Stay connected with the leading ecommerce platforms. In this episode, we interview leaders and visionaries from Shopify, BigCommerce, Centra, Commerce Layer, Remarkable Commerce, Scayle and Shopline for a fireside chat on what’s happened in Q3 and Q4 2024.

Every 6 months, we catch-up with the leadership teams of leading ecommerce vendors so you can hear directly from them about their strategic and product focus.

For this episode, we’re discussing key product updates, go-to-market focus, major new wins and what the roadmap focus will be for the next quarter.

Timings:

02:05 > BigCommerce

18:50 > Centra

38:35 > Commerce Layer

52:55 > Remarkable Commerce

1:11:35 > Scayle

1:22:45 > Shopify

1:37:40 > Shopline

Contact details for all vendors are on the landing page on insidecommerce.fm

Episode summary:

In this conversation, Janis Thomas, Managing Director of Look Fabulous Forever, discusses the importance of catering to a mature audience in the beauty industry.

She shares insights on the brand's mission to celebrate mature beauty, the challenges faced by older consumers, and the need for representation in marketing.

Janis emphasises the significance of building knowledge about customer needs, the role of educational content in engaging customers, and the impact of user-generated content in fostering community.

The discussion also touches on effective marketing strategies that prioritise customer journeys and trust-building. Janis also shares insights on driving repeat purchases, the significance of customer acquisition strategies, and the role of educational content in enhancing user experience.

The episode then explores the impact of quizzes on customer engagement, the importance of personalisation in the shopping journey, and the four pillars of customer loyalty that go beyond traditional discount strategies.

Key takeaways:

Summary:

In this episode, James Gurd and Paul Rogers discuss the evolving landscape of technology change in ecommerce, focusing on the shift from tactical solutions to strategic decision-making.

They explore the importance of ecosystems in technology selection, the changing roles in project management, and the critical need for customer leads to oversee ecommerce projects.

The conversation also highlights the significance of understanding commercial considerations, managing risks, and ensuring thorough UAT processes to achieve successful technology migrations.

Key takeaways:

Happy New Year. After a two week break, which seems like an eternity in ecommerce, we're back and raring to go.

To kick-off 2025, we're looking at the broader economic picture and the intersection between macro events and ecommerce strategy, assessing the key trends we think will shape the ecommerce industry this year and which ecommerce teams need to be planning for.

We've pulled out 5 factors that we think will have the greatest macro impact on ecommerce businesses.

And then explore 6 key trends that arise from the current economic situation:

Key takeaways:

Every year, Inside Commerce looks back at the key trends that shaped the ecommerce industry over the past 12 months.

In this episode, James and Paul discuss the evolving landscape of ecommerce as they reflect on the trends of 2024. They highlight the following:

1. More positive sales outlook & better consumer confidence

2. Consumers becoming increasingly value focused

3. Renewed focus on the importance of international markets

4. Emergence of focused use cases for GenAI

5. Growing significance of brand collaborations and influencer marketing.

6. Increased focus on loyalty and subscription strategies

7. Greater emphasis on sustainability

The discussion emphasises the need for brands to adapt to changing consumer preferences and leverage technology to enhance their strategies. We explore what's shaping consumer behaviour and the future of online retail, emphasising the need for brands to adapt and innovate in a competitive market.

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ABOUT THIS EPISODE:

In this episode, James Gurd & Paul Rogers interview David Magee, Product Director at World of Books, about their recent migration from Commercetools to Shopify.

The conversation covers the strategic shift towards direct-to-consumer sales, the challenges faced with their legacy tech stack, and the innovative solutions implemented during the migration process.

David shares insights on the importance of middleware, A/B testing for performance validation, and the project management structure that supported this significant transition.

In this conversation, David Magee discusses the integration of Algolia for search and recommendations, the challenges faced in navigating international markets with Shopify, and the transition to Shopify Enterprise.

He emphasises the importance of a build-measure-learn approach during migration, the significance of partner selection, and the complexities of launching a new site while ensuring a good customer experience. The discussion highlights the lessons learned from these experiences and the proactive strategies needed to overcome challenges in ecommerce.

Key takeaways:

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ABOUT THIS EPISODE:

In this podcast, James Gurd and Paul Rogers delve into the concept of unified commerce, exploring its definition, evolution, and practical implications in the ecommerce landscape.

They discuss the similarities between unified commerce and omnichannel strategies, emphasising the importance of data integration and customer experience. The conversation also highlights the challenges of payment systems and the complexities of global operations. Through examples of successful brands, they illustrate how unified commerce principles can be effectively implemented, while also addressing the future of ecommerce strategies.

Key takeaways:

Replatforming isn't always the best solution to technology challenges.

An ecommerce platform can be fit-for-purpose but the implementation flawed, or outdated, resulting in the business thinking the issue is the underlying tech. Sometimes it's quicker, cheaper and more effective to improve how the current platform is built rather than pivot to a new vendor ecosystem.

For this podcast, James Gurd and Michal Klim discuss the complexities of re-engineering ecommerce platforms, particularly focusing on Shopify. Michal is the CTO of respected development agency Commerce UI, and recently helped Pangaia re-engineer their Shopify storefront and tech stack.

James & Michal explore the concept of technical and process debt, the importance of thoughtful maintenance, and the challenges of historical decisions in technology.

Michal shares insights from his work with Pangaia, emphasising the need for a clean slate approach to build better solutions. The discussion also covers the role of automation, the use of Shopify Flow and MetaObjects, and the integration of third-party tools, culminating in a conversation about transitioning from classic to new customer accounts.

Key takeaways:

Loyalty is a hot topic in ecommerce. For this podcast, we're joined by Ed Bull, owner of leading ecommerce agency Limesharp. We discuss the evolving landscape of loyalty programs in the luxury and premium brand sectors, exploring how brands are redefining loyalty beyond traditional points systems, focusing on strategic approaches to customer behavior, the balance between rewards and profitability, and the importance of measuring success through key metrics.

The discussion highlights the need for brands to adapt their loyalty strategies, especially during peak trading periods, and the changing perceptions of loyalty programs in the industry. We delve into the intricacies of loyalty programs, discussing tier movements, the impact of gamification and community engagement, common pitfalls in managing loyalty initiatives, and future trends in the loyalty landscape.

The episode emphasises the importance of understanding customer behaviour, the need for personalisation, and the potential of leveraging influencers to enhance customer experiences. It also highlights the evolving nature of loyalty programs and the necessity for brands to adapt to changing consumer expectations.

Key takeaways:

There's a feeling in the industry that some AI tools are solutions looking for a problem. In this podcast, we explore an AI solution that has a clear ecommerce use case and is focused on improving customer experience.

James Gurd speaks to Klevu co-founders Nilay and Niraj about their new product, Asklo, which integrates AI chatbots into ecommerce product journeys to enhance customer experience. This is the a logical evolution to PDP Q&As, with customers able to get real-time responses to product and service questions, rather than waiting for a reply.

The episode discusses the importance of optimising user journeys, the technology behind Asklo, and how it can improve conversion rates. The conversation also explores case studies demonstrating Asklo's effectiveness in reducing PDP bounce rate by 30%.

Key takeaways: