Are you lagging behind in the world of generative AI tools? Join us on today's episode as we explore the complexities of generative content and copyright with a true data scientist - Matt Ranta from Nimble Gravity - who knows the power of experimentation and iteration! Learn how your business can accelerate growth and productivity by utilizing these tools. Don't let fear hold you back, instead learn how to use these tools to your advantage. ABOUT MATT:Matt Ranta, a digital dynamo and Head of Practice at Nimble Gravity, revolutionizes Digital Transformation, E-Commerce, and Strategy for clients ranging from startups to billion-dollar giants. Tackling diverse industries like healthcare, DTC clothing, and endangered species protection, Matt's expertise propels businesses into the future with data science, digital strategy, and cutting-edge e-commerce solutions. With his team at Nimble Gravity, Matt redefines success by transforming the way organizations operate and excel.Here’s a summary of the great stuff that we cover in this show:Generative AI can be used to create massive amounts of SEO friendly content and accelerate growth for e-commerce businesses by generating articles, blogs, product photography, and more. Using a short prompt, the AI generates content in seconds, saving time and money while increasing productivity.Artificially generated content may be penalized by search engines like Google, so businesses need to find the right mix of using AI and human editing to create unique and factually accurate content.The use of generative AI for written content is currently the largest area of application, and it can replicate a brand's tone of voice and values. Nimble Gravity utilizes generative AI usage regularly for tasks such as content creation.They use data science to extract insights from an organization's data quickly and iteratively, combining industry expertise, technology, and mathematical algorithms to output models around customer interaction and foot traffic for marketing messaging and placement modification.Smaller eCommerce businesses can utilize productized data science platforms and conduct regression studies in Excel or Google Sheets, to understand their data and create hypotheses. Being a data scientist is more about being curious and willing to experiment with data.Matt says that the biggest opportunity that e-commerce entrepreneurs are not taking advantage of is AB testing, which can increase the outputs of their e-commerce operation. Even if their website doesn't have enough traffic, they can still do lo-fi testing and iterate to see if they can increase their conversions.For complete show notes, transcript and links to our guest, check out our website: www.ecommerce-podcast.com.

Do you feel like your online shopping experience is lacking? Are you tired of being recommended the same products over and over again?Tune in to today's episode of eCommerce Podcast where our special guest Alan Gormley from Shopbox shares the secrets for your retail business to achieve success through the power of AI. In this episode, we explore how AI is revolutionizing the e-commerce game and creating personalized experiences for customers. From curating products to understanding price elasticity, discover how AI can change the way your customers shop online and help your business win big!ABOUT ALAN:Meet Alan Gormley, the mastermind behind Shopbox AI! With a superhero's cape made from 25 years of AI and retail wisdom, Alan swooped into the eCommerce arena to level the playing field. His mission? To arm David-sized retailers with Goliath-beating AI tools, opening a world where every retailer gets a shot at the big league!Here’s a summary of the great stuff that we cover in this show:Shopbox AI creates a unique store for each customer that comes onto a website, aiming to level the playing field for all retailers and put the store back at the center of e-commerce. The AI helps retailers by understanding a customer early and building a path for them to feel serviced, get suggestions, stumble across stuff, and naturally buy more items at times even more expensive.Alan advises that e-commerce retailers start selling through service and create a unique store per customer rather than managing their store like they manage a shelf. By introducing AI technology such as a curated homepage and creating a personal shopping space for each customer, retailers could make everything about the customer and ensure they don't go back to a generic store competitor.The strategy is to constantly draw customers deeper into the website in order to increase conversion rates, similar to how shop assistants guide customers in physical stores. The focus is on inspiring customers and suggesting better products to create value, rather than just providing easy access to products with lower prices.Alan also discusses strategies to improve the customer experience in e-commerce, including the use of an AI shop assistant to help customers quickly find interesting products, curation of a variety of products with context, and a fuzzier approach to cross-selling by showing related items earlier in the shopping process rather than at the end. These strategies aim to create a better overall experience for the customer and ultimately lead to increased sales.AI can help eCommerce websites combat the long tail problem by showing customers products from their favorite brand that they may not have considered before. He emphasizes that AI can enhance the customer experience without requiring website changes, as AI can dynamically suggest products based on merchandisers' inputs. Additionally, he warns against vendors who claim to offer automated AI solutions, as AI still requires human input and intelligent data analysis.For complete show notes, transcript and links to our guest, check out our website: www.ecommerce-podcast.com.

Want to cash out your Shopify store in weeks instead of months? That's the promise today's guest on the eCommerce Podcast is making.Tune in to this week's episode where Matt is joined by Fabio Savi from Everstores - the one-stop-shop for acquiring and operating Shopify businesses. Fabio shares the secrets to their bold promise and the art and science behind it all. You wouldn't want to miss out on this conversation!About FABIO:Fabio is the rockstar ex-banker who's now leading the acquisitions team at Everstores! With lightning-fast turnaround times, Fabio and his team can snag Shopify stores in just a few weeks! And with a data-driven approach to every aspect of the process, from acquisition to due diligence to operation, there's no doubt that Fabio and his team are the true rockstars of the industry. Plus, with some of the smartest data scientists and machine learning engineers in the game, the process is guaranteed to be both smooth and transparent.Here’s a summary of the great stuff that we cover in this show:Everstores is a technology company that uses its tech stack to acquire and integrate Shopify stores and provide a unified dashboard for merchants to manage their operations.They prefer certain verticals such as pets, mother and baby, and mental health, but consider investing in any store if there is a promising investment case thesis. However, certain categories pose operational and legal challenges that may make it difficult to advertise and internationalize.Fabio discusses their inside-out valuation methodology in acquiring Shopify businesses, which includes the use of two models: customer behavior and customer acquisition cost. They focus on businesses with a high customer retention rate and profitability on a base level before factoring in other costs. They prioritize finding a business with a great product-market fit and community.When acquiring e-commerce businesses, Everstores focuses on maintaining the original brand voice and running the business in the same way as the owner did. They do not tie the owner into the business post-acquisition and do not require them to stay on as consultants or restrict them from starting a similar business in a different space.The common mistakes that business owners make when selling their business are not running the business while focusing on the exit and focusing too much on crafting a story around what the buyer can do with the business.For complete show notes, transcript and links to our guest, check out our website: www.ecommerce-podcast.com.

In this special Spotlight Episode, we take a break from the usual deep dive into specific e-commerce topics, and instead, shine a light on "Mason", a company that's making waves and doing some pretty impressive work in the world of eCommerce and AI. Kaus Manjita, the founder of Mason joins Matt to talk about how the company that was launched amidst the pandemic in 2020 has been growing steadily for the past three years and how they leverage powerful systems and technology to help smaller brands succeed!ABOUT KAUS:Kausambi is an award-winning founder and serial product builder with 16+ years of building products for commerce enablement. She’s also a passionate customer evangelist who strives to make tech simple for everyone to get benefitted from. In her personal life, you'll always find her in the midst of people - entrepreneurs, developers, marketers, brand makers, designers... over coffee, on zoom, on Instagram, or via podcasts. Earlier in her career, Kaus has worked at IBM Commerce, Myntra, Paytm across Atlanta, SFO & India. She now splits her time between Toronto and Bangalore, and leads a global team of makers at Mason.Here’s a summary of the great stuff that we cover in this show:Mason was created to simplify the powerful systems used by large corporations and make them accessible to solo-preneurs, brands, and entrepreneurs to empower their sales and revenue goals using technology.It is an online commerce platform that aims to eliminate the middleman and connect brands directly with consumers through discovery and engagement, helping consumers find what they love at the right price and time and assisting sellers in selling better.Mason uses AI to simplify and optimize decision-making processes to help connect shoppers with the right sellers and products at the right time while taking into account various data signals.Mason's technology has helped small e-commerce businesses increase sales and improve customer engagement through personalized and non-intrusive reminders and discounts.No-code is a movement that simplifies complex technology, giving subject matter experts the power to create apps and run their businesses on their own terms, making it easier and faster to test new ideas and strategies.Kaus says that future of shopping lies in personalized experiences for consumers, enabled by technology like generative AI and no code, with an emphasis on understanding the shopper on the other side.For complete show notes, transcript and links to our guest, check out our website: www.ecommerce-podcast.com.

Did you know that the number one reason customers cancel subscriptions is because they get too much product?Tune in to this week's episode of the eCommerce Podcast where Matt is joined by Ben Fisher from Rodeo to talk about how to make your subscriptions model stand out from the rest and give your customers the best experience while retaining them for a long time. We delve deep into the main problems associated with standard subscription models and how brands can address these concerns and improve the overall subscription experience. You do not want to miss this episode!ABOUT BEN:Ben started his entrepreneurial journey as a kid in Maine and later worked at a tech startup during the first Dot Com boom. He co-founded CartHook - a checkout optimization platform for DTC ecommerce brands that has processed over $1 billion on behalf of merchants. He now runs Rodeo, a platform that offers personalization features to maximize customer retention and lifetime value for 8-figure DTC brands that utilize subscription-based models.Here’s a summary of the great stuff that we cover in this show:Ben discusses the importance of a good customer experience, specifically with subscriptions. He emphasizes that brands should consider the nuances and individual consumption patterns of their customers, and offers a solution called "on-demand" reminders that give consumers more control and eliminate the concern of getting too much or running out of a product. Convenience is key in consumer subscriptions and figuring out the most convenient method for each individual is important for maximizing customer lifetime value. Brands can offer questionnaires or check-ins to tailor the subscription to individual preferences rather than assuming everyone needs the same subscription model. Reminder emails or texts leading up to the desired replenishment period can also be helpful in simplifying the subscription process for customers.Ben discusses the different subscription options offered by the company, including a standard subscription, on-demand feature, and one-time purchase option. The on-demand feature allows for convenience and eliminates checkout friction while still allowing for upsells and cross sells. The segmenting of customers and addressing their reasons for canceling or skipping subscriptions also helps to retain customers and offer a better-suited program for their consumption style.If the customer wants to delay the next purchase, they can select the snooze feature which suggests pre-filled periods of three to five days, one week, and other options to remind users that they may be running out of the product soon and would they like to order some more? However, some users can explicitly choose a date and sometimes even up to three months in advance.Ben & Matt explore the perks of subscriptions and how to add value beyond just getting subscribers. They discuss the importance of thoughtfully designing membership programs, offering benefits like free shipping, members-only pricing, and individual subscriptions, and the risks of discounting subscriptions too much and attracting the wrong customers. The focus is on providing the best experience for each customer and creating a healthy, sustainable subscription model.Matt talks about a a subscription he signed up for which he had forgotten about and was charged $1000 without warning. Ben explains that if the company had been proactive with their onboarding process and personalized their messaging, they may have been able to retain him as a customer. A bad experience can leave a negative impression on a customer.For complete show notes, transcript and links to our guest, check out our website: www.ecommerce-podcast.com.

Do you want to build long-term customer loyalty and a sustainable business? Tune into today's episode of Push To Be More as our special guest, Monica Sharma-Patnekar reveals her top tips to help you do that. Learn how building customer relationships and consistently translating it into all aspects of the business can help your business stay ahead of the curve. ABOUT MONICA:Monica is an eCommerce brand mentor & consultant, a purpose-driven (digital) brand, marketing & strategy professional with 17 years of global experience building brands. She’s worked across diverse sectors and companies from Fortune500 to scale- & start-ups.Here’s a summary of the great stuff that we cover in this show:Monica emphasizes the importance of recognizing individual human beings behind the numbers in e-commerce, building long-term relationships with customers, and creating purpose-driven brands for sustainable and profitable businesses.Getting to know your customers through deep dive customer interviews is key to understanding their core needs, wants, and desires. This understanding leads to shifts in mindset and helps businesses add value and deliver what customers really want. Monica discusses the importance of having conversations with customers and understanding their desires, behaviors, and experiences to improve business outcomes. She also suggests recording the conversation to take notes and pick out snippets that can be used for marketing purposes.Businesses should make an effort to talk to their customers on a regular basis to gain a deeper understanding of their needs and preferences. Monica recommends doing this on a monthly basis, involving different teams within the company to maintain consistency and stay ahead of the curve.While customer personas based on actual customer conversations and understanding are helpful, going into too much unnecessary detail should be avoided. Instead, focusing on the core desires of the customer and avoiding building in personal assumptions is key to developing effective customer personas.To find out the desires of customers, brands can ask for customer stories to get unique insights into what really matters to their customers and what emotional elements are involved in their decision-making process. This can help brands tailor their messages and products to better meet the needs of their customers.For complete show notes, transcript and links to our guest, check out our website: www.ecommerce-podcast.com.

Are you an entrepreneur looking to expand your business and find new suppliers? In this episode, Sebastian Herz from Zignify joins Matt to talk all things product sourcing. Tune in to discover how to source products for your website, common mistakes to avoid while sourcing products globally and save millions of dollars on your product purchasing cost. Whether you're just starting out in eCommerce or have a business already, you won't want to miss this episode of the eCommerce Podcast .ABOUT SEBASTIAN:Sebastian Herz is an eCommerce expert with a wealth of experience dating back to 2014. He has successfully launched two brands that are now available in popular retail outlets such as Kaufland, Globus, Rewe and Saturn, and has sold over 500,000 products across various platforms including Amazon, Shopify and Retail. Sebastian not only helps other sellers source high-quality products, but also guides them through the process of reaching wider audiences, including TV shopping and Big Box Retail.Here’s a summary of the great stuff that we cover in this show:Sebastian started his career in industrial automation and decided to start his own business after 12 years of working. He started sourcing his own products in China and eventually began helping other brands with their sourcing needs through word of mouth. Zignify Global Product Sourcing has now helped thousands of sellers get their brands ready for sale.If you are a new in ecommerce, before sourcing products for your online business, you need to decide whether you want to focus on making a profit or building a brand from the heart. You should also figure out where you want to source products from and decide whether you want to learn the process yourself or outsource it.Sebastian explains that the bigger the niche, the more competitors you will have, while digging deeper into a smaller niche can result in higher prices but require more certifications. Finding the right place to sell your product is key, just having a website is not enough, and knowing how to attract customers is crucial.For existing brands, Zignify helps find additional products that can be sourced, potentially from outside of China, to improve sales and reduce costs, particularly for top selling products, which can result in significant savings for a business. The focus is on quality while also increasing revenue and bottom line savings.When sourcing products globally, it's important to contact multiple producers, compare prices, and do quality control on your samples and mass production. It's also crucial to check the background of the suppliers to ensure they are legitimate producers and not trading companies, as well as speak the local language for effective communication.When sourcing products, common mistakes include not getting enough proposals, not checking quality control enough, and not having enough patience when sourcing outside of China where there is no Alibaba. It may take multiple attempts to contact potential suppliers, and smaller potential customers may be overlooked by suppliers who prioritize larger customers.For complete show notes, transcript and links to our guest, check out our website: www.ecommerce-podcast.com.

Are you a content creator or a business owner looking for ways to connect with your audience? John Roman from BattlBox joins Matt in this episode of the eCommerce Podcast to share valuable insights from the tremendous success of his own business and on creating & testing content that resonates with your audience that you won't want to miss. Tune in now to discover the power of content in building strong, engaged communities.ABOUT JOHN:Meet John Roman - the CEO and Co-Founder of the electrifying BattlBox Group, home to three explosive brands: BattlBox, Carnivore Club, and Wanlow. With a whopping $30M eCommerce subscription portfolio, this group is all about building strong content and community - so much so that they've even landed their own Netflix show! The excitement doesn't end there, as The BattlBox Group was recently acquired in October 2021.Here’s a summary of the great stuff that we cover in this show:John discusses his involvement in the creation and development of BattlBox, a subscription box service for outdoor and survival gear. He initially became involved as an investor with the intention of providing business advice, but his involvement quickly grew until he eventually joined the company full-time.BattlBox initially used YouTube influencers to build their brand on the platform, but later discovered a paying customer with a successful YouTube channel who became their full-time content creator and helped them build a community of like-minded individuals who loved their product.The Battlbox YouTube channel and subscription box business focuses on creating content that connects with consumers by educating and entertaining them about the outdoor adventure lifestyle, fostering a community through a Facebook group exclusive to active subscribers, and emphasizing the importance of brand connection. John suggests consistently posting short-form content and testing different types of content to find what resonates with your audience. When you find that one video or type of content that gets more views, double down on it and create variations to continue testing. Don't give up and believe in your content, even if it takes time to see success.Content marketing is effective for top of funnel engagement but does not convert at the same rate as paid targeted traffic. However, it still provides value and allows for remarketing and segmenting to convert highly engaged fits into customers through traditional e-commerce methods. Additionally, content marketing can lead to search engine optimization through proper descriptions and hashtags on platforms like TikTok and YouTube.John explains how their team is constantly working to keep their content fresh and meet rising expectations. They have found a helpful tool in chat GPT, which has given them ideas and even helped them come up with better questions for their content. Chat GPT is being used to leverage faster and stronger content creation, saving them hours in the process.The key takeaway from the conversation is to diversify lead sources and not rely on a single platform or area for customers, while also doubling down on successful campaigns and overselling to capitalize on victories.For complete show notes, transcript and links to our guest, check out our website: www.ecommerce-podcast.com.

Are you struggling to make your Facebook Ads work for your business? Tune in to today's episode of the eCommerce Podcast where Marin Ištvanić from Inspire Agency joins Matt to talk about all things Facebook Ads. In the last 12 months, Marin has spent over $30 Million on Facebook ads, and today he’s going to share some of his go-to Facebook ads strategies and learnings as well as some additional tips and tricks to help you do the same. You don't want to miss out on this one!ABOUT MARIN:In the past 7 years, Marin has gone from freelancer contractor to head of performance at Inspire agency. He leads a boutique agency working with a handful of selected clients while providing service for paid social. Besides the agency, he’s a partner at a few in-house brands he helped scale and exit. He’s also 2x GeekOut speaker and 1x Affiliate World Asia speaker.Here’s a summary of the great stuff that we cover in this show:The biggest misconception when using Facebook ads for e-commerce stores is thinking that optimizing for add-to-cart or traffic will lead to sales; the optimal conversion goal is always sales. Additionally, in order to effectively use ads, a well-established product market fit and proven offer and funnel are necessary.Maximizing the efficiency of Facebook ads for your e-commerce store comes down to focusing on a proven market with a good offer, using psychological and marketing tricks in your advertising, and prioritizing your creative, messaging, and targeting based on different levels of sophistication and awareness in your funnel.A unique identifier in Facebook ads creative needs to provide tangible benefits such as saving time, money, or improving effectiveness compared to competitors. To find people who could create user-generated content (UGC) for your business's Facebook ads, you can reach out to creative agencies or search for UGC creators on Instagram or Twitter. The cost of UGC creation ranges from gifting a free product to $5k per video, but it depends on your strategy for using the content in your ads.According to Marin, the best way to stay up to date with the latest trends in Facebook advertising for e-commerce and media buying in the D2C space is to join the Twitter D2C community where people are constantly sharing and providing value. He highly recommends being on Twitter for those seeking to grow their store and connect with other professionals.Choosing a Facebook ads agency requires looking for proof of competence, specific deliverables, communication, and a good bedding in period of a few weeks. It's also important for the client to have a pro market fit and spend at least 1K per day on Facebook ads. Transparency and a comprehensive plan are crucial for success.For complete show notes, transcript and links to our guest, check out our website: www.ecommerce-podcast.com.

Have you ever wondered why subscription businesses like HelloFresh and Netflix are so successful and why should you consider having a subscription model for your ecommerce business?Tune in to this episode of the eCommerce Podcast as Chris George from Subsummit uncovers the secrets of businesses that have nailed customer satisfaction through subscription models and how you can use subscriptions to take your ecommerce business to the next level!ABOUT CHRIS:Chris George, the unstoppable serial entrepreneur who has successfully launched and managed seven businesses and sold two is the mastermind behind the wildly popular Gentleman's Box and hosts The Subscription Podcast - available on all podcasts channel. Chris regularly supports emerging brands by investing in and mentoring individuals and companies that lead with purpose over profit. Also the co-founder + CEO on Subsummit.Here’s a summary of the great stuff that we cover in this show:Subscriptions are becoming increasingly popular because they provide convenience and allow customers to use things as they want, which is what the next generation is looking for in a shopping experience. This trend is causing more and more e-commerce brands to adopt subscription models.To differentiate from companies like Amazon, e-commerce businesses should consider providing an exclusive product or building a relationship with the consumer through subscriptions that consistently provide value and result in predictable income and higher valuations.Subscriptions have a high upfront cost for customer acquisition, but the lifetime value of a subscriber can be significant if they stay on for an average amount of time. Brands with successful subscription models aim to build a habit within their consumer, and those that do can see customers staying on for years.Target the right customers and understand their profile to offer something of value in a crowded subscription market. Despite competition from big names like Netflix, marketers can provide more value by targeting individuals' passions and needs.Chris believes that a beauty company starting today should prioritize building a subscription model first as it offers a low-cost marketing tool and higher customer value compared to one-off purchases. Subscription can work alongside traditional e-commerce, but Chris recommends being subscription-only.Subsummit is the world's largest event for all consumer subscriptions, focusing on helping entrepreneurs and subscription-based businesses build better subscription-based companies, with a huge expo hall, multiple track rooms, and speakers ranging from NBA to Time Magazine. The event covers everything from how to start and grow a subscription business to retaining customers and international expansion.For complete show notes, transcript and links to our guest, check out our website: www.ecommerce-podcast.com.