion and e-commerce drew her in like a moth to a flame.
With passion and perseverance, Emily has learned a LOT about e-commerce since jumping in. Now, all you have to do to gain some top insights Emily enjoys is listen to this episode of E-Commerce with Coffee?!
What to listen for:
Emily tells a fascinating story about how she went from the banking world to e-commerce. And if she was able to translate the skills of the fast-paced trading world to the fast-paced world of e-com, there’s a secret sauce that can help you, too.

Emily even talks about being a little naïve when she got into e-com. There are a lot of gurus that make it sound easy. With perseverance and some great ideas, however, she made her dream come true.

Building relationships is a big part of success in e-commerce, and Emily found that side of things natural. She did find the tech side of things to be harder, though, and if you listen in you can build off of what she learned.

“You learn more in five minutes in your own business than you do in five years working for a company,” Emily jokes. But only sort of—then, she explains why.

Emily occupies a fascinating role at Marie Claire at the intersection of multiple departments in the development of new products. Listen to the interview to hear just how she lays out what areas of the business she touches.

Emily’s number-one goal on any given day at Marie Claire is for new products to “do well.” Her motivations are made clear throughout the interview as she talks about some of her early products.

Talking about e-commerce “then” and “now,” Emily says, “back then we were all trying to play the SEO game, which was pretty much impossible unless you were one of the big players. Now we have the most opportunity we've ever had for people to build brands online.”

Emily also talks about the key partnerships that e-commerce brands need to support today’s most competitive strategies. She also makes the point that your best “partner” will always be yourself.

“Don't be afraid to make mistakes in your career,” Emily says. “The trick is to carry on.”

Emily also talks about how to make a recognizable brand. Listen to the pinpoint focus she has in making brand decisions that render brands instantly “stickier.”

A love letter from our sponsor:
If you're a brand listening and can relate, don't stop here! Visit the Amber Engine blog for more tips, strategies, and insights to sell more online. We love e-commerce, and our product information software (PIM) and data enrichment strategies simplify and speed up your rollout to Amazon and other marketplaces. Our clients launch in weeks instead of months, eliminate the guesswork, and enable interdepartmental collaboration to drive a winning presence online.
Stay awesome,
Amber Engine
22 min

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