Overdose & Chill: Live

On this episode of Chill, we chat with the venerable Jim Lofgren from Nosto. Overdose’s Andrew Potkewitz and Jim discuss his journey to becoming CEO of commerce experience platform Nosto, growth, the ecomm/tech landscape, personalisation, post-pandemic trends, and the recent acquisition of UGC platform Stackla.

Now, in his fourth year as CEO of Nosto, Jim is a veteran ecommerce journeyman and recently also took on the role of Chairman of NES – Ecommerce Summit.

Nosto

When its three Finnish founders saw the limitations existing around customer experience, they boldly set out to revolutionise the whole ecommerce experience. They created Nosto and built it on the premise that every shopping experience can, and should, be personal.

They onboarded a team of top class ecommerce experts from around the world and created their game-changing platform in 2011. Nosto today, is powered by AI machine learning and extensive shopper behavioural data which gives retailers the ability to deploy fully dynamic, personalised shopping experiences and engage customers in a way never seen before.

Jim Lofgren

Jim Lofgren always thought he’d be an investment banker. Disrupting those intentions, was the boss of French ecommerce giant La Redoute, who convinced Jim (who was an intern at the time) to “stick around and do some proper work.” So, he did just that—he stuck around and ended up doing 10 years in retail ecommerce, and never became a banker.

During the earlier, merchant-side phase of his career, Jim spent a couple of years at Ellos, the largest online retail group in the Nordic countries. He ran their ecommerce business and grew online sales by over 60% between 2006 and 2008.

Then, he jumped back on with La Redoute as CEO of their Nordics operation. He was 28.

A few years later, in 2010, he went stateside to the US to run OneStopPlus, the world’s largest online plus-size retailer (later rebranded to Fullbeauty.com). At the time, it was a $40 million business and Jim says they built out the marketplace using ChannelAdvisor and CommerceHub to source suppliers. The business grew to $100 million in two and a half years.

When the group was sold to private equity, Jim went into tech. He joined CommerceHub, which was primarily a drop-ship ecommerce SaaS platform based in Upstate New York.

A few years later, and now a prized Fintech leader, Jim became CEO of Klarna, North America, in 2015. The Swedish startup had only entered the US market the year before but globally was already on course to become one of the most disruptive and promising of its breed in the explosive buy-now-pay-later space.

But, in those early days, Jim explains, buy-now-pay-later products hadn’t come yet to the US, “so we were really just trying to use credit instruments to optimize and improve the checkout conversion.”

Jim initially ran a team from San Francisco managing large global accounts—multinationals like H&M, IKEA, and Ticketmaster. “We built this product where they could integrate with Klarna once but get access to 10 markets of credit issuing and that was very attractive from a large multinational perspective, so we saw huge traction with that.”

Two years later, Jim also became CEO of Klarna’s North American division and it was at this time he says they had to pivot—when they saw what was going on in Australia with Afterpay. Klarna started building out the ‘Pay in 4’ product.

It was in midst of its product launch when Jim first met with Nostos’ three co-founders at Shoptalk. They kept calling him, and by mid-2018, Jim had transitioned from CEO of Klarna, North America to CEO of Nosto.

This week on Chill, we’ll chat with legend Stacey Head @ she wear—an Australian company specialising in safety, work, and fashion footwear designed to fit women correctly and comfortably.

As Founder and Managing Director, Stacey oversees company operations including design, research & development, manufacturing, importing & exporting, wholesale, retail (ecommerce & brick & mortar stores), sales & marketing, and business operations.

Overdose’s Elliot Schoemaker and Stacey will discuss entrepreneurship, growth challenges & successes, digital solutions, and ecomm trends & strategies through pandemic recovery.

she wear

she wear is Australia’s only functional work footwear company focusing solely on the needs of women. Founded by Stacey Head after a nail-in-the-foot incident made her question why there were no suitable safety boots in the marketplace to keep her protected while she worked. It was 2011, and she was on the tools in her property development business. The only boots available were unisex, and consequently, heavy and ill-fitting.

Within a couple of years, Stacey had stepped in and created she wear, bucking the industry standard where women were forced into men’s shoes. She started small, literally on a shoe-string, offering just two styles in three colours, but they took off and she ran out of stock.

The concept in place, it was then onto the hard yards­­—research, due diligence, customer feedback, and design development­­—all the layers needed to grow the business; all dedicated to the presiding mission to ensure women have correctly fitted, safe, and comfortable workwear.

Now, she wear is a fully-fledged, burgeoning business with a growing catalogue retailing a large range of workwear and PPE for women across countless industries—health, retail, education, hospitality, trades, mining, and so forth.

As founder and managing director, Stacey oversees company operations including design, R&D, manufacturing, importing, exporting, wholesale, retail, sales and marketing, and business operations.

In this Chill episode, Overdose’s Andrew Potkewitz and ecomm legend Ali Afzalirad will discuss BigCommerce’s growth and roadmap, the rise of headless/composable solutions, ecomm trends and strategies, and more.

BigCommerce

BigCommerce is a world-leading open-SaaS ecommerce platform used by merchants of all sizes to conduct their businesses online. With sophisticated enterprise-grade functionality, customisation, and performance, it’s lauded for its simplicity, ease of use, and scalability. Headquartered in Austin, BigCommerce has offices in San Francisco, Sydney, and London.

BigCommerce has been an Overdose partner since 2018.

Ali Afzalirad

Ali Afzalirad is without a doubt a stalwart of ecommerce. His career almost spans the entire tech industry’s evolution, beginning back in the dark ages some twenty years ago.  It’s a trajectory that has seen him dabble in everything from deep tech, to early applications, to agency, and onto SaaS—the space where he happily sits now as VP Enterprise Sales at BigCommerce.

He cut his teeth, back in the day, working for a company licensing software technology to device manufacturers. It was software development and a lot of source code. He was in sales, but there was nothing to demo.

“We sold real-time operating systems and protocol stacks to companies that were making devices.” There was all manner of devices: early cellphones, set-top boxes, digital cameras, and personal assistant devices (remember Palm Pilot?). Also networking equipment, like routers and switches, and avionics, such as ground proximity radar warning systems.

Then, one day, he heard about this thing called ecommerce.

On this episode of Chill, we’ll chat with legend Ryan Powell @ Whiplash Fulfillment (formerly Port Logistics Group). Senior Vice President of eCommerce at Whiplash, Ryan is a logistics powerhouse with a wealth of knowledge in the space.

Overdose’s Andrew Potkewitz and Ryan will discuss checkout/fulfilment tech, 3PLs, last-mile, free delivery, next/2nd day delivery, and the value-add services that are on the rise.

On this episode of Chill, we’ll chat with the great Hilary Murdock @ Threekit 3D & Augmented Reality. As Senior Director & Head of Product Marketing at Threekit, Hilary is an industry veteran who brings a wealth of knowledge to a very exciting space.

Overdose’s Andrew Potkewitz and Hilary will discuss Customer Experience (CX), 3D/Configurators, Augmented Reality (AR), personalization, and industry trends.

Today on Chill, we’ll chat with the wonderful Curt Carpenter, Co-Founder and Principal @ Lekker Home

From tailblock grinds to dovetail joints, we’ll cover Curt’s rise from rad suburban skater, to purveyor of modern design.

Since its founding in 2002, Lekker Home has grown from an idea into an innovator in the world of furniture and decor. They specialize in Mid-Century Modern classics and European Design icons, curating brands they believe in – both aesthetically and ethically.

Overdose’s Gary Benerofe and Curt will discuss entrepreneurship, digital transformation, growth, omnichannel & B2C/B2B commerce, and adapting & evolving approach to successfully navigate the challenging brick-and-click landscape.

Today on Chill, we’ll chat with ecom pioneer Derrick Dinglasan @ OPTE.

With over 20 years experience in ecommerce, mobile, and digital strategy for consumer products ranging from beauty, health & wellness, fashion, and electronics, Derrick is Founder and Chief Product & Growth Officer at Procter & Gamble-backed beauty technology brand, OPTE, the innovative, first-of-its-kind digital precision skincare system that offers a new disruptive solution to hyperpigmentation.

Prior to OPTE, Derrick spent time driving strategy and growth @ Manduka, The Honest Company, Five Four Club, New Republic, and Jaanuu.

Overdose’s Albert Liu and Derrick will chat about startups, digital experience and transformation, DTC & Wholesale strategy, CPG, and the digital landscape for beauty/health/wellness brands.

Today on Chill, we’ll chat with the indefatigable Ben Marks @Shopware. An absolute legend in the ecommerce ecosystem, Ben recently joined Shopware to head up their global growth initiative as Director of Global Market Development.

Overdose’s Andrew Potkewitz and Ben will chat about growth, international expansion, ecosystem, composable/headless commerce, omnichennel, and much more…

Shopware

Shopware is a leading ecommerce system used by some of the largest European brands, retailers, and manufacturers across B2C and B2B industries. As a trendsetting open source solution, Shopware gives retailers the freedom to quickly and easily realise their growth potential – with more flexibility and less complexity. Today, more than 100,000 companies rely on a Shopware solution, with all retailers – from start-ups to enterprise – generating a combined turnover of 7.6 billion euros in 2019.

From its headquarters in Schöppingen, Germany, Shopware employs 250 people and relies on a global network of 1,200 sales, technology, and solution partners. A community with hundreds of thousands of members gives customers access to over 4,000 extensions and certified professional support. 100% equity-financed, Shopware is completely independent; and through high investments in research and development, is the leading driver of innovation in European ecommerce.

Today on Chill, we’ll chat with legend Meghan Stabler of BigCommerce.

Vice President of Global Product Marketing & Communications, Meghan has had a storied career in the tech space and continues to drive innovation in the industry.

Overdose’s Andrew Potkewitz will chat with Meghan about Product Marketing, growth, innovation, and how BigCommerce is changing the way tech works with partners and clients as they grow their global footprint.

About BigCommerce

BigCommerce is the world’s leading cloud ecommerce platform for established and rapidly-growing businesses. Combining enterprise functionality, an open architecture and app ecosystem, and market-leading performance, BigCommerce enables businesses to grow online sales with 80% less cost, time, and complexity than on-premise software.

BigCommerce powers B2B and B2C ecommerce for more than 60,000 SMBs, 2,000+ mid-market businesses, more than 25 Fortune 1000 companies, and industry-leading brands including Assurant, Ben & Jerry’s, and Gibson. BigCommerce’s mission is to help merchants sell more at every stage of business growth. Simply put, we are: built for growth so merchants can realize their visions without compromise; designed for powerful performance to enable businesses to scale seamlessly with technology they can trust; efficient in both time and cost.

BigCommerce supports thousands of retailers around the world from its offices in San Francisco, Austin, London, and Sydney. For more information, view our BigCommerce Partner page here.

Today on Chill, we’ll chat with the great Mate Prgin of Enzuzo.

Founder & CEO of Enzuzo, Mate is leading the charge to simplify and streamline Data Privacy compliance.

Overdose’s Andrew Potkewitz will chat with Mate about Data Privacy, GDPR, CCPA, and how to get compliant and protect your brand.

About enzuzo

CCPA and GDPR compliance doesn’t have to be complicated. Enzuzo automates data privacy request tracking, reporting, data gathering, and the data deletion workflow. Ensure you are compliant, secure, and avoid penalties due to late or missed responses.

Whether you are a small Shopify store or a large enterprise company, Enzuzo helps automate information gathering and deletion requests, so you can focus your time on revenue-generating activities.