Honest Ecommerce

Samuel Rieder is Co-Founder at dear digital, an Odoo Gold partner and Shopify Premier partner. He loves thinking about technology and building things–whether that's companies, brands, websites, or ERP systems–and has co-founded several businesses over the years. Today, he spends his time at dear digital helping teams grow with the right tools and tech.

What drives Sam is working with motivated people who are fun to build things with, that's where the magic happens. When he's not deep in systems or strategy, you'll find him outside exploring and enjoying nature.

Jaap Vergote is the Founder of UpsellPlus (2022, NYC), where he helps grow revenue for Shopify brands. Before founding UpsellPlus, Jaap was Head of Sales at Viabill (2019, NYC), Co-Founder of Campo (2017, NYC & upstate NY), and worked in sales at Showpad, a B2B sales enablement platform (2015, SF).

In This Conversation We Discuss:

• [00:00] Introduction
• [01:37] Jaap's path into the Shopify ecosystem
• [02:25] Sam's ecommerce roots and Shopify Plus
• [05:07] Navigating Europe's payment complexity
• [06:45] Internationalizing UpsellPlus
• [08:15] POS pricing challenges in Europe
• [10:34] Why in-person events build trust
• [11:37] How community keeps partners on Shopify
• [13:50] Talking roadmap directly with product teams
• [15:41] Shopify's partner feedback loop
• [16:11] Know, like, trust before you buy
• [18:56] Go together to go far
• [19:21] What brought them to DotDev
• [20:44] Expanding into POS, SMS, and Sidekick
• [23:09] UpsellPlus's growth strategy pitch
• [24:01] Final thoughts

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• Help brands grow and gain efficiency deardigital.com/ 
• Follow Sam Rieder linkedin.com/in/samuel-rieder-shopify-expert/
• Help merchants make every order worth more upsellplus.com/blog-post/upsellplus-is-built-for-shopify 
• Follow Jaap Vergote linkedin.com/in/jaapvergote/ 

If you’re enjoying the show, we’d love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

JW Wiseman is the Co-Founder and CEO of Curious Elixirs, a booze-free adaptogenic craft cocktail brand with the mission to redefine how people drink socially. In 2015, JW woke up one morning after having 20 drinks in a single night and deciding to radically change his relationship with alcohol. He was inspired to explore his curiosity about life with less booze and started Curious Elixirs. 

Combined with JW's interests in herbs and adaptogens, Curious Elixirs launched as one of the first brands in America to pioneer the non-alcoholic and sober curious movement. As a fast-growing leader in the N/A space, Wiseman has been able to forge relationships with the best Michelin-starred and James Beard Award-winning restaurants, nightclubs and hospitality venues, and DTC partners in the world, serving over 10 million bottles and cans of Curious Elixirs since launch.

Prior to Curious Elixirs, JW founded the Good Business marketing agency, helping companies that aim to do well and do good in the world. Primarily focused on the food and wellness industries, Good Business jumpstarted brands including Daily Harvest and Chomps. 

JW is also in the bar and nightlife industry, opening subterranean bar The Whiskey Brooklyn and boutique liquor store The Whiskey Shop, along with investing in Williamsburg's OUTPUT as one of NYC's premiere techno clubs. He is a creative marketer at heart working at companies JackThreads and Thrillist (the third employee).

In This Conversation We Discuss:

• [00:00] Introduction
• [01:20] The night that changed everything
• [02:48] Deciding to start Curious Elixirs
• [03:57] Years of kitchen tinkering
• [05:10] Launching three elixirs on Kickstarter
• [05:46] Klaviyo
• [07:57] Building the Curious Cocktail Club
• [10:10] Intelligems
• [12:01] The 24-hour Kickstarter rule
• [14:28] Who Curious is really for
• [14:52] Flowium
• [16:01] Winning press with persistence
• [18:06] eFulfillment Service
• [20:31] Building the marketing flywheel
• [21:51] Why wholesale came later
• [24:02] The $70,000 mistake
• [25:21] Keeping overhead low
• [26:48] Naming the sober curious movement
• [28:05] Where to try Curious Elixirs
• [29:38] Final thoughts

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• Award-Winning Non-Alcoholic Drinks curiouselixirs.com 
• Follow JW Wiseman linkedin.com/in/johnwwiseman 
• Book a demo today at www.intelligems.io 
• Get your free demo klaviyo.com/honest 
• Lower scale costs today eFulfillmentService.com/honest
• Book a free lifecycle diagnosis call flowium.com 

If you're enjoying the show, we'd love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

Aman Advani is Founder and CEO of Ministry of Supply, a clothing brand using science to make the world's most comfortable clothing. The company was founded in 2012 with the mission to incorporate fundamental engineering and performance principles into clothing staples, ultimately building a wardrobe that both looks good, and feels comfortable.

Prior to co-founding Ministry of Supply, Advani spent 4 years in management and non-profit consulting with Deloitte and TechnoServe. He holds a BSIE from Georgia Tech, and half an MBA from MIT, was a member of Forbes 30 under 30 list and BBJ's 40 Under 40 list, and has been featured as the cover of both ASB and Boston Magazine. Most recently, Aman was named to the NRF's 2023 "List of People Shaping Retail."

In This Conversation We Discuss:

• [00:00] Introduction
• [01:58] First reactions to AI tools and Lovable
• [05:04] Co-founder’s non-technical background
• [07:39] Sponsor: Klaviyo
• [09:45] Using Claude for CRO and analytics
• [13:07] Sponsor: IntelliGems
• [15:16] Build vs buy for AI customer service
• [19:12] How much human oversight remains
• [20:17] Sponsor: eFulfillment Service
• [22:04] More efficiencies from AI tools
• [24:22] Building an internal production system
• [27:05] Why AI makes agencies more valuable
• [29:42] Callouts
• [29:52] Getting teams comfortable taking the demo
• [32:08] Testing fast without overthinking

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• Machine Washable Everything ministryofsupply.com/pages/home-2  
• Follow Aman Advani linkedin.com/in/amanadvani 
• Book a demo today a intelligems.io/ 
• Get your free demo klaviyo.com/honest 
• Lower scale costs today eFulfillmentService.com/honest 

If you're enjoying the show, we'd love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

Alex McEachern is Head of Marketing at Intelligems, where he helps ecommerce brands unlock profitable growth through pricing and retention strategies. With a background spanning product marketing, product management, and brand development, Alex has led cross-functional teams and go-to-market efforts at high-growth companies.

He is acclaimed for building strategic narratives, scaling brand visibility, and launching initiatives that align product experience with customer value. A graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University with a BBA in Marketing, Alex brings analytical depth and creative energy to the intersection of growth, user experience, and commerce. His work is informed by a passion for behavioral psychology, practical experimentation, and a belief that great brands earn trust over time, not just clicks.

In This Conversation We Discuss:

• [00:00] Introduction
• [02:20] Disclosure on the Intelligems partnership
• [04:05] Mistranslating conversion rate optimization
• [07:50] Why CRO undersells what the work is
• [10:15] Different stakeholders, different trade-offs
• [12:00] CRO specialist vs Chief Revenue Officer mix-up
• [13:18] Callouts
• [13:28] Statistical significance and informed decisions
• [18:30] The truth about minor test tweaks
• [21:15] Where AI actually helps experimentation
• [25:50] Coining the term growth experimentation
• [28:10] AI in the wrong hands is dangerous

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• A/B Test Prices & Offers for Ecommerce intelligems.io/ 
• Follow Alex McEachern linkedin.com/in/alexmceachern 

If you're enjoying the show, we'd love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

Giulia Miotti is Senior Ecommerce Experience and Performance Manager at Bang & Olufsen, the Danish luxury audio brand where Scandinavian design meets high-fidelity sound.

With over a decade of international experience across Adidas, Escada, and B&O, she's built her career at the intersection of digital innovation and brand storytelling; leading content, SEO and AI search, and ecommerce growth strategies that bring a legacy brand confidently into a digital-first, omnichannel future.

In This Conversation We Discuss:

• [00:00] Introduction
• [02:20] A century of maintaining brand craftsmanship
• [05:02] Kicking off the brand’s digital transformation
• [09:46] Sponsor: IntelliGems
• [11:47] Building omnichannel Ecommerce roadmaps
• [15:03] Sponsor: Klaviyo
• [17:24] Legacy systems and internal friction
• [18:17] Piloting in-store appointment bookings
• [23:40] Sponsor: eFulfillment Service
• [25:59] Winning over franchisees with customer data
• [27:19] Callouts
• [27:29] Optimizing for AI search and AEO
• [36:48] Why strong SEO fuels AI search success
• [39:02] Final thoughts and where to find Giulia

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• High-end Headphones, Speakers, and Televisions bang-olufsen.com/en/int 
• Follow Giulia Miotti linkedin.com/in/giulia-miotti-digital/ 
• Book a demo today at intelligems.io/ 
• Get your free demo klaviyo.com/honest 
• Lower scale costs today eFulfillmentService.com/honest 

If you're enjoying the show, we'd love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

Matt Raminick spent nearly two decades of his career on the brand side (Quiksilver, Volcom, Pacsun, Mophie) hiring and managing agencies before founding Sunnyside.

Working with dozens of agencies big and small led him to realize that in most cases they repeatedly optimized for vanity channel metrics instead of outcomes that impacted the bottom line, often having no line of sight beyond a siloed view of the channels they managed.

So in 2020, after getting laid off from a high-profile exec role and with no prior agency experience, he founded Sunnyside and built a framework called Profit360™.

This system connects finance, brand moments, products, creative strategy, and paid media to reliably produce sustainable, predictable, and profitable growth at the business level, not isolated channel wins.

Sunnyside's unfair advantage is that every client gets a team of former brand-side marketers who've sat in the client's seat and know what's actually at stake because they've been in their shoes.

To date, Sunnyside has successfully helped brands in the surf, action sports, outdoor, fashion apparel, and DTC space — including Brixton, Municipal, Goodr, Xcel Wetsuits, Beek, Nixon, Salt Optics, and Jetty — profitably increase new customers, e-commerce revenue, and overall business growth.

In This Conversation We Discuss:

• [00:00] Introduction
• [05:04] Red flags to watch for early in an agency pitch
• [09:44] Sponsor: Klaviyo
• [11:55] Matching case studies to your actual business
• [13:55] Building traction for a brand with nothing yet
• [17:43] Sponsor: Intelligems
• [20:02] Why RFPs fail to find the right partner
• [22:00] Sponsor: eFulfillment Service
• [26:27] Green flags that signal a strong agency fit
• [28:40] Callouts
• [28:50] What a good first 90 days looks like
• [30:34] When a brand shouldn't hire an agency yet
• [34:22] What to disclose before signing with an agency
• [35:42] Profit360 and how the brand operates

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• A Better Way to Grow sunnysidecalifornia.com/ 
• Follow Matt Raminick linkedin.com/in/mattraminick 
• Get your free demo klaviyo.com/honest
• Book a demo today at intelligems.io/ 
• Lower scale costs today eFulfillmentService.com/honest 

If you're enjoying the show, we'd love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

Michael Bervell is co-founder and CEO of TestParty, an AI-powered digital accessibility platform that automatically scans and fixes source code so websites meet WCAG and ADA standards, without slowing down engineering teams. Before TestParty, Michael worked in accessibility and product inclusion at Google and the United Nations, was a software engineer at Twitter, and held product and venture roles at Microsoft and M12. He holds a BA from Harvard and an MBA from Harvard Business School, is the author of Unlocking Unicorns, and was named to the Forbes Accessibility 100. TestParty raised a $4 million seed round led by Harlem Capital and the Urban Innovation Fund.

Jason Tan is co-founder and CTO of TestParty and the technical architect behind its automated remediation engine. He came to the problem firsthand: while at Twitch, the company was sued for digital accessibility violations, and in researching fixes he discovered that accessibility lawsuits had become an industry norm. He co-founded TestParty in 2023 to give engineers a "spellcheck for accessible code." 

In This Conversation We Discuss:

• [00:00] Introduction
• [02:37] Why ADA lawsuits target ecommerce sites
• [04:36] Settling once doesn't protect you
• [07:01] ADA's outdated, vague legal language
• [11:16] Why "band-aid" solutions won’t work
• [15:08] Callouts
• [16:44] How the brand fixes sites at the source
• [18:27] A former company’s accessibility lawsuit story
• [21:31] Fixing sites fast after a demand letter
• [23:01] Defense packets against troll claims
• [24:24] Free tools to test site accessibility

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• Automated WCAG Compliance testparty.ai/ 
• Follow Jason Tan linkedin.com/in/jason-tan-75ab38191 
• Follow Michael Bervell linkedin.com/in/michaelbervell 

If you're enjoying the show, we'd love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

At 6 years old, Kevin Keller was already "stealing" his father's cologne — a habit generously tolerated by his dad — and discovering that scent could change the way you felt before you ever said a word.

That early fascination with transformation eventually became Fulton & Roark, the American fine fragrance house Keller co-founded in 2013 with $11,000 and a belief that perfumery could be both deeply personal and distinctly American.

Raised in Atlanta and educated at Georgia State University and Wake Forest University, Keller began his career in journalism before turning to music and culture, where he profiled brilliant emerging musicians and artists. What stayed with him was a fascination with culture, place, and tradition — and how those forces subtly shape the way we carry ourselves in the world.

Built without outside capital, Fulton & Roark has grown into a nationally distributed independent fragrance brand, available in nearly 500 retail locations including premier independent boutiques, select Ritz-Carlton and Omni properties, and Neiman Marcus stores and online. The brand has been featured in GQ, Vogue, and ELLE, among others, and its fragrance Roark's Cove was a finalist for the Universal Prestige category of the Fragrance of the Year Award from The Fragrance Foundation.

He lives in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, with his wife and two children, and mentors young founders at Wake Forest University.

In This Conversation We Discuss:

• [00:00] Introduction
• [01:08] Solid fragrances vs extrait de parfum
• [02:08] How the founder’s love of fragrance began
• [03:16] Founding a niche brand with $11,000
• [05:26] Going to market without a DTC plan
• [07:39] Sponsor: IntelliGems
• [09:19] The GQ feature that forced them online
• [11:37] Building first websites on Squarespace
• [12:37] Sponsor: Klaviyo
• [14:47] Building the marketing flywheel
• [18:04] Sponsor: eFulfillment Service
• [19:40] Getting customers to pay for samples
• [22:37] Callouts
• [25:26] Why founders overrate daily metrics
• [27:30] Learning to delegate as a founder
• [27:54] Where to find Fulton & Roark
• [29:02] Final thoughts

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• American Fine Fragrance fultonandroark.com/ 
• Follow Kevin Keller linkedin.com/in/kevinwilliamkeller 
• Book a demo today at intelligems.io/ 
• Migrate and grow more klaviyo.com/honest 
• Lower scale costs today FulfillmentService.com/honest 

If you're enjoying the show, we'd love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

Alexander Morabbi Wulsch is a Danish entrepreneur and business leader. Previously, he has held leadership roles in several companies across sectors including design (URU Design) and digital marketing/social media (Nordic Social).

Alexander's background also includes earlier ventures, after a stint in banking he launched an e-commerce business selling socks online, before eventually co-founding Nordic Social which was sold to PE in 2023. Today, he is the CMO of OMHU, one of Europe's fast growing D2C brands.

In This Conversation We Discuss:

• [00:00] Introduction
• [01:56] Starting young in Ecommerce 
• [02:55] Joining brands as an early as employee
• [03:44] Lessons from a failed first business
• [04:52] AOV then versus now
• [05:23] Unit economics simply explained
• [06:51] Sponsor: Klaviyo
• [09:00] Bundling and upselling on big-ticket items
• [10:18] Leaning and maximizing social first strategy
• [11:47] Why doubling down beats spreading thin
• [13:08] Building influencer teams in today’s market
• [14:04] Sponsor: Intelligems
• [15:59] Remembering the zero discount policy
• [17:26] Training customers to anticipate sales
• [18:50] Sponsor: eFulfillment Service
• [20:25] Discovering the long customer journey
• [22:32] Learning curves of a European brand in the US
• [24:49] Callouts
• [26:05] Navigating culture and politics in business
• [28:22] Difference of Brand and product led growth

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• Home of the TEDDY Sofa omhucph.com/ 
• Follow Alexander Morabbi Wulsch alexander-morabbi-wulsch-4486b3113
• Get your free demo klaviyo.com/honest 
• Book a demo today at intelligems.io/ 
• Lower scale costs today eFulfillmentService.com/honest 

If you're enjoying the show, we'd love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!

Andrea Faulkner Williams is the head mama and co-founder of Tubby Todd Bath Co., which she launched with her husband, Brian Todd, as a solution to her own family’s sensitive skin in 2014. For years her family struggled with dryness and eczema, and smooth skin always seemed impossibly out of reach. It was frustrating spending money on one product after another that wasn’t helpful, clean, or safe for their little ones. 

Out of those discouragements came a drive and passion to create clean bath and skincare staples and they spent years developing products and testing them in their own home. Since then, Tubby Todd has grown into an entire line of body care basics. She lives in San Diego with her husband and four little ones.

In This Conversation We Discuss:

• 00:00 Introduction
• 01:58 The entrepreneurial dream that started it all
• 04:06 Launching with zero money and no retail shelf
• 04:39 How her husband got the idea from his job
• 06:42 Skipping retail to build direct on Shopify
• 08:30 Sponsor: IntelliGems
• 10:22 What "community-based brands" really means
• 12:22 Why small goals matter more than big ones
• 12:53 Landing as the #1 baby skincare brand
• 14:49 Sponsor: Klaviyo
• 17:24 Balancing family while building a business
• 18:57 Biggest hiring mistakes and lessons learned
• 19:41 Why you should fire people faster
• 20:55 Sponsor: eFulfillment Service
• 21:45 The hardest part of entrepreneurship: building a team
• 23:26 Staying humble and not letting ego run the team
• 24:34 Callouts
• 24:44 Why employment tenure makes you a better founder
• 27:21 Not needing a radical idea, just a better one
• 28:05 Selling 70% of the company to private equity
• 30:01 Starting something new always feels uncomfortable
• 32:35 Breaking down the best-selling three-step bundle
• 33:17 How to connect and where to find Tubby Todd

Resources:

• Subscribe to Honest Ecommerce on Youtube
• Gentle Baby Skincare for Sensitive Skin tubbytodd.com/
• Follow Andrea Faulkner linkedin.com/in/andreafaulknerwilliams  
• Book a demo today at intelligems.io/
• Get your free demo klaviyo.com/honest
• Lower scale costs today eFulfillmentService.com/honest  

If you’re enjoying the show, we’d love it if you left Honest Ecommerce a review on Apple Podcasts. It makes a huge impact on the success of the podcast, and we love reading every one of your reviews!