After building over 200 Shopify stores, Ben Sharf has discovered that nearly every e-commerce brand—whether doing $1 million or $50 million annually—describes their website as a source of frustration rather than growth. In this episode, we explore why complexity has become the norm and exactly how to fix it.

Ben, co-founder of Platter, shares insights from working with brands that have accumulated technical debt through widget overload, deleted apps that leave code behind, and convoluted customer journeys that kill conversions. We dig into his three-part simplification framework, the power of cart drawers over cart pages, and why revenue per visitor matters more than you think.

Key Point Timestamps:

05:00 - Why e-commerce websites frustrate every brand

09:30 - The widget overload problem destroying your site speed

14:20 - Deleted apps leave code behind (and slow you down)

17:40 - The three-part simplification framework

22:30 - Revenue per visitor: the metric you're not tracking

31:00 - How to optimize clicks to purchase

35:40 - Mobile simplification mistakes killing conversions

Why E-commerce Websites Frustrate Every Brand (05:00)

Ben's journey into e-commerce infrastructure began at GoPuff, where he built an instant delivery business unit. Whilst partnering with brands of all sizes, he encountered the same pattern repeatedly: every single brand had a horror story about their website.

"E-commerce is literally selling a product on the internet," Ben reflects. "Why is the main thing the most frustrating thing for every brand out there?"

The answer lies in how traditional development agencies operate. When agencies get paid for their time, they're incentivised to make things expensive and complicated. This creates an industry-wide problem where brands pay enormous sums for solutions that should be straightforward, resulting in websites burdened by excessive code, countless third-party apps, and convoluted customer journeys.

The Widget Overload Problem (09:30)

One of the biggest contributors to website complexity is what Ben calls "widget overload"—the tendency to add small applications for every specific functionality.

"A lot of these apps are features, not products," Ben explains. "If you piece a million together, you end up having a lot of different single points of failure within your storefront."

The Shopify app ecosystem, whilst brilliant for getting started, creates a temptation to solve every problem by installing another app. Before long, brands find themselves managing dozens of applications, each adding code to their storefront, each creating potential conflicts.

Ben shares a typical scenario: "We'll talk to a brand doing $20 million on their storefront. Over the last seven years, they've had five different agencies, seven different freelancers, and 150 apps installed and deleted—all on the same storefront. What do you think happens when the next person tries to go in and touch that? It's just a spider web."

The Hidden Code Problem (14:20)

Here's something most brand owners don't know: when you delete a Shopify app, the code it injected into your storefront doesn't disappear. It stays there, silently slowing down your site and creating technical debt that compounds over time.

This revelation shocked many listeners, but it explains why sites become progressively slower even when brands think they're cleaning up by removing unused apps. The orphaned code remains, affecting page speed and creating a tangled web of potential conflicts.

The Three-Part Simplification Framework (17:40)

Ben's approach to escaping the complexity trap centres on three core principles: consolidation, clarity, and customer-centricity.

Consolidation Over Accumulation: Rather than adding another app for every need, Ben advocates for consolidating functionality. Platter's solution was to build a comprehensive Shopify theme and app that handles most common functionality brands require. "It requires less custom code, less third-party apps, but still gets you to the same place," Ben explains.

Clarity in Customer Journeys: Ben has a brilliantly simple test for evaluating website clarity: "Give your website to a seven-year-old and a 90-year-old and see what happens." This idiot-proof test reveals whether your site is truly intuitive or just obvious to you because you use it every day.

Customer-Centricity Through Data: Count the number of clicks it takes to make a purchase on your website. If you have a hero product that accounts for 95% of sales, why force customers through multiple pages? Put a buy now button directly on the homepage.

Revenue Per Visitor: The Overlooked Metric (22:30)

Ben champions a metric that few brands track but should: revenue per visitor.

"It's a little different than average order value, which is just how much is being spent," Ben explains. "And it's a little different from conversion rate, which is how many people are actually buying. It's how much is being spent by the person who is buying."

This metric matters because it captures the combined effect of conversion optimisation and order value maximisation. If your revenue per visitor increases, you know multiple things are working well together.

Ben also emphasises using cohort analysis for setting thresholds. One brand was selling accessories at $25 and $75, but had their free shipping threshold at $60. "You have to look at the maths of your cohort data to know where you should actually put that number," Ben notes. The threshold should be at $74 or $75 to incentivise the higher-value purchase.

Optimizing Clicks to Purchase (31:00)

One specific simplification Ben champions is using a cart drawer instead of a separate cart page. When a customer clicks "add to cart," a slide-out drawer appears showing cart contents and checkout options—without loading a new page.

"One hundred percent of our brands use a cart drawer mechanism," Ben shares. This approach reduces friction by eliminating an extra page load whilst creating opportunities for upsells and cross-sells without disrupting the shopping flow.

For brands with impulse purchase products and hero products in their catalogue, Ben recommends adding buy now CTAs on the homepage or collection page using quick view modals. This reduces friction and the amount of time and energy that goes into spending money on that product.

Mobile Simplification (35:40)

With most shopping happening on mobile devices, simplification becomes even more critical. Ben sees brands making two common mistakes: under-utilising horizontal scroll and tolerating slow page speeds.

"Nothing drives me crazier than when you have a collection and you're scrolling vertically to see everything," Ben shares. "There's so much real estate you can uncover by leveraging horizontal behaviors—both from image carousels on product pages, collection pages, and featured products."

On mobile, page speed matters exponentially more because exits happen faster. People are doom-scrolling, impulse-buying, and have zero patience. Every fraction of a second counts.

Today's Guest

Today's guest: Ben Sharf

Company: Platter

Website: platter.com

LinkedIn: Connect with Ben on LinkedIn

Email marketing delivers 30 to 40 times the return of any other marketing channel, yet most Black Friday campaigns vanish into spam folders before customers even see them. Robby Bryant from Campaign Monitor reveals why the big three mailbox providers—Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft—now act as sheriffs, policing email deliverability like never before.

Episode Summary

We explore the seismic shift in email deliverability over the past five years, as consolidated mailbox providers transformed from passive gatekeepers into active sheriffs. Robby breaks down the authentication trinity (DKIM, SPF, DMARC) that determines whether your emails even make it past the front gate, the non-negotiable metric thresholds that separate inbox placement from spam (0.1% spam complaints, 1% unsubscribes, 2% bounces), and why establishing cadence matters more than clever subject lines. From list hygiene strategies to the 60-40 text-to-image ratio, this episode provides the practical checklist for ensuring your Black Friday campaigns actually reach the customers who want to hear from you.

Key Point Timestamps:

07:29 - The cadence mistake that kills Black Friday campaigns

09:47 - Understanding sender reputation and deliverability governance

16:37 - List hygiene practices that protect deliverability

21:42 - The authentication trinity: DKIM, SPF, DMARC explained

27:31 - Content formatting rules and the 60-40 ratio

40:06 - The metrics that actually matter for inbox placement

The Sheriff Problem Nobody Saw Coming (04:32)

Four or five years ago, the email landscape looked completely different. Robby explains how fragmentation amongst mailbox service providers meant brands could send mediocre emails with very little negative consequence. Those days are gone.

"They're acting now as the sheriffs," Robby describes, referring to how Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft now police sender behaviour. "They're looking at opens, clicks, replies, forwards, and then on the negative side, they're looking at deletions without reading, spam complaints, and people marking it as junk."

The result? Brands attempting email marketing for the first time during Black Friday get slapped down before they start. Poor authentication, bad text-to-image ratios, and zero segmentation lead to lackluster results, convincing them email doesn't work. Meanwhile, brands understanding the new rules capture those 30-40X returns.

The Cadence Mistake That Kills Campaigns (07:29)

If Robby could solve one issue plaguing Black Friday email campaigns, it would be what he calls "advanced engagement." The typical pattern? Brands decide it's time for an email send, perhaps even segment their list, put together something beautiful, then do "one really loud blast."

"That is the exact opposite of what you should do," Robby emphasises. "You really want to have an established cadence leading up to Black Friday, Cyber Monday and keep that cadence going on after the holiday."

The walk-up engagement practice warms customers up, builds brand recognition, and establishes sender reputation with mailbox providers before the critical moment arrives. At minimum, Robby recommends sending at least one email per week during this period—enough to keep subscribers aware and set expectations with mailbox service providers.

Understanding Sender Reputation (09:47)

Here's what caught Robby off guard when entering email marketing after years in paid search and social: the misconception that nothing you do in email matters.

"I too was kind of under this misconception that nothing you do in email matters. It's kind of ephemeral," Robby admits. "It's not true."

Mailbox providers track something called "deliverability governance"—whether your email lands in the inbox. Just like Google Ads has quality scores and social platforms track engagement, email sheriffs watch every move. Every email accrues positive points (opens, clicks, replies, forwards) or negative points (deletions without reading, spam complaints, marking as junk).

All emails count towards this reputation—newsletters, transactional emails, automated sequences. You're either building or destroying your reputation with every send.

The Authentication Trinity (21:42)

Three acronyms determine whether your Black Friday emails reach anyone: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. "Those are some hairy acronyms," Robby laughs. "But very effective."

SPF (Sender Policy Framework) tells mailbox providers which servers are allowed to send email for your domain. "It's a guest list for sends," Robby explains. "If your email doesn't come from an approved sender, it gets rejected or flagged as spam."

DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) acts as your digital signature, proving the email came from you.

DMARC (Domain-Based Message Authentication) is supplemental to SPF and DKIM, enforcing what happens when an email fails either test and reporting back on spoofing or phishing attempts.

Beyond these, Gmail and other providers use AI to judge sender reputation in real time. "You're not going to hack your way past these controls," Robby warns. "You need real genuine user engagement."

The Non-Negotiable Metric Thresholds (40:06)

During the rapid-fire closing section, Robby laid out the metrics that determine inbox placement versus spam.

Spam complaints must stay under 0.1%. Not 1%. Not 0.5%. Under 0.1%. For 10,000 emails, that's only 10 spam complaints before mailbox providers investigate.

Unsubscribes should remain under 1%. "A little bit of unsubscribing is healthy for your email programme," Robby notes, "but you should be tailoring emails so that it isn't an action they should be taking frequently."

Bounces need to stay below 2%. This connects to list hygiene—continually refining your list over time.

The big metrics that always matter: opens, clicks, click-through rates, and conversions. These determine programme success, especially in terms of actually being seen in the first place.

Today's Guest

Today's guest: Robby Bryant

Company: Campaign Monitor

Website: campaignmonitor.com

LinkedIn: Connect with Robby

What if scaling your eCommerce business isn't about better ads, but about understanding why customers buy from you? Louise Doyle shares how she built Needi from a struggling DTC gifting site into a £2 million corporate gifting business by refusing to treat gifts like commodities.

Episode Summary

Louise and her co-founder Steph launched Needi in 2021 with ambitious DTC plans, only to discover the brutal reality of customer acquisition costs and overwhelming competition. Within months, they pivoted to B2B corporate gifting, where they found desperate demand for their psychology-driven approach. By asking why clients want to give gifts rather than just what they need, Needi scaled from £500k to £2 million in revenue whilst supporting local independent businesses. Lou shares the unconventional journey of building a concierge service that's now projecting £5 million revenue, all whilst balancing motherhood and creating a team where over half the employees are mums.

Key Point Timestamps:

05:10 - The DTC Reality: Why Direct-to-Consumer Failed

10:15 - The Pivot: Finding Corporate Clients Who Were Desperate

16:25 - Understanding the Psychology Behind Every Gift

24:30 - Your Client Isn't Actually Your Client

32:05 - The Amazon Problem: Connection Beats Efficiency

37:14 - Scaling from £500k to £5M Projected Revenue

45:07 - The Mum Factor: Building a Family-First Business

The DTC Reality: Why Direct-to-Consumer Failed (05:10)

Lou and Steph thought they had it figured out. The research was solid: one in five gifts end up in landfill, 80% of people hate finding the right gift, and everyone's received a terrible present. Simple problem, simple solution—build a website, run Facebook ads, watch orders roll in.

"We went into it fairly naively," Lou admits. "We thought everybody is rubbish at gifting and doesn't enjoy it. So we'll set up an e-comm site where we make people really good at gifting. And it was really hard."

The cost of customer acquisition was brutal. But worse, they faced double jeopardy: they needed to attract customers whilst simultaneously onboarding local independent businesses to supply the gifts. Chicken and egg doesn't begin to describe the challenge.

The Pivot: Finding Corporate Clients Who Were Desperate (10:15)

Rather than flogging a dead horse, Lou and Steph started LinkedIn outreach to corporate clients. They walked into head offices with suitcases filled with gifts. The response was immediate and overwhelming.

"These people were literally saying, my gosh, where have you been? We need what you're doing," Lou explains. Executive assistants and marketing managers were being dumped with last-minute orders for thousands of gifts with tight budgets and no time to find quality suppliers.

The word "concierge" isn't accidental in Needi's description. It represents doing absolutely everything for clients whilst they figured out how to scale the service.

Understanding the Psychology Behind Every Gift (16:25)

Lou and Steph didn't just pivot to B2B—they transformed how they approached gifting entirely. They spent hundreds of hours studying the psychology of gifting, working with a professor of altruism, researching relationship dynamics.

"A gift is cementing what your relationship means to that person," Lou says. "You would not buy somebody a gift if you weren't looking for a particular connection."

This insight changed everything. Instead of asking what gift clients wanted or how many they needed, Needi asks why. Why are you buying this gift? What relationship are you trying to cement? What message are you trying to send?

Your Client Isn't Actually Your Client (24:30)

When a company orders 10,000 gifts for employees, the purchaser is the corporate decision-maker. But the person who determines whether that company orders again next year? That's the employee who receives the gift.

"For you to maintain a relationship with the gifter, the recipient of the gift has got to have an exceptional experience," Lou explains.

This means if you know a company wants to show employees they're valued, you don't send generic gift vouchers. You find out what makes those employees tick. You personalise. You add handwritten notes explaining why this particular gift went to this particular person. That's relationship building at scale.

The Amazon Problem: Connection Beats Efficiency (32:05)

Lou's business exists because Amazon exists—not in spite of it, but because of it. Amazon owns the commodity game. If you're competing on efficiency and price, you're bringing a knife to a tank fight.

"We're up against really generic gift vouchers," Lou says. "Well done, you've been here for 10 years. Have a £50 voucher." That's efficient, scalable, and completely soulless.

But connection? That's where Digital Davids beat the Goliaths. People buy from people they know, like, and trust. You can't automate that. You can't optimise your way into trust. You have to earn it.

Today's Guest

Today's guest: Louise Doyle

Company: Needi

Website: www.Needi.co.uk

LinkedIn: Connect with Louise on LinkedIn

Customer acquisition costs have surged 222% since 2013, with Google and Facebook CPCs climbing relentlessly. But what if the solution isn't just doubling down on retention or throwing more money at ads?

Matt Edmundson introduces the FUEL Framework—a systematic approach to customer growth that doesn't rely on a single channel, doesn't assume yesterday's tactics will work tomorrow, and doesn't leave you vulnerable when platforms change their algorithms. Through Foundation, Unlock, Elevate, and Leapfrog strategies, this framework addresses all three levers of business growth: acquiring customers, increasing purchase frequency, and raising average order value.

Key Point Timestamps:

00:00 - Introduction: The Challenge of Rising CAC

01:00 - The iOS 14 Impact on Facebook Ads

02:00 - The CAC Crisis in eCommerce

03:00 - The Bathtub Principle

04:34 - Introducing the FUEL Framework

09:00 - Foundation: Email Beyond Templates

13:00 - Foundation: Building Referral Engines

15:00 - Foundation: Customer Experience Post-Purchase

19:00 - Unlock: Strategic Partnerships

22:00 - Unlock: Content Amplification

26:00 - Unlock: Community Seeding

28:00 - Elevate: Advanced Segmentation

32:00 - Elevate: AI-Powered Personalisation

38:00 - Leapfrog: Experimenting Without Fear

Foundation: Building Your Unshakeable Base (09:00)

Matt challenges the common assumption that having Shopify and Google Analytics means your foundations are sorted. Real foundations aren't about having tools—they're about having systems that work even when paid ads don't.

Email marketing generates 30-40% of revenue for most eCommerce businesses, yet many brands still rely on generic templates. Matt references Ken Rapp from BluStream's brilliant rule: don't send any coupons or review requests in the first five messages. "Just deliver value. Help customers succeed with their purchase. Build trust," Matt explains. Over 90% of customers stay engaged with these journeys months—sometimes years—later.

The referral engine sits in foundations because referred customers are 16-24% more loyal than customers acquired through other channels, have 16% higher lifetime value, and cost £17 less to acquire. But standard refer-a-friend programmes don't work because they assume everyone just wants £10 off. "Maybe a complementary product has higher perceived value than cash. Maybe inviting them to a VIP board meeting matters more," Matt suggests.

The Post-Purchase Gap (15:00)

Standing in his favourite Liverpool coffee shop, Matt had an epiphany about customer experience. The journey was brilliant until he paid—then he stood awkwardly with others, unable to listen to music in case they called his name, no bench to sit on, no system.

"I started thinking, well actually, am I doing the same thing in my own eCommerce businesses?" Matt reflects. "We obsess over the journey to checkout. We A/B test button colours, we track every click. Then someone buys, and we forget about them. Or worse—we immediately hit them with a review request before they've even opened the box."

The gap between acquisition and loyalty is where most brands lose the game. Customer experience—particularly post-purchase—directly impacts whether customers buy again.

Unlock: Diversifying Beyond Paid Ads (19:00)

Once foundations are solid, Matt recommends devoting 5-10% of marketing resources to unlocking other channels. Strategic partnerships work because 72% of companies report lower CAC through partnerships than direct acquisition.

Matt shares his experience with Through Doc, the clothing company he frequently purchases from. When they partnered with Elliot Brown watches, he'd never heard of the watchmaker. "I ended up buying one of the Elliot Brown watches as a result of that email. Would I have done that if I'd just seen Elliot Brown ads? Maybe, maybe not. But strategic partnerships work fundamentally—you borrow the credibility of the company referring you."

Content amplification also features heavily in the Unlock phase. Matt uses the eCommerce Podcast itself as an example: audio becomes podcasts, video becomes YouTube content, written format becomes blog posts, multiple emails feed the newsletter. "We've just built a three-person studio in Nottingham. We're investing heavily because for us, this form of content creation works."

Elevate: When Good Becomes Great (28:00)

With foundations solid and channels unlocked, the Elevate phase focuses on maximising efficiency. Advanced segmentation recognises that not all customers are equal, and treating them the same leaves money on the table.

Matt advocates for RFM segmentation—tracking customers by Recency, Frequency, and Monetary value. "How recently did they buy? What's their average order count? What's the worth of that customer? Ranking customers in those three areas gives you really interesting insight," Matt explains, recommending Valentine Radu's episode for deeper understanding.

Personalisation goes beyond mail merge. SafariLand achieved a 37% conversion increase through data-driven product page optimisation. LeSportsac saw a 7% conversion lift and 20% AOV increase after AI personalisation. "Someone who comes onto your website and doesn't know you needs a very different journey from someone who's been 50 times before and knows exactly what they need," Matt notes.

Leapfrog: Calculated Risks (38:00)

The final phase is where brands experiment with things that might fail—because the business isn't dependent on them working. Matt shares examples like beauty brands setting up skin analysis booths at farmers' markets, collecting hundreds of high-quality email subscribers whilst meeting customers face-to-face.

One innovative tactic Matt's been exploring: creating an AI board of directors. "Add Jeff Bezos, Steve Jobs, Warren Buffett to your board. Add your target customers, add your biggest detractor. Present something to your board and watch them debate amongst themselves." The questions are harsh but remarkably good for strategic thinking.

Another powerful technique from Dan Co: take competitors' top Instagram posts or YouTube videos, order by engagement, copy the titles, and ask AI to break down why they work. "I'm not doing this to copy. I'm doing this to understand what's working, then appropriate that to your brand voice," Matt clarifies.

Today's Guest

Today's guest: Matt Edmundson

Company: Aurion

Website: aurioncompany.com

LinkedIn: Connect with Matt

Most entrepreneurs dream of building from scratch, but Michael Simpson took a different path. After running an Amazon arbitrage side hustle, he spent 18 months searching for an established eCommerce business to buy rather than building one from the ground up.

Four years after purchasing an 18-year-old business selling Catholic products, Michael candidly shares what most buyers won't: the reality behind the broker presentations, the challenges of inherited technical debt, and the daily cashflow discipline that kept him in the game during survival mode.

We explore the SBA loan process that made 90% financing possible, why he spent £30,000 on a Shopify migration that never happened, and the mastermind group advice that stopped him from making costly mistakes. Michael reveals his daily cashflow forecasting system, why demand capture businesses hit growth ceilings differently than demand generation models, and what he wishes he'd negotiated harder on during the purchase.

Key Point Timestamps:

04:34 - The Buy Then Build Philosophy

09:10 - Finding the Right Business After 40 Evaluations

11:06 - How SBA Loans Work for Business Acquisitions

16:56 - The 3X Multiple Valuation Reality

20:05 - Why Growth Proved Harder Than Expected

29:52 - The £30,000 Migration That Never Happened

43:09 - When Sales Dropped and Survival Mode Began

49:57 - Daily Cashflow Forecasting That Saved the Business

The Buy Then Build Philosophy (04:34)

Michael's acquisition journey began with Walker Deibold's book Buy Then Build, which challenges the conventional startup path. After running a small Amazon arbitrage business selling New Mexico green chillies, he realised he wanted something larger but wasn't passionate about scaling what he had.

"When you buy a business, that's what you're buying," Michael explains. "You're buying the existing customers and that goodwill and those supplier relationships. If it's a new business that doesn't have a lot of existing customers, there's not really a whole lot of value there."

The appeal is straightforward: an established business has already solved product-market fit, built supplier relationships, and proven people will pay for what you're selling. But as Michael discovered, you're also inheriting someone else's platform choices, brand positioning, and technical debt.

Finding the Right Business After 40 Evaluations (09:10)

Michael spent 18 months evaluating 30 to 40 businesses before finding the right fit. His criteria were non-negotiable:

No Chinese suppliers. As a National Guard member with security clearance for 22 years, the China arbitrage model raised both practical and security concerns. "I just felt like eventually that wasn't sustainable. Like at some point that arbitrage opportunity is going to disappear."

Own website, not Amazon-dependent. Having experienced Amazon's unpredictability firsthand, Michael knew he didn't want a business that could collapse from one complaint or account suspension.

Strong customer base and email list. This represents the real value in an acquisition—the relationships and proven demand.

Genuinely interesting products. Michael didn't want to sell women's clothing or supplements he didn't believe in, even though the margins were attractive.

When Discount Catholic Products appeared—an 18-year-old business selling medals, prayer cards, and crucifixes made in Italy and the US—it ticked every box.

How SBA Loans Work for Business Acquisitions (11:06)

The Small Business Administration loan programme gave Michael access to 90% financing—he only needed 10% down on a half-million-pound sale. During COVID, the government sweetened the deal further: they waived the typical 2% fee and covered the first three months of payments.

"Between those two things, that was like £30,000 that we saved just by getting it closed in time," Michael notes.

This government-backed financing is a massive advantage for US buyers, similar to how mortgage availability drives up house prices. For UK entrepreneurs, it's worth noting this acquisition financing simply doesn't exist here, making US businesses potentially more valuable due to easier buyer access to capital.

The catch? The acquisition process took five months and felt adversarial at times. Michael's advice: get your own representation. The broker works for the seller, not you, no matter how friendly they seem.

The 3X Multiple Valuation Reality (16:56)

The business was priced at a 3X multiple of seller's discretionary earnings (SDE)—roughly profit. In 2021, with COVID boosting eCommerce and cheap money everywhere, this was market standard. Some businesses were fetching 4-5X multiples.

Looking back, Michael identifies two negotiation regrets:

The inventory. With 11,000 product listings, substantial stale inventory came with the purchase. "Four years later, some of it is still sitting on a shelf. We probably overpaid for it even at 25 pence on the pound."

The business size. It was at the bottom end of what he was looking for. A business twice as large would have provided more buffer between loan payments and living expenses.

The danger? Emotional decision-making. After 18 months of searching, when something finally fits your criteria, it's easy to offer full asking price. The broker mentioned another interested buyer, but the seller later revealed she'd already chosen Michael and his wife after meeting them.

Why Growth Proved Harder Than Expected (20:05)

Michael discovered a fundamental challenge with his business model. Most eCommerce falls into two categories: demand generation (Facebook ads, influencers) or demand capture (Google, SEO).

Discount Catholic Products is pure demand capture. They can't generate more people searching for prayer cards—they can only capture more of existing search demand. "We're kind of at the whim of the market. There's just a limited slice of the pie that we can capture."

Currently, 50-60% of sales come through Google Ads, 15% from organic Google traffic, 15% from email, and the remainder from direct traffic. They've tried social media repeatedly without success.

"We made a decision early on that we can't do everything," Michael explains. "Better to focus our efforts on the Google ads, which we know work, than trying to get 10,000 Facebook followers and get one or two of them to come to our website and actually buy something."

Daily Cashflow Forecasting That Saved the Business (49:57)

When asked for his top advice, Michael doesn't hesitate: cashflow management.

"It doesn't matter if your business is profitable or not. You can be wildly profitable and still go out of business if you run out of cash."

Rather than the standard 13-week forecast, Michael went daily. He forecasts every single pound, looking roughly a month ahead. This daily discipline reveals problems weeks in advance—giving him time to send an email campaign, call customers, or tap the line of credit before a crisis hits.

Michael also learned about debt spirals the hard way. Services like Shopify Capital advertise 6% fees but the actual interest rate is much higher. The game-changer was establishing a proper line of credit through their bank at prime plus 1% (currently around 8%), allowing them to borrow money and pay only interest monthly.

"If we didn't have that, either we would have gone out of business or I would have been liquidating retirement savings to pump money back into the business."

Today's Guest

Today's guest: Michael Simpson

Company: Discount Catholic Products

Website: discountcatholicproducts.com

LinkedIn: Connect with Michael on LinkedIn

Less than 30% of customers buy a second time, and subscription brands lose 50% within 90 days. Ken Rapp from BluStream reveals why this isn't a marketing problem—it's a post-purchase problem that's costing brands millions in repeat revenue.

Episode Summary

The conversation explores what Ken calls the "doorstep to delight" phase—that critical window between clicking buy and becoming a loyal customer. Through stories of dog probiotics, cracked guitars, and missing vanilla extract, Ken demonstrates how brands lose connection with customers the moment a purchase is complete. He breaks down his three-stage framework for product ownership (unboxing, usage, and care) and shares practical strategies for engaging customers through messaging platforms like WhatsApp and SMS. The episode reveals how brands are achieving 30% increases in repeat sales and 30% reductions in churn simply by delivering personalised, timely support after the sale.

Key Point Timestamps:

05:07 - The Scale Problem: When Success Kills Personalisation

12:15 - The Doorstep to Delight Framework

18:49 - Quick Wins for Post-Purchase Engagement

23:38 - The Five-Message Rule

28:40 - Understanding the Second Why

40:01 - The Apple Standard for Customer Experience

The Scale Problem: When Success Kills Personalisation (05:07)

Ken shares the story of a dog probiotics brand that knew every pet parent's name, their dog's name, and whether it was a Chihuahua or a Great Dane. Then she got distribution through Whole Foods—a dream for most brands—but it meant game over for personal connection.

"She started to be successful. And as she started to be successful, she couldn't have a personal relationship anymore," Ken explains. This captures the fundamental challenge: the very success every business chases kills the thing that made customers fall in love with the brand.

This isn't a mistake brands are making. It's a limitation we've accepted as inevitable. When you're small, handwritten notes and personal touches are manageable. But as you scale, those become impossible to maintain—or so we thought.

The Doorstep to Delight Framework (12:15)

Ken breaks product ownership into three stages where brands can create connection at scale:

Unboxing (Activation): This is where skill level matters most. A beginner needs different support than an expert. Do they know they need batteries? Have they read the fine print about three-month timelines?

Usage (Engagement): This is what Ken calls "the second why." The first why is wanting trainers. The second why reveals actual use—marathon training, daily comfort, or collection piece. Understanding this changes everything.

Care and Maintenance: Not every product needs this, but for guitars, beauty products, and supplements requiring ongoing care, this is where lifetime value lives. Ken learned this watching his prestigious guitar crack during Boston's dry winter because the brand's care videos weren't delivered when he needed them.

The Five-Message Rule (23:38)

Ken shares a powerful tip: don't send any coupons or review requests for the first five messages. Just deliver value.

"We have over 90% of the consumers on behalf of dozens and dozens of brands still on journeys today, months, quarters, years later, because they really appreciate getting tips and advice and having a connection back to the brand."

Think about your inbox. Review requests before unboxing? Coupons for second purchases when you haven't tried the first? Brands play the numbers game at scale, but it kills the engagement they're trying to create.

Understanding the Second Why (28:40)

Ken's platform creates personalised journeys based on how customers actually use products. Are you training for a marathon or wearing trainers for daily comfort? This "second why" determines everything—relevant tips, usage tracking, and recommendations that feel magical, like suggesting new insoles at exactly 100 kilometres.

The intelligence in these journeys means if you click immediately, the system adjusts cadence. Don't open for three days? It adapts to your pace. Brands already have the content—videos, guides, care instructions—but they're not delivering it at the right time to the right people.

Today's Guest

Today's guest: Ken Rapp

Company: BluStream

Website: blustream.io

LinkedIn: Connect with Ken on LinkedIn

Alex Back's team at Couch posts content about Ashley Furniture, and just two days later, ChatGPT and Google AI change their answers about the brand's quality. In this episode, we explore the systematic approach to building authority in AI search that's transforming how furniture brands—and all e-commerce businesses—can influence what millions of people learn from large language models.

After running a successful e-commerce furniture brand for 13 years, Alex now helps furniture retailers through Couch, his marketing platform. We dive into the remarkable shift happening in digital marketing, where understanding how LLMs consume and cite content has become as important as traditional SEO. Alex shares the exact content creation system his team uses, starting with video and working backwards into articles, and reveals why YouTube and Reddit have become the second and third most important sources for AI search after Wikipedia.

Key Point Timestamps:

08:14 - The AI Search Revolution Nobody's Talking About

19:13 - Where LLMs Get Their Information

28:00 - The Content Creation System That Actually Works

34:16 - One Recording Creates Everything

38:27 - The Delicate Dance of Platform Dependence

41:55 - The Reddit Problem

45:39 - The Pivot Machine Philosophy

The AI Search Revolution Nobody's Talking About (08:14)

We're living through a shift as significant as Google's emergence in the early 2000s. Alex explains how his team measures the impact of their content on AI search: "The YouTube videos themselves and some of the social media content we put out there is informing the LLMs and ultimately changing answers to questions like, is Ashley furniture good quality?"

This isn't theoretical. Before posting content, Alex's team checks what ChatGPT and Google AI say about a brand. After publishing, they check again. Sometimes within 48 hours, the answers change, citations appear, and the narrative shifts. However, nobody fully understands the rules yet. Even the best content marketers and SEO professionals are still figuring out which tools to trust for tracking LLM presence.

Where LLMs Get Their Information (19:13)

Alex attended a seminar that revealed crucial insights about how AI search works. Wikipedia remains the primary source for LLMs—the vast majority of their information comes from there. But Reddit and YouTube are second and third, neck and neck.

"I saw a whole seminar about LLMs and where they get their information," Alex shares. "Wikipedia being still the vast majority of information sources for LLMs. But Reddit and YouTube being second and third and very close to one another."

This matters because it explains why Alex's strategy works. YouTube videos no longer just rank well on Google—they directly inform what AI tells millions of people asking questions. Even if content contains errors or subjective opinions, LLMs consider it heavily, sometimes more than niche publishing sites with established authority.

The Content Creation System That Actually Works (28:00)

Alex calls himself "a talker," and he's turned that into his superpower. His refreshingly simple content creation process starts with using ChatGPT to create an outline, then recording video authentically about topics he knows deeply.

"If you start with video, it's much easier to back your way into having all this other content," Alex explains. He transcribes the raw video and gives it to his writer: "Here's the transcript, take this, these are all my words, make it into a compelling article."

The video goes on YouTube. The article—embedding that same video—publishes to the blog. Both go live within hours of each other. Then they syndicate to YouTube Shorts and other social platforms. One recording session produces a YouTube video, a blog post, social media content, and multiple touchpoints—all from turning on the camera for a few minutes.

The Pivot Machine Philosophy (45:39)

Alex describes Couch as "almost like a pivot machine." The business has taken countless twists and turns, and sometimes he's not even sure what the business is anymore. Does that sound chaotic? It is. But he also recognises something powerful about adaptability.

"Nobody really cares. Nobody knows. We have this sort of self-centric view sometimes of like, no, we can't change this. Our brand will, everything will be different and all of our... I don't think anybody really cares."

For established businesses with proven formulas, consistency makes sense. However, for newer brands or businesses without that formula yet, adaptability isn't just acceptable—it's essential. The alternative—stubbornly maintaining a strategy that no longer works—is far more damaging than pivoting.

Today's Guest

Today's guest: Alex Back

Company: Couch

Website: couch.co

LinkedIn: Connect with Alex on LinkedIn

What if the secret to Amazon success isn't about outsmarting competitors, but about seducing an algorithm? Tim Wilson from Product Wind reveals how his team identified seven specific signals that make Amazon's algorithm fall in love with products, whilst most brands unknowingly fight the wrong war.

We explore Tim's revolutionary approach to Amazon marketing, moving from traditional social media buzz campaigns to what he calls 'marketing to the algorithm.' Through real examples including a French company with 0.1% conversion rates and a pregnancy pillow brand discovering unexpected use cases, Tim demonstrates why mastering fundamentals and understanding algorithmic signals creates sustainable competitive advantages.

Key Point Timestamps:

02:52 - The biggest Amazon problem everyone's making

08:17 - Why 70% of shoppers don't read descriptions

16:31 - The power of user-generated content collages

23:04 - Marketing to the algorithm strategy

30:16 - The seven signals Amazon's algorithm values

33:05 - Orchestrating 500-person 'armies' for external traffic

45:58 - Top tip: Engage with customers who love you most

The Fundamental Problem Everyone's Missing (02:52)

Tim identifies the single biggest issue stopping Amazon success: poorly optimised product detail pages. He shares a striking example of a French consumer products company where traffic was "off the charts" but sales didn't follow.

"I'm still shocked at the PDPs that I see that are in no way optimised and ready for prime time," Tim explains. The company's conversion rate was 0.1% when the category average was 3.5% - revealing not a traffic problem, but a fundamental conversion issue.

This highlights why you can't build sustainable Amazon success on weak foundations, regardless of advertising spend. The fundamentals must be mastered first.

The Image Stack Revolution (08:17)

Tim reveals that 70% of shoppers make purchasing decisions based entirely on images, not product descriptions. "I don't even look at all seven images. I go to like two or three and make my decision," he admits.

The most successful brands tell evolving stories through their image stacks. Tim shares how a pregnancy pillow company discovered customers using their product in cars and on planes - use cases completely missing from their original images.

The lesson? Product detail pages aren't "set it and forget it" situations. They're living, breathing entities that should evolve as you discover how customers actually use your products.

Marketing to the Algorithm Strategy (23:04)

Tim's core insight challenges conventional thinking: "These marketplaces are algorithmically driven. It's this algorithm that's really determining your product's success."

He draws a parallel to old-school retail: ten years ago, you'd wine and dine buyers to get better shelf placement. "That person has been replaced by an algorithm." But just because it's technology doesn't mean you can't influence it.

"An algorithm just needs data. So why not give it exactly the data it loves?" This philosophy underpins Product Wind's approach of providing Amazon's algorithm with the specific signals it values most.

The Orchestrated Army Approach (33:05)

Instead of hoping for viral social media moments, Tim's team orchestrates coordinated actions from hundreds or thousands of people. "We might work with 500 or even a thousand people. It's like an organised army."

The mathematics are compelling: 500 people driving 20 clicks each equals 10,000 coordinated visits to Amazon listings. These visits are timed strategically to send the right signals to Amazon's algorithm.

The approach scales based on competition level. An infant nasal aspirator in a low-competition category might need only 50 people, whilst consumer electronics competing with Bose and Sony requires much more "noise" to get algorithmic attention.

Today's Guest

Today's guest: Tim Wilson

Company: Product Wind

Website: productwind.com

LinkedIn: Connect with Tim on LinkedIn

Summer 2025 is officially over, and whilst most eCommerce businesses breathed a sigh of relief after surviving another 'inevitable' slow season, one team discovered something remarkable: they grew 19% year-on-year during what should have been their worst period.

Matt Edmundson reveals the post-summer analysis that challenged everything we assume about seasonal trading. By questioning one simple default assumption - that summer slumps are inevitable - and understanding that August performance depends on March and April planning, this approach transformed summer from a write-off period into a competitive advantage.

Discover why 70% of summer purchases happen in March-May, how mobile browsing intensifies during summer months, and why weather patterns create predictable opportunities rather than obstacles. Most importantly, learn the systematic process for challenging defaults that could transform your next summer trading period.

Key Point Timestamps:

02:00 - The Default Assumption Problem

05:00 - Why One Team Grew 19% During Summer

08:00 - The Baltic States' Summer Strategy

12:00 - March Planning Drives August Performance

16:00 - The Weather Connection We All Missed

21:00 - Mobile Optimisation as Summer Strategy

26:00 - Three Steps to Challenge Your Seasonal Defaults

The Default Assumption Problem (02:00)

Matt opens with a provocative question: why are we so comfortable with predictions that essentially amount to "our business will perform badly for the next three months"?

"We're planning for our businesses to underperform for a quarter of the year. And we call this acceptable business practice," Matt explains. These default assumptions - that sales drop in August, nothing happens after Father's Day until September, that it's just how these businesses work in summer - become self-fulfilling prophecies.

When entire industries expect decreased activity, they collectively create the conditions that make it true by reducing marketing spend, operating skeleton crews, and delaying product launches until September.

Why One Team Grew 19% During Summer (05:00)

The post-summer analysis revealed a stark contrast between two teams. One experienced the predicted 50% sales drop from peak. The other grew 19% year-on-year during their slowest period.

"What's been nagging at me - 80% of that growth was from new customers rather than just doing discounted offers to existing customers," Matt shares. The successful team challenged the default by staying engaged when competitors pulled back, focusing on mobile optimisation when browsing intensified, and ramping up marketing during a period when ad costs were lower.

The impact extended beyond summer - by mid-September, they were already 25% ahead on sales compared to the previous year.

March Planning Drives August Performance (12:00)

Perhaps the most crucial insight: "August performance isn't dependent on what we do in August. It is dependent on what we do in March and April."

Research shows that 70% of consumers made their summer purchases in March, April, and May - only 19% waited until June. "We weren't just experiencing summer slumps," Matt reveals. "We were missing the planning window that drives summer performance."

This means that scrambling for summer offers in July is already too late. The businesses that thrived during summer 2025 were those that ramped up marketing in spring, when customers were making summer purchase decisions.

The Weather Connection We All Missed (16:00)

During UK heatwaves, web revenues fell 47.8% during peak temperatures. But here's what most businesses missed: revenues increased 17.4% in the week before the heatwave as people prepared for extreme conditions.

"This perfectly illustrates why conversion matters more when traffic patterns shift," Matt explains. "During summer, if mobile browsing increases but overall traffic might be unpredictable due to weather, holidays, and changing routines, then every visitor becomes more valuable."

The businesses that thrived weren't ignoring the weather - they were planning for it and optimising for the reality that customer behaviour becomes less predictable but potentially more valuable.

Resources Mentioned

📌 Challenge the Default Grid - Free tool for questioning business assumptions: https://www.ecommerce-podcast.com/resources

📌 Baltic States eCommerce Data - Summer spending increases 15%

📌 Mobile Commerce Statistics - 78% of eCommerce traffic now mobile

Today's Guest

Today's guest: Matt Edmundson

Company: Aurion

Website: https://aurioncompany.com/

LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/mattedmundson

Sean Stone reveals why successful Shopify strategies often destroy Amazon performance and how treating Amazon as a unique marketplace can transform your results. His agency works with million-dollar brands achieving 20% conversion rates on Amazon whilst Shopify sellers celebrate 3%.

We explore why Amazon shoppers behave completely differently from website visitors, how the platform's algorithm rewards different behaviours, and why your product bundling strategy needs a complete rethink. Sean shares his PAIR framework (Promotions, Advertising, Inventory, Rankability) and introduces his free Conversion Rate Benchmark Buddy tool that helps sellers identify which products can realistically rank on Amazon.

Key Point Timestamps:

04:26 - Why treating Amazon like Shopify kills performance

08:09 - The product strategy flip: smaller packs, lower prices

13:43 - Rankability: Sean's made-up word that works

18:00 - The free GPT tool for competitor analysis

23:32 - Click-through rate tactics that mirror YouTube

29:43 - The PAIR process framework

36:05 - When Amazon makes sense vs when it doesn't

49:57 - The BCIT framework for keyword domination

Why Treating Amazon Like Shopify Kills Performance (04:26)

Sean's core insight challenges how most eCommerce founders approach Amazon. "A lot of people try to treat Amazon like it's not its own unique channel," he explains. "You wouldn't do that if you started selling your products in Walmart, but why are you treating Amazon the way you're trying to treat Shopify?"

The fundamental difference lies in shopper behaviour. Shopify visitors have already chosen to engage with your brand specifically. Amazon shoppers are actively comparing you against every competitor in real-time, focusing purely on finding the best product at the best price with fastest delivery.

This creates completely different success metrics. Where a 3% conversion rate makes Shopify sellers celebrate, Sean would tell Amazon sellers with similar performance that "your product is broken, you should liquidate your inventory and get something new."

The Product Strategy Flip: Smaller Packs, Lower Prices (08:09)

The strategy that works brilliantly on Shopify - increasing average order value through larger bundles - becomes Amazon suicide. Sean explains the inverse approach needed:

"Instead of focusing on getting your CPA down to $20 a customer and selling an $80 product through a series of funnels... you end up trying to get your price point down to a place where you can sell a $14.99 product with a $3 cost per acquisition."

Using supplements as an example, where Shopify might sell 90-day supplies for $60, Amazon success comes from 30-day supplies at $20. Different pack sizes and price points deliver the same profit margins when accounting for volume and organic ranking benefits.

Rankability: The Made-Up Word That Works (13:43)

Sean's concept of "rankability" - a product's ability to reach the top five organic spots through a combination of PPC and deals - becomes central to Amazon success strategy.

"The big opportunity on Amazon is not just that you can sell a product and limit your ad spend and make a sale. The big opportunity is you can sell a huge quantity, get a ton of new customers who now know about your brand and get them through getting your product to show up at the top of the page without paying to be there."

The key lies in conversion rate advantages. When one client discovered they had double their competitors' conversion rates across multiple keywords, Sean's immediate response was: "You're going to need to triple your inventory order on this product today."

The PAIR Process Framework (29:43)

Sean's systematic approach breaks down as Promotions, Advertising, Inventory, and Rankability:

Promotions: Limited time deals running 14 out of every 28 days, creating continuous promotional momentum whilst staying within Amazon's rules.

Advertising: Focus on organic ranking growth rather than immediate ROAS. Spend money where you know you'll grow most organically.

Inventory: Never go out of stock. "On Amazon, you are going to be punished aggressively by the algorithm for going out of stock. It's better to turn off your ads while you're still in stock."

Rankability: Use conversion rate analysis to identify which products can realistically dominate their keywords.

The BCIT Framework for Keyword Domination (49:57)

Sean's closing framework provides tactical execution: Benchmark, Compare, Isolate, Track.

"Find your competitors conversion rate, then compare your conversion rate to competitors conversion rate. When you isolate each keyword where you have a conversion rate advantage, create exact match campaigns and spend like crazy on that keyword."

The isolation step proves crucial - instead of lumping keywords together, create individual campaigns for conversion advantages. Give each keyword its own budget and monitor organic ranking improvements as you spend.

Today's Guest

Today's guest: Sean Stone

Company: Stones Goods

Website: stonesgoods.com

LinkedIn: Connect with Sean on LinkedIn