eCommerce Conversations

Dave Diederen is the founder of Syntra, a Netherlands-based conversion rate optimization agency. He encourages ecommerce brands to test product pages, ads, and, well, everything.  He says merchants often prioritize their sites' aesthetics over copy and content, a big mistake. “Content and copy play a very big role in conversions, if not the biggest,” he...

Since 2013 Cherene Aubert has managed, advised, and executed ecommerce marketing campaigns. She's worked for agencies, merchants, and as a freelance consultant. Her D2C advisory firm, Growth Capital, helps scale premium, high-growth brands. Experience guides her advice. Brands are too quick to discount slow-moving products, she says. Bundles or buy-one-get-one offers are often better. Higher-priced...

Ray Hua is the director of ecommerce at Vessi, a Canada-based direct-to-consumer seller of waterproof sneakers. The brand launched in 2017 after its founders developed and patented breathable fabric that repels water. Ray joined the company in 2021. In this episode, he shares the challenges of targeting the right audience, cross-border selling, diversifying, and more....

In 2019 Nasrin Jafari was a middle school teacher in New York City. She had no ecommerce experience but was drawn to creating and building, which led her to sew and sell face masks during Covid. Fast forward to 2026, and Mixed, her direct-to-consumer fashion brand, designs and produces female apparel and accessories. Referring to...

Kaleigh Moore is a 12-year freelance writer and editor. She has contributed to Shopify, Forbes, Vogue, Adweek, and various B2B providers, among others. She's now grappling with the promise and limits of AI. She calls AI a “fire hose of information” that greatly increases efficiency. She also cautions on what it cannot do, such as...

Occasionally on the podcast host Eric Bandholz departs from interviewing guests to share his own experiences running Beardbrand, the D2C company he founded in 2012. In this episode, he addresses his favorite ecommerce tools in 2026, 18 platforms and apps essential to his business — from foundational site infrastructure to solutions for marketing, operations, creative,...

Chris Hall is an ecommerce entrepreneur turned media operator. His new “Ecomm Cowboy” show broadcasts live Monday through Friday on X and YouTube. The mission, he says, is twofold: deliver daily news to sellers and offer companionship to those working alone. Chris first appeared on the podcast in 2023 as the marketing head of a...

Please enjoy this repeat of a popular episode first aired in September 2024. David Heinemeier Hansson is the creator of the Ruby on Rails software framework, the co-founder of Basecamp, a member of Shopify's board of directors, an investor in multiple tech startups, a racecar driver, and a family man with children. He's a modern-day...

Phillip Jackson's media company, Future Commerce, focuses on trends and developments in business. The company surveyed U.S. shoppers during the 2025 holiday season. He says one insight stood out: when AI recommends a product, 77% of respondents leave the platform to buy on the brand's site. Phillip first appeared on the podcast in early 2024....

Frank Kosarek is the co-founder of BizPort, a mergers-and-acquisitions marketplace launched in November 2025. Before that, he was head of acquisitions for a large ecommerce aggregator. He says buyers of ecommerce businesses today focus on discretionary earnings, not revenue, and seek recurring sales, such as subscriptions. He addresses those items, the state of ecommerce M&A,...