The FODcast

Pricing in retail still isn’t where it needs to be.

In this episode of The FODcast (and the launch of Season 8), we sit down with Meghan Stabler (Co-Founder and CMO at AI-driven, contextual pricing platform alentr) to explore why pricing remains one of the most complex and underdeveloped areas in digital commerce.

Drawing on her experience as former SVP of Global Marketing at BigCommerce where she helped scale the business through to IPO, Meghan shares a clear and practical perspective on the gap between performance metrics and pricing strategy - and what businesses need to rethink.

We cover:

•  Margin vs conversion - why strong performance doesn’t always mean pricing is right
•  The reality of discounting - easy to implement, harder to sustain
•  AI in pricing - where it adds value and where it still falls short
•  Static vs dynamic models - why many businesses remain reactive
•  Pricing guardrails - protecting margin while staying competitive

If pricing is still being treated as a periodic review rather than an active, strategic lever, this is a conversation worth your time.

🎧 Listen | Comment | Share

#FODcast #DigitalCommerce #Retail #PricingStrategy #AI #eCommerce

Simply Commerce is the leading supplier of talent into digital commerce across technology, digital marketing, product, sales, and leadership.

Find our more about our approach and our services within digital commerce recruitment here: https://simply-commerce.co.uk/

B2B commerce complexity isn’t just technical. It’s organisational, behavioural and cultural.

On this week’s episode of The FODcast, James sits down with Tom Williams, Head of Commerce at UNRVLD to unpack why B2B transformations stall…and what actually gets them moving.

We cover a whole host of topics including:

• Complex pricing + org structures: different users, permissions and hierarchies; and why it needs uncovering early
• Legacy order channels (email, punchout, OCR and more): you often can’t “switch it off” even if it’s inefficient
• Customer-first vs tech-first: most businesses start with a feature tick list, not customer behaviour
• Digital maturity reality checks: why teams think they’re further along than they are
• Integration first: a robust middleware approach that lets you change systems without breaking everything else

If you’re modernising B2B, this is a practical conversation: start with the “as is”, map the “to be”, then make progress iteratively - without forcing a big bang.

🎧 Listen | Comment | Share

Simply Commerce is the leading supplier of talent into digital commerce across technology, digital marketing, product, sales, and leadership.

Find our more about our approach and our services within digital commerce recruitment here: https://simply-commerce.co.uk/

“People sleepwalk without intent.”

That’s how Jim Tattersall, Founder & CTO at Rotate°, describes one of the most common causes of failed commerce transformations.

In the latest episode of The FODcast, Jim and Andy Jackson (Rotate’s Chief Creative Officer) unpack why brands often reach for tools, platforms and architectures before they’ve properly defined the problem they’re trying to solve.

They discuss:

• How hype cycles push teams into reactive decisions
• Why over-reliance on third-party tools creeps in unnoticed
• The risk of building teams around technology rather than outcomes
• Why intent matters more than architecture

The message is measured but clear: progress comes from clarity, not momentum.
 
 This really was a great 3-way conversation with our Director of Client Engagement, James…and really frames some of the background and points raised in Rotate’s recent Tech Report.

#DigitalCommerce #TechnologyStrategy #Leadership #FODcast
 

Simply Commerce is the leading supplier of talent into digital commerce across technology, digital marketing, product, sales, and leadership.

Find our more about our approach and our services within digital commerce recruitment here: https://simply-commerce.co.uk/

“We’re kind of drowning in a sea of sameness.”

That’s how Rob Hoekman, Senior Director of Experience Consulting at Empathy Lab by EPAM describes the state of ecommerce today.

On this week’s episode of The FODcast, our CEO Tim and Rob unpack how decades of optimisation and best practice have led to convergence - in platforms, patterns and experiences - and why differentiation is getting harder, not easier.

They explore:

• How ecommerce capability has become commoditised
• Why replatforming now delivers smaller gains than it once did
• The risk created by years of customisation and legacy
• Why brands are being pushed to rethink their entire commerce fabric

Rob’s view is measured but direct: the next phase of growth won’t come from chasing new stacks, but from rethinking how commerce ecosystems are designed and operated.

🎧 Listen | Comment | Share

#DigitalCommerce #DigitalStrategy #Engineering #FODcast
 

Simply Commerce is the leading supplier of talent into digital commerce across technology, digital marketing, product, sales, and leadership.

Find our more about our approach and our services within digital commerce recruitment here: https://simply-commerce.co.uk/

“It’s not the licence cost that kills you; it’s the invisible overhead.”

That’s how Serge El Hachem, Director of Solutions Engineering at Lazer Technologies, describes what’s really slowing enterprise commerce down.

On this week’s episode of The FODcast, host James and Serge unpack how global retailers are simplifying their stacks, cutting total cost of ownership, and finding real speed on Shopify.

We also cover:

• The invisible overhead - multiple vendors, fragile integrations, endless QA and DevOps cycles.
• Where costs shrink fastest; hosting, scaling, PCI and security handled natively, no AWS bills or patching.
• Speed as the unlock - six-month builds become six-week sprints, compounding learning and growth.
• App strategy that scales - Serge’s rule: every app should automate, measure, or personalise, or it’s bloat.
• Enterprise maturity - extensible checkout, powerful promo logic, and fast-maturing B2B capabilities.

With two decades in engineering and eight years focused on Shopify, Serge’s insight is clear: simplify the architecture, and growth follows.

🎧 Listen | Enjoy | Comment | Share

Simply Commerce is the leading supplier of talent into digital commerce across technology, digital marketing, product, sales, and leadership.

Find our more about our approach and our services within digital commerce recruitment here: https://simply-commerce.co.uk/

Confused about what’s actually working in digital commerce right now?
 
You’re not alone. Between US conversion chaos, rising costs, and AI hype, it’s hard to tell what moves the needle and what’s just noise.

On this week’s episode of  The FODcast, host Tim Roedel sits down with Jamie Vaughan, ex MD at Signifly, to cut through the chatter and get practical about what to fix first.

Here’s what we cover: 

• The “Donald effect” impacting US growth - and how to rebuild confidence through landed cost clarity and reassurance
• Conversion that counts: prioritising high-impact experiments using RICE (Reach, Impact, Cost, Effort)
•  Life after cookies: why attribution and cohort analysis (with tools like Triple Whale) are now essentials
•  Turning first-party data into your growth engine - not a last-ditch paid ads replacement

Plus, real examples, clear takeaways, and no fluff.
 
 If you’re scaling, re-platforming, or rethinking your funnel for 2025, you’ll want to hear this one.

🎧 Listen now
 
 #DigitalCommerce #Ecommerce #Shopify #AI #DataStrategy #Search #CRO #FODcast

Simply Commerce is the leading supplier of talent into digital commerce across technology, digital marketing, product, sales, and leadership.

Find our more about our approach and our services within digital commerce recruitment here: https://simply-commerce.co.uk/

"Accessibility isn’t a niche feature set; it’s the operating system of a fair and profitable digital world."

On this week’s episode of The FODcast, James sits down with Hilary Stephenson, Managing Director at Nexer Digital, to unpack how inclusive design drives growth, reduces risk, and builds trust across every customer journey.

In our chat, we cover a whole host of things, including:

• The European Accessibility Act - what’s in scope, what deadlines matter, and why compliance is only the floor, not the ceiling
• The biggest friction points in retail journeys - and how to turn them into wins through clear content, contrast, and keyboard-friendly design
• What government digital services get right: co-design, testing with assistive tech, and radical transparency
• How inclusive design and immersive commerce can coexist, and why heavy scripts, pop-ups, and “dark patterns” are just bad UX
• The practical sequence to start today: set a baseline, “fix the six,” publish an honest accessibility statement, and keep testing

With more than 25 years in content, UX and inclusive service design, Hilary brings the experience of someone who’s helped make accessibility business-critical for leading brands and public sector organisations alike.

Tune in, enjoy, and let us know your thoughts!

Simply Commerce is the leading supplier of talent into digital commerce across technology, digital marketing, product, sales, and leadership.

Find our more about our approach and our services within digital commerce recruitment here: https://simply-commerce.co.uk/

AI is not just changing tools, it is changing teams, skills and how customers find you online.

In this week’s episode of The FODcast, host James Hodges sits down with Rob Goodwin, Chief Data Officer at MSQ Partners, to talk about what is moving fast, what is hype, and what leaders should fix now.

We cover: 

• AI agents for triage, code generation and repetitive analytics, and what that means for junior and mid-level roles
• The rise of AI Ops to monitor, tune and audit models in production
• Why first-party data quality still beats shiny tools, and how to clean and enrich what you already have
• Practical steps to align clickstream, CRM and purchase data so personalisation actually works
• Trust in an AI world, including QA, transparent citations and brand-owned communities

If your 2025 plan touches AI, data or search, this one is absolutely ESSENTIAL listening.
 
🎧 Tune in now

#AI #DataStrategy #DigitalCommerce #MarTech #Search #Personalisation #FODcast

Simply Commerce is the leading supplier of talent into digital commerce across technology, digital marketing, product, sales, and leadership.

Find our more about our approach and our services within digital commerce recruitment here: https://simply-commerce.co.uk/

We’ve got an extra special episode of The FODcast dropping this week - not only do we have both Tim Roedel AND James Hodges side by side in the interviewer’s seat once again, but we’re also joined by two guests from global commerce agency Domaine, Kim Samuelsen and Max Rolon. 

In this four-way chat, we discuss how Shopify’s native capabilities now handle serious complexity across EMEA without the overhead of composable stacks - and what that means for brands weighing platform choice, expansion, and cost control. 

From Markets and meta objects to multilingual storefronts and local payment methods, we explore what’s changed, what still trips brands up, and where the smart money goes when every budget line is under pressure. 

The conversation digs into: 

• The real barriers of European expansion - compliance, duties, and fulfilment quirks like lockers and pickup points
• When to stick with Shopify Payments versus legacy gateways
• Why clean, centralised data underpins everything from AI personalisation to CRM efficiency
• How unified commerce is replacing brittle omnichannel integrations 

You’ll also hear real-world examples; from a Magento-to-Shopify B2B migration that finally brought B2B online to an enterprise furniture launch that hit a 23-week timeline and lifted conversion by 19%. 

If you’re weighing platform choice, entering Europe, or tightening spend ahead of Q1, this is your field guide to cutting TCO without cutting ambition.

 🎧 Enjoy! 

#ShopifyPlus #Ecommerce #DigitalCommerce #UnifiedCommerce #PlatformMigration #FODcast  

Simply Commerce is the leading supplier of talent into digital commerce across technology, digital marketing, product, sales, and leadership.

Find our more about our approach and our services within digital commerce recruitment here: https://simply-commerce.co.uk/

What makes a 20-year veteran development team bet everything on Shopify?

According to Bob Rockland, Co-Founder of Code (now part of Domaine), the answer lies in both economics and technology. In the latest episode of The FODcast, Bob takes us inside Code’s journey to becoming the world’s largest dedicated Shopify partner - and why no client they’ve migrated in the last seven years has ever gone back.

We cover:

• The Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) myths CFOs often miss – and why Salesforce can be 35% more expensive than Shopify
• How Code migrated a well-known retail brand from Salesforce to Shopify in just six months
• Why payment service provider (PSP) fees are often the single biggest hidden cost for enterprise merchants
• The three actions every brand should take to reduce platform costs: cut redundant apps, renegotiate regularly, and avoid long-term contracts
• Where AI fits (and doesn’t) in enterprise commerce – and what to expect from Shopify’s rapid B2B roadmap

Bob also shares how Code’s TCO calculator helps brands uncover their true costs with surprising accuracy, giving enterprise teams the clarity they need to make smarter platform decisions.

If you’re exploring a platform migration or want to understand the real economics of Shopify vs. legacy platforms, this episode of The FODcast is a must-listen.

Simply Commerce is the leading supplier of talent into digital commerce across technology, digital marketing, product, sales, and leadership.

Find our more about our approach and our services within digital commerce recruitment here: https://simply-commerce.co.uk/