The JetRails Podcast

Browser extensions like Honey and Capital One Shopping (formerly Wikibuy) promise to give shoppers the best coupon codes at checkout automatically. For merchants, it's like someone's standing at the checkout handing out photocopies of exclusive coupons - something they'd never stand for at brick-and-mortar stores. Shoppers wind up using coupons that weren't intended for them, hurting margins and making it harder to attribute sales to marketing and retention campaigns.

So, we called in an expert to discuss both the problems and solutions.

Guest: Matt Gillis, Clean.io

Host: Robert Rand, JetRails.com

Whether you're a frontend dev, backend dev, eCommerce manager, marketer, or other stakeholder, figuring out how to gain expertise in Magento can be difficult. If you want to improve your work and advance your business or career, you'll appreciate this episode!

We cover everything from where to get started, to how to become a rockstar in the Magento community.

Guest: Joseph Maxwell, SwiftOtter.com

Host: Robert Rand, JetRails.com

Some of the resources mentioned in this episode include:

Info About SwiftOtter Magento Developer Survey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9k5yMQHiIM

#CommunityCollaboration article about Magento speed optimization tools: https://jetrails.com/blog/recommended-magento-speed-optimization-tools/

As consumers, we are the product. The data that we generate has value. Individuals, however, are increasingly getting a say in what happens to their data.

Much like sales tax collection, this puts a burden on eCommerce store owners, who need to comply with an increasing number of laws from different jurisdictions. This includes GDPR from the EU, CCPA from California, LGPD down in Brazil, and now VCDPA in Virginia.

States, countries, and regions are demanding that their citizens have the right to be forgotten (the right to the erasure of their data), along with a range of other rights, from the ability to access and rectify information to the ability to copy or move their data (ie. data portability).

What does this mean for eCommerce merchants in terms of compliance? Does using 3rd party vendors and apps reduce risks and obligations? What do the risks and fines look like if you have a data breach or otherwise run afoul of these laws? How does this impact your day-to-day operation, and are you at risk of not meeting customer expectations? We tackle these questions and more in this discussion about what merchants need to know about privacy in 2021!

Guest: Mate Prgin, Enzuzo.com

Host: Robert Rand, JetRails.com

Online shoppers compare your prices to those of other eCommerce stores. How do you track and use competitor pricing and inventory availability? Can this practice help you to increase your prices? Which products should you track, and how often should you adjust prices? Not sure? Well, get ready to learn how eCommerce merchants are tracking competitors and optimizing their product prices continuously in this episode about eCommerce product price comparison, analysis, and strategy.

Guest: Burc Tanir, Prisync.com

Host: Robert Rand, JetRails.com

Highly customizable applications like Drupal and Magento have made auto-updating elusive. For some, allocating resources to patch and update software in a timely fashion can be a challenge. So, we asked an expert in the area of auto-updating these kinds of platforms what a healthy workflow can look like.

Tune in to learn about the pros and cons of common practices for updating CMS, eCommerce, and other open-source software. This includes whether following generalized compliance standards like PCI is enough to keep your website safe.

Guest: Johannes Noll, Codario.io & CodeShield.io

Host: Robert Rand, JetRails.com

We frequently discuss increasing conversion rates, average order values, and customer lifetime values, so we thought it would be helpful to focus this episode on the mice, as opposed to making it all about the mousetraps.

Guest: Will Laurenson, CustomersWhoClick.com

Host: Robert Rand, JetRails.com

Email marketing is important to most successful eCommerce organizations, but lots of organizations are bottlenecked and don't leverage all of the bells and whistles that their email platforms support. So, we thought it would be helpful to talk about what you can get help with, and what you should avoid trying to outsource.

Let's assume that your newsletter and sale emails are going out and getting a good response. Here are some questions you can still be asking yourself:

- Are your transactional emails wowing shoppers and driving them to make more purchases?

- Are you reactivating email subscribers that have stopped opening your messages?

- Have you set up triggered emails to remind shoppers to come back and reorder goods that are typically consumed or used up in a certain time frame?

- Do you automatically send abandoned browse emails?

- When's the last time that you checked if your list was clean and your domain had a good sending reputation?

If any of this strikes a chord, be sure to tune in to learn more about what you can do (or outsource) to kick your eCommerce email marketing into high gear!

Guest: Mike Arsenault, Rejoiner.com

Host: Robert Rand, JetRails.com

Recommended Reading: https://jetrails.com/blog/should-you-host-your-emails-on-your-ecommerce-web-server/

eCommerce is always evolving. In this episode, you'll hear stories from 3 industry insiders as they discuss what's already changed, what's changing... and even some predictions. Along the way, you'll learn about the intersections of eCommerce with other important areas, like Sales Tax and ERP solutions. You'll also hear about different disruptions and improvements for different eCommerce merchants, including B2C/B2B and SMB/Mid-Market/Enterprise.

Have you been missing sitting down with experts at eCommerce trade shows and learning what's really going on? Then strap yourself in and get ready for our longest episode yet!

Guests:

Ted Stenstrom, KensiumSolutions.com

Shannon Kelly, VertexInc.com

Host:

Robert Rand, JetRails.com

There's something to be said for experiences where we look past AI and allow shoppers to help optimize their own experiences. If you've ever been a regular at a restaurant or a local store, you know what I'm talking about. You walk in, and the staff already know what you like - because you've told them. It's not about guessing and averages, it's about listening to shoppers and treating them like highly-valued individuals. So, we called in an expert to discuss how merchants are allowing eCommerce shoppers to personalize their own shopping experiences.

Guest: Gen Furukawa, Prehook.com

Host: Robert Rand, JetRails.com

Recommended Resources:

If you enjoyed learning from Gen, check out his podcast: https://www.cartoverflow.com/

eCommerce businesses are now data companies. Data helps merchants find the best marketing channels and campaigns. It assists in optimizing on-site experiences, and even efforts to retain customers for the long haul. In this episode, we focused on tips, tools, and recommendations for merchants that want to use data to be more successful in 2021. That includes newer products like Google Analytics 4 and Microsoft Clarity, but also important and evolving concepts around cookies, bot traffic, and other important considerations.

Guest: Chris Mercer, MeasurementMarketing.io

Host: Robert Rand, JetRails.com

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Your free measurement marketing toolbox, courtesy of Mercer: https://measurementmarketing.io/jetrails