As 2022 comes to a close, those of us in the ecommerce industry have more questions than answers: Where can you find hope in the midst of failure? What are the constants in a deeply unpredictable world? And is there really such a thing as being a failure? This week, Richard, Taylor, and former Ecommerce Playbook Podcast host Andrew Faris look back on a difficult year and reflect on what they’ve learned from it.

Show Notes:

There’s three layers of revenue for any business: New customers, owned audiences, and existing customers. Maintaining the correct balance between these three tiers is crucial to sustainable growth. This week, Taylor and Richard explain how the “layer cake” metaphor helps ecommerce businesses focus on building a foundation of predictable revenue first.

Show Notes:

With consumer confidence at record-low levels, only one thing’s for sure: you’ll have to pay more to acquire new customers. But how do you forecast this all-important metric heading into the uncertainty of 2023? This week, Richard and (mostly) Taylor talk with CTC Ecommerce Data Analyst Steve Rekuc about building — and outperforming — your 2023 CAC forecast.

Show Notes:

Black Friday/Cyber Monday was bigger than ever this year. Inflation is also at its highest level in four decades. So what does this seeming paradox mean for your ecommerce business moving forward? In this episode, Taylor and Richard break down what went well, what didn’t, and the why you should still be vigilant even after the biggest shopping weekend in history.

Show notes:

It’s tempting to try to get more out of your existing customers when CAC is rising. But is it worth it? In this episode, Richard and Taylor discuss the second principle of the Enterprise Scaling Guide: the concept of the shrinking sponge. “You need to keep your active customer file growing as you grow the business.”

Show notes:

- Visit getparker.com to learn more about the card designed specifically for ecommerce brands.

- Get the Enterprise Scaling Guide: http://bit.ly/3UjemdZ

To win this Black Friday, you need to understand what went well last year, and what needs to improve. In this episode, we take a break from our regular content and revisit our post-Black Friday recap from 2021. “We’ll tell you how it went for each of our brands, and the lessons we learned.”

What kind of business wins despite the volatility that surrounds them? In this episode, Taylor and Richard discuss Taylor and 4x400’s decision to sell skincare brand Bambu Earth, and the macroeconomic factors that caused the deal to fall through. “There are deeper business-level things that you need to be focusing on as an ecommerce business in order to weather the storm — it's not all about marketing.”

Show Notes:

- Unlock growth for your business with Wayflyer: http://bit.ly/3tzufSF

- Find out what makes a business antifragile: http://bit.ly/3EgqPZM

With just 3 weeks until Black Friday, now is not the time to pull back. In this episode, Taylor and Richard debunk common arguments for pulling back spend ahead of Black Friday. “We are here to affirm your commitment of making the most out of this moment, because it’s necessary.”

Show Notes:

Get a $200 credit with Insense when you book by Nov. 18, 2022: https://bit.ly/CTCxInsenseNovember

The solution to $50M+ growth might not be what you think it is. In this episode, Richard and Taylor talk about Part 1 of the Ecommerce Enterprise Scaling Guide, which focuses on building a hierarchy of metrics to provide context around your business targets. “Once you hit the $50M mark, the things you’ve been doing stop working, and yet, there’s still going to be pressure on you to run the business at a profitable margin. So what do you do?”

Show Notes:

How customer-centric are you? In this episode, Richard and Taylor propose an interesting solution to the acquisition problem, and it has almost nothing to do with the quality of your Facebook ads. “If we accept that the cost to acquire the next customer has a certain gravitational element to it — meaning the cost to acquire a customer always will rise — then how do we win this game?”

Show Notes:

Get a $200 credit from Insense, the UGC creator marketplace: https://bit.ly/3THck7S