Luke Peters, CEO and founder at NewAir Appliances and Retail Band, joins this episode of “The Commerce Marketer Podcast” to discuss specific strategies retailers and companies can follow to reduce the burden of tariffs. Luke starts by discussing how the tariffs have impacted NewAIr and their cost of goods (COG), and why simply finding a new supplier isn’t a realistic option (2:00). He explains what to look for in the supply chain to find opportunities for price relief (7:00), and outlines strategies to renegotiate and lower your manufacturing costs and and which parts of your agreement might provide the most leverage (10:30). Luke then shifts gears and dives into freight-specific issues, such as systems, duties and credit terms (18:00). He describes internal systems, processes, and packaging options to look at that can reduce costs and improve efficiency (21:40). He discusses how to approach third-party vendors to decrease costs, and then recalls mistakes made and lessons learned from them (30:30). Finally, Luke shares the most important thing to keep in mind when going into negotiations with your vendors or suppliers (35:30).

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Zach Lones, director of social media marketing at Walmart, joins this episode of “The Commerce Marketer Podcast” to discuss how Walmart uses social media and their employees to engage with local communities and increase in-store traffic. Zach starts by describing the genesis of the store-level social media programs (2:00), choosing social platforms (8:30) and how they establish best practices and types of training needed (10:00) for participation. He explains how the program is structured for day-to-day use (12:00) and which KPIs the social team and store-level managers look at to determine the success of the posts (14:15). Zach then shares stories of how program participation has improved teamwork and moral among employees (17:30) before switching gears to describe the viral online grocery pickup (OGP) rap challenge videos (20:30). He explains what it was, how it impacted their relationship with their customers, and how it generated additional ideas for store associates in social engagement opportunities (24:30). Finally, Zach shares pitfalls to avoid, how to empower employees to create social content (28:45), and what other companies can learn from it (32:10).

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Phillip Jackson, chief commerce officer of Something Digital and co-founder of Future Commerce, joins this episode of “The Commerce Marketer Podcast” to discuss expected commerce trends in 2020 and beyond. Phillip starts by describing the biggest trend that he expects to dominate the industry in 2020 (6:00) and discusses how venture capital fails at creating sustainable businesses (7:00). Phillips shifts gears to Amazon, predicting a long-term trend he expects to emerge this year (11:20) and how the cost and speed of shipping may threaten Amazon’s place at the top (13:00). He then delves into brand content and how retailers can neutralize larger competitor advantages with it (19:30). Phillip discusses the on-demand economy and how it’s paving the way for ghost brands and other non-ownership-based businesses (23:00). Phillips segues into the impact Gen Z has on retail, talking through potential backlash on larger corporations (27:00), sustainability and social causes, and brand loyalty (33:00). Finally, he assesses how the in-store shopping experience will change in the short-term (40:00).

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Drew Cook, CFO of Pact Clothing, joins this episode of “The Commerce Marketer Podcast” to discuss social causes as part of a brand’s ethos and marketing strategy. We outline the growing trend of sustainability amongst retailers and how “greenwashing” deceives consumers (2:00). He then discusses how terms like “organic” and “sustainable” can both aid marketing efforts and mislead consumers (4:30), and then cover how consumers’ expectations of corporate sustainability impacted Pact’s marketing philosophy and cause-based approach (7:30). He then speaks to the related practical challenges of sourcing and producing items at higher costs (10:30), delving into how beneficial being sustainable really is when consumers aren’t willing to pay more for the products (13:00). We switch gears to discuss sustainability in their post-purchase marketing efforts (16:00), growing a brand while staying true to its ethos (18:30), and how publicly addressing customer concerns improves their processes (22:30). He ends by sharing his thoughts on whether businesses need a social cause to stay relevant with today’s consumers (26:00) and why launching a cause-centered store is more challenging than ever (27:40). 

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On this episode of “The Commerce Marketer Podcast” I’m joined by Viv Conway and Tash Meys who share their strategies for growing your Instagram followers — and attracting the right ones. The founders of Ace The Gram start by discussing how to use Instagram the “right way” (9:20) and how businesses can decide what purpose it should serve (10:20). Next, they give a case study illustrating high-quality content and overall strategic plan, and then shift gears to discuss images (15:00) and tentpole strategies for growing followers (17:10). Tash and Viv then shed light on what makes a “good” Instagram (IG) post (18:15), how that differs from a good IG Story (20:30), ways to use Stories and how to develop a Highlight strategy (23:30). Next they cover how to develop a complete strategy around them, from how many to use and where to put them in a post for maximum effect (25:00). They answer the age-old question, “How often should I post?” (32:15) and share their method for structuring successful giveaways (36:00). They end by discussing the influencer industry and specific tools and tips for getting things done with limited internal resources, before finally sharing the first things they’d do on IG if they were starting a business today (51:46). 

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I’m joined by Luke Daniel Lucht, co-founder and research director at Research Farm, to discuss developing retail technologies around the globe and how they may impact the future of retail. Lucht begins by discussing approaches and challenges to unmanned stores overseas and what they could mean for similar stores in the U.S. (3:10) — and how the Amazon Go model fits into the future of these store formats (5:40). Next, he discusses what facial recognition might hold for retailers and consumers (10:00 and China’s new social credit system. He describes how it’s being used to curb and influence both shopping and public behavior and its implications for democratic countries (13:00). Daniel shifts focus to online grocery trends and how UK trends may impact the US online grocery market (23:30). He then dives into the future of autonomous vehicles (29:35), robo-warehousing and the future of grocers using vertical farming to provide fresher produce (34:00). Lucht also talks about how retailers can target consumers based on mood as signaled by wearables and how they interact with smartphones (37:50). Finally, he turns back to the online grocery market and which new grocers we should be watching for (45:00).

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CEO of MIVA and author of Dragonproof Ecommerce Rick Wilson joins me on this episode of “The Commerce Marketer Podcast” to share his perspective on the state of ecommerce and the consumer landscape. Wilson also hosts the “Protecting Your Online Business Podcast,” where he recalls stories and lessons learned from more than 20 years in ecommerce. Wilson starts by discussing what he thinks is the “end of the beginning of the ecommerce landscape” and retailers’ problem with free shipping and returns (5:00). Next, Wilson describes how the dot-com bust changed best practices, which new ones are transforming (7:10) and lessons to learn other brands’ mistakes (10:45). He then talks through modern marketing strategies and how to see into your own marketing blind spots (16:15). Wilson shifts gears to discuss effective meeting structures and how Amazon can be a catalyst for positive change (29:00) before predicting what Amazon and ecommerce will look like in the future (33:00). He goes on to theorize about the impact of AR and VR (38:40), the role "headless commerce" will play (42:00), and the most interesting ecommerce development of the past 20 years (44:00). 

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I’m joined by Luke Peters, CEO and founder of NewAir Appliances and host of the Page 1 Podcast, where he shares their blueprint for successfully launching new products. Luke starts by describing his ideal customer (2:15) and why New Air pivoted away from exclusively selling direct-to-consumer (2:50), and then explains how their 50 new product launches a year bring value (8:00) and the benefits of having the same SKUs for both your website and retail partners (12:00). Luke shifts to why customer reviews and YouTube influencers are a vital part of their launch strategy (15:20), discussing the most valuable types of on-site content (18:50) and elements of a successful YouTube video (21:00). Next, Luke dissects paid ad strategies and how opportunities on marketplaces impact a launched product’s ROI (24:10). He then discusses the importance of product reviews and his strategy for collecting early reviews (26:40) before wrapping up with contingencies for launches that don’t go as planned (33:20). He finishes by sharing some launch strategy pitfalls (39:30) and the biggest mistakes he sees other companies make when launching their own products (43:00). 

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I’m joined by Carson Finkle, CEO at Tenth Street Hats, to discuss using augmented reality (AR) and 3D product imaging on websites. Carson starts by describing their target audience and why they tested AR on their website (3:00). He explains what the experience looks like for the end-user and why they went with a web-based approach instead of an app-based one (4:50). Carson then explains why they tested AR on their website (7:30) and what the setup process was like (9:00). Carson then breaks down cost considerations (10:20) and balancing these costs with traditional content creation (11:00). Next, he shares results from products that used the AR functionality (11:40). Carson dives into using style quizzes to deliver a unique welcome series experience and other ways they bring awareness to their AR functionality (14:15). He discusses why they removed discounts for consumers who shared their AR-generated photos on Instagram, how they envision using AR to expand their customer base (18:30) and the most surprising thing learned after implementing AR and 3D imaging tools (21:20). Carson then shifts to the customer experience, describing their buy now, pay later option (22:30) and what he sees as the next step for improving online shopping experiences (24:00) before ending with their most successful digital marketing tactics (33:30).

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Bob Hitching, CEO of Playable, joins the podcast to discuss how the time to use video in email marketing has finally arrived. Bob starts by explaining why video is now an effective element of email marketing (2:20), then discusses ways to overcome time and resource constraints of video production (4:30) and use pre-existing video content (6:00). Bob then dives into how to use data, such as location and time of day, to make video even more relevant to subscribers (8:30). He then shares video content test results (11:00) and advice on optimizing messages based on those results (12:45), and then how the video experience differs from animated GIFs (15:50). He covers how to handle email clients that don’t support video (17:00), offers examples of how retailers using video in email (18:00), and what to expect when using video (19:40). Finally, Bob offers advice on how to get started using video in your email marketing, from selecting content and tools to overcoming time constraints with AI (23:00).

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