The Commerce Lab

Devin Killpack is a biologist turned entrepreneur and the CEO and co-founder of Gathre. Gathre was born from the desire to create space for families, quality crafted mats and leather goods that prove "that beautiful things can be functional, that less can be more, that the effort to be together is always worth it."

When Devin Killpack and his wife began Gathre five years ago the operations took place in his parents' garage. Their ability to create a solid brand that focuses intently on aesthetics and leverage product placement and collaboration has catapulted them to the mid-7-figure range.

Today you'll learn how Gathre scaled their business to 7 figures without advertising, their use of Clayton Christensen's "Jobs to be Done" theory to better understand customers and products, and how they have utilized Instagram as their biggest lever.

"Gathre didn't just create this brand, it was co-created with our customers." - Devin Killpack

• How Gathre scaled to 7-figures without paid advertising
• How it took 2 years for Gathre to reach their first 7-figure year, how partnering with a big influencer was their key growth lever, and combining "paid influencer promotion" with co-branded product.
• Why Gathre views themselves as an "Instagram first" business
• Gathre's "product development" process and why they attribute their success to it
• Clayton Christensen's "Jobs To Be Done" theory and how it helps Gathre understand their customers and products.
• Using this framework to determine what content to create that will resonate with their audience.
• How they leverage User Generated Content to scale their social following and drive sales.
• Gathre's "framework" for deciding what to post, how many to post, and the goal they want each piece of creative to achieve
• Gathre's team building philosophy and how they make hiring decisions.

• Contact Devin on LinkedIn

• Gathre's Instagram
• Gathre's Website
• Gathre Article Feature

Thanks for tuning in to this week's episode of The Commerce Lab Podcast! If the information shared in these weekly conversations and interviews have helped you in your business journey, please head over to iTunes, subscribe to the show, and leave us an honest review. Your reviews and feedback will not only help us continue to deliver great, helpful content, but it will also help us reach even more amazing entrepreneurs just like you!

Kharma Vella is the Brand Product Director at Poler. Kharma was an original co-founder of the brand, and the creative mastermind behind some of Poler's most notable products. He was ousted from the company by his partner, but rejoined in October of last year - post brand bankruptcy - as Poler prepared to relaunch under new ownership.

Originally founded in 2010, Poler is an outdoor brand that aims to fill the void between action sports and outdoor wear; they have been described as a lovechild of Volcom and Patagonia. Poler grew rapidly to high 7-figure revenues in 2016, then took a nosedive before filing for Bankruptcy in 2019. Now they are back. This is their story and the lessons they've learned. Kharma is passing them along in hopes that other brands avoid making the same mistakes.

Today you'll learn what Poler did wrong. What happened at the peak of their growth in 2015-2016 (changes in leadership, operation, and marketing) that set them on the downward spiral towards bankruptcy? Most importantly, you'll learn what they're doing differently today to scale back up.

"It's a warning story around trying to run a wholesale business along with a direct consumer online business and the importance of operations, logistics, and maintaining wholesale relationships." - Kharma Vella

• What is Poler? How do they position themselves?
• Why their initial success was lucky - and how they leveraged Instagram to scale.
• The source of the majority of sales (retailers/wholesale business)
• How they built brand equity with Instagram, then used that branding to get into retail stores - their main sales channel.
• The downfall of Poler - why wholesale demand declined (and why retailers stopped buying)
• How operations/logistics issues killed the wholesale business, and the decline of sales that followed.
• Moving Forward: How Poler is recovering after bankruptcy with their focus on product, sustainability and rebuilding the wholesale business

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We recently launched our *NEW* weekly premium newsletter, The Commerce Lab: https://bluestout.com/thecommercelab

The newsletter is an extension of this podcast that deconstructs the operations and strategies that have worked for today's top brands (that have grown to where you want to be), into actionable guides you and your team can implement.

Our goal with the newsletter: help brand operators, like you, stay ahead of the curve.

(NOTE: We will eventually turn this into a paid newsletter, but early subscribers will get grandfathered in for free. Sign up here: https://bluestout.com/thecommercelab)

Joe Crosby manages the content and media team at REI, the nation's largest outdoor retailer. Founded in 1938, Lloyd and Mary Anderson started the company in the Seattle area and along with other locals formed a co-op of about 23 people who came together to crowdsource and share the procurement of outdoor equipment, and they have maintained this co-op to the present day.

As a third-party retailer, REI sells a lot of other brands' products, and they are thriving even during a time when we see many third-party retailers struggling. A big part of this is due to their superior content marketing.

In this episode, we talked with Joe to break down the framework he uses when developing content, REI's metrics for success and what he would do if put in charge of a content strategy for a $5-10M brand.

"We're trying to build an audience of advocates for the outdoors first and foremost" - Joe Crosby

• The exact framework REI uses to choose the right content to produce
• Focusing on content that specifically builds "values-based" alignment with customers
• Tacking the success of campaigns using a hybrid of traditional "Media" metrics like views and impressions AND retail metrics like ad performance and ROAS
• How to build a content machine for a $5-$10M brand

We recently launched our *NEW* weekly premium newsletter, The Commerce Lab.

The newsletter is an extension of this podcast that deconstructs the operations and strategies that have worked for today's top brands (that have grown to where you want to be), into actionable guides you and your team can implement.

Our goal with the newsletter: help brand operators, like you, stay ahead of the curve.

(NOTE: We will eventually turn this into a paid newsletter, but early subscribers will get grandfathered in for free. Sign up here: https://bluestout.com/thecommercelab.)

Kyle Widrick is the Founder and CEO of WIN Brands Group (WBG). WBG is a leading operator of a portfolio of direct-to-consumer brands focused on leveraging best in class technology partners to scale the most innovative customer-first brands in the world.

WBG partners with companies that have created amazing products currently in the marketplace, acquires the majority of the business and provides them with an extensive top-level shared service team who run the business from a portfolio approach. Within the next 3-5 years Kyle and WBG plan to have a couple dozen brands operating within their DTC holding company.

Today, you'll learn about WBG's strategic advantage in the DTC market, how they structure their partnership with brands, and about the future of DTC commerce.

"I saw all these businesses that really should have taken off like rocket ships, but didn't have a key resource internally and that held them back in a very dramatic way." - Kyle Widrick

• Does the future of DTC (direct to consumer eCommerce) look like holding companies?
• What WBG looks for when buying a brand
• WBG's business model- operating with a Matrix Structure
• The First 12-18 months after acquisition
• How WBG has a strategic advantage
• How WBG structures the deal with DTC brands they buy
• The valuation of a DTC Brand
• The future of DTC commerce
• Why Kyle doesn't avoid Amazon

• WBG's Website
• Connect with Kyle on LinkedIn

• WBG in Forbes

Jordan Gal is the Co-founder and CEO of Carthook, a company offering customizable checkout processes for some of the most groundbreaking eCommerce brands. He and his team are partnering with clients to implement one of the most overlooked strategies in eCom, the post purchase upsell. Carthook clients have seen as much as 42% of past 30 day total revenue be driven by post purchase upsells.

In this episode, you'll learn how to implement product upsells to increase revenue and how you can use product funnels to customize the buying experience for your customers to increase conversion rate.

"This allows you to make an upsell without adding any friction to the buying process that can drive up your average order value." - Jordan Gal

• How to use a "one click upsell" after the checkout to upsell your customer without adding friction to the buying process
• Leveraging consumer psychology to increase hit rate of an upsell
• Using "product funnels" to sell more with a better customer journey

• Connect with Jordan on Twitter
• Learn more about CartHook
• Carthook on Facebook

• Jordan Co-hosts The Bootstrapped Web, a podcast centered on the highs and lows encountered while bootstrapping an online business.

Thanks for tuning in to this week's episode of The Commerce Lab Podcast! If the information shared in these weekly conversations and interviews have helped you in your business journey, please head over to iTunes, subscribe to the show, and leave us an honest review. Your reviews and feedback will not only help us continue to deliver great, helpful content, but it will also help us reach even more amazing entrepreneurs just like you!

Dan Nicholson, founder of Nth Degree CPAs, is passionate about working with business owners to create financial security. He and his team work to expand financial capabilities and increase the profits of their clients at all points throughout the year.

Dan graduated Summa Cum Laude with emphasis in both Accounting and E-Commerce Information Systems from Seattle University. He served as a member of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) and has worked in finance and accounting roles at Clark Nuber, UPS, WaMu, as well as Deloitte and Touche's Audit and Enterprise Risk Services.

If you hate thinking about taxes and accounting in your business, you aren't alone. But what if a few simple tweaks could leave you with six-figures in tax savings? This week, Dan is sharing a whole list of ways that you might be leaving a ton of your cash on the table.

Regarding small business C corporations: "say you sell your eCommerce business after five years for $10MM and it was a C Corp that entire time, you wouldn't pay any capital gains tax on that transaction, which would save you somewhere around $2.3MM."

-Dan Nicholson

• Important tax code changes that ecommerce owners need to know.
• Specific strategies to help ecommerce business owners save money on taxes.
• All about the WayFair ruling, and how it has made it easier to trigger "nexus."
• How few transactions it actually takes to trigger nexus.
• How classifying inventory has drastically changed under the new tax code.
• You may be eligible for an R&D Tax Credit
• Leveraging your Entity Structure to eliminate the need to pay Capital Gains Tax.
• Reasonable Compensation Study - how this alone could save you $20-50K each year.
• Augusta Loophole - How to write off your board meetings.
• Administrative Home Office - Making your mileage count.
• Solo 401k - Take advantage of the opportunity to setback an additional $37K.

• Nth Degree CPAs
• Dan's LinkedIn
• Nth Degree Facebook Page

• Connect with Dan for Q&A in his weekly Office Hours

Thanks for tuning in to this week's episode of The Commerce Lab Podcast! If the information shared in these weekly conversations and interviews have helped you in your business journey, please head over to iTunes, subscribe to the show, and leave us an honest review. Your reviews and feedback will not only help us continue to deliver great, helpful content, but it will also help us reach even more amazing entrepreneurs just like you!

Patrick Coddou is a master innovator and entrepreneur. After spending years hunting down the "perfect razor" - one that would give a close, comfortable shave without irritating his skin - Patrick gave up and decided to simply design one himself. What began as a personal vendetta against poor quality razors has evolved into Supply, a dynamic company that provides men with premium shaving and grooming products.

Since Patrick founded Supply in 2015, he and his small team have seen spectacular growth, and continue to pursue their ultimate goal of being a one-stop-shop for men's products. Supply appeared on Shark Tank in 2019, and recently achieved their first $1MM month.

Today, you'll learn how to establish a flywheel in your business to create cumulative growth, the pros and cons of the Shopify Fulfillment network, why Supply removed all of their products from Amazon, and how they still managed to hit $1MM MONTH in revenue.

"Take pride in your product. People believe in people. Put your name and face on what you're doing as much as you can… you will see the dividends." - Patrick Caddou

• The origin story of Supply. How Patrick used a personal dilemma to create a seven-figure business.
• Kickstarter and investment funds - How Patrick and his wife got the business up and running.
• Revenue Milestones - The most effective levers that Patrick and his utilized to hit seven figures, first annually, and then in their first $1MM month.
• How to build a Flywheel to create a scalable, sustainable, and profitable business
• Effective branding - Why you SHOULD attach your name to your brand from the inception of your business
• Developing a business model that ensures a high lifetime value per customer.
• Scaling and Marketing - there is no silver bullet, but there are a few things that you might be missing that could move your business forward
• The Pros and Cons of the Shopify Fulfillment Network, and why Supply removed ALL of their products from Amazon
• Some encouragement from Patrick - why you should keep grinding away at your business, even if you aren't seeing the results you want… yet
• Patrick's vision for 2020 - How Supply will continue to develop their brand, scale, and hit high revenue goals

• Patrick's Website

Thanks for tuning in to this week's episode of The Commerce Lab Podcast! If the information shared in these weekly conversations and interviews have helped you in your business journey, please head over to iTunes, subscribe to the show, and leave us an honest review. Your reviews and feedback will not only help us continue to deliver great, helpful content, but it will also help us reach even more amazing entrepreneurs just like you!

Erik Christiansen is the CEO and co-founder of Justuno, a conversion optimization platform. Erik's marketing journey began in the online retail space. In 2010, he and co-founder Travis Logan launched Justuno, and they've been helping today's digital marketers and ecommerce businesses convert more visitors ever since. Business owners now exist in a world where customer acquisition costs are skyrocketing and brands are having to get creative around driving more value from their customers. In the past, pop-ups and other conversion strategies were basic and intrusive. Fast forward to today's pop-ups, which are smarter and give you the ability to dynamically segment how they appear and what they compel your customers to do. Justuno takes customer data profiles and ingests a customer's purchase history, buying behavior, and other metrics into a database you can use to increase the average order value when they purchase. This is the foundation for presenting additional products and offers that are highly relevant and more profitable for your business. "When it directly affects your sales and AOV, there's more incentive to test." - Erik Christiansen, Justuno (18:50-18:57)

Here are just some of the topics we discuss:

1. How retailers and brands are increasing their AOV (average order value)
2. Strategies for recommending better products to customers when they add something to their cart
3. Using data from existing customers to make recommendations of products that are more likely to be purchased
4. How businesses are focusing inward to increase conversions and orders in the face of increasing marketing costs
5. The biggest cause of cart abandonment and how to communicate in ways that eliminate this common obstacle
6. Creating low-friction offers when upselling or cross-selling
7. Solving marketing problems through A/B testing
8. Automation and testing keep you from making assumptions and guesses about what increases sales and AOV
9. Upselling and cross-selling—once considered high-risk—is now a requirement.

Connect with Erik Christiansen:

• LinkedIn

Resources mentioned:

• Justuno Website

How to get involved

• Join the community of brand owners and industry influencers in the Facebook group The Commerce Lab or visit thecommercelab.com.
• Visit www.bluestout.com for more info

If you liked this episode, be sure to subscribe and leave a quick review on iTunes. It would mean the world to hear your feedback and we'd love for you to help us spread the word!

Did you know you can rev up your marketing by using SMS and Facebook Messenger to increase the value of list members by as much as 30%? You can layer automated SMS text and Facebook messages into the communications you're already having with your customers.

Ben Parr, founder and president of Octane AI, sits down with us to talk about the baseline-level strategy you need to put in place if you're a brand that hasn't implemented SMS or Facebook Messenger marketing. Learn automations and sequences you can add to your marketing playbook to get real results.

Ben is a former co-editor of Mashable and wrote a bestselling book called Captivology: The Science of Capturing People's Attention, which dives into why we pay attention to certain people and products and how to use that science to captivate others.

Octane AI is a conversational marketing platform for eCommerce that powers Facebook Messenger, SMS, and conversational ads all under one roof. You can run all your conversational campaigns from the Octane AI unified dashboard.

"A lot of people are scared to use SMS and Facebook Messenger marketing. The truth is your customers prefer you do it that way. That's how they live and communicate." - Ben Parr (16:26-16:50)

Some of the topics discussed include:

• The essential "flows" you need to set up for SMS and Facebook Messenger marketing
• The strategies Ben has seen work that you probably haven't seen or tried yet
• Setting up your baseline before diving into SMS and Facebook Messenger marketing
• Why you need to send fewer messages on SMS than you do with email
• Why you have to think of SMS, email, and Facebook Messenger as one unified flow
• Triggering conditional splits based on actions users take
• The first three key flows you need to focus on
• Setting the right expecting when using SMS and Facebook Messenger marketing
• Giving your audience a choice in how they want to connect with you
• Integrations you need to test with your SMS and Facebook Messenger marketing strategies
• Every touchpoint you add can increase the revenue per subscriber by 20% to 30%

Contact Ben Parr:

• Ben Parr on LinkedIn

References & links mentioned:

• Octane AI Website

Subscribe & Review The Commerce Lab Podcast:

Thanks for tuning in to this week's episode of The Commerce Lab Podcast! If the information shared in these weekly conversations and interviews have helped you in your business journey, please head over to iTunes, subscribe to the show, and leave us an honest review. Your reviews and feedback will not only help us continue to deliver great, helpful content, but it will also help us reach even more amazing entrepreneurs just like you!

How to get involved

• Join the community of brand owners and industry influencers in the Facebook group The Commerce Lab or visit thecommercelab.com.
• Visit www.bluestout.com for more info

If you liked this episode, be sure to subscribe and leave a quick review on iTunes. It would mean the world to hear your feedback and we'd love for you to help us spread the word!

Fred Perrotta of Tortuga Backpacks takes a contrarian view when it comes to scaling a successful brand. But his approach has allowed him and his team scale Tortuga Backpacks into a multiple-seven-figure business through bootstrapping alone. They haven't raised any outside venture capital, and they've managed to build a fully remote team from day one.

Designing and manufacturing products require capital. This is the biggest constraint for bootstrapped businesses. You have to figure out how you can afford to scale as the demand for your products increase.

We talk to Fred about how he co-founded the business, how they've scaled it, and how they've overcome capital constraints resulting from not raising any outside funding. We also explore the tactics Tortuga Backpacks has used for managing inventory issues, covering employee salaries, and marketing their brand.

If you're looking to take a bootstrapping approach to growing your business, you'll learn how Fred and his team have been able to scale Tortuga Backpacks into a multimillion-dollar brand.

"You have to focus on what's actually working for you, what's possible, and what you can afford. That's a muscle you have to develop." - Fred Perrotta, Tortuga Backpacks (15:06-15:15)

Some topics that were discussed include:

• The "levers" that Tortuga Backpacks used to hit their first seven figures in revenue
• How to learn from the feedback you get from customers so you know what will work
• How profitable (and for how long) you have to be to get conventional funding
• Accidental scarcity can create a bigger demand for your products.
• Getting your audience to buy up your inventory can be as easy as just sending out an email.
• How much revenue does it take to fund your inventory and production runs while keeping your products in stock at all times?
• Where you need to allocate your profits when growing a bootstrapped business
• What percentage of your marketing needs to go to performance marketing
• Magazines have become online publishers that rely heavily on affiliate revenue.
• Tortuga Backpacks' philosophy on remove versus non-remote teams
• Navigating the drawbacks and limitations of remote teams

• Fred Perrotta on Twitter
• Fred Perrotta's Website

• Tortuga Backpacks Website

Thanks for tuning in to this week's episode of The Commerce Lab Podcast! If the information shared in these weekly conversations and interviews have helped you in your business journey, please head over to iTunes, subscribe to the show, and leave us an honest review. Your reviews and feedback will not only help us continue to deliver great, helpful content, but it will also help us reach even more amazing entrepreneurs just like you!

How to get involved

• Join the community of brand owners and industry influencers in the Facebook group The Commerce Lab or visit thecommercelab.com.
• Visit www.bluestout.com for more info

If you liked this episode, be sure to subscribe and leave a quick review on iTunes. It would mean the world to hear your feedback and we'd love for you to help us spread the word!