Offcuts

On this episode I’m back with Luke Hodgson, co founder at Commerce Thinking and High Cohesion and we’re discussing his recent time in LA. We touch on the dynamics of operating in the US, the challenges and opportunities for brands and services providers in LA, the investment landscape compared to the UK, the cultural perceptions between the US and here and a side detour of reflections on the UK government's approach to business strategy. This podcast is brought to you by our mates at Shopify. Shopify is a key player that’s revolutionising retail by empowering unified commerce across online, offline, and wholesale channels. With one of the largest and robust ecosystems among commerce platforms, we’re excited to have them join us on this podcast journey. Check them out here. Checkout Factory here. Sign up to our newsletter here.

On this episode I’m chatting with Olly Hudson - D2C Growth expert, Founder of Soar With Us & For You Advertising, CMO of JAQ Group - and we’re discussing whether disrupter brands are dead. We start by exploring Olly’s journey to consumer, what it’s like to run an agency and work inside a brand. Then get into the meat of the conversation where we define what a modern disrupter brand looks like, whether creator or founder-led brands are the new disrupter and if one is going to disrupt - what does that look like in 2025. This podcast is brought to you by our mates at Shopify. Shopify is a key player that’s revolutionising retail by empowering unified commerce across online, offline, and wholesale channels. With one of the largest and robust ecosystems among commerce platforms, we’re excited to have them join us on this podcast journey. Check them out here. Checkout Factory here. Sign up to our newsletter here.

On this episode I’m back with my co conspirator and regular guest Luke Hodgson - co founder of Commerce Thinking and High Cohesion. Today we’re discussing the week’s most interesting commerce news. Which are: Klevu and Searchspring’s partnership, Yotpo sunsetting subscriptions and Adanol’s collab with Kendal Jenner. We then deep dive on Operator Experience. What is it and should it be your number one priority this year? This podcast is brought to you by our mates at Shopify. Shopify is a key player that’s revolutionising retail by empowering unified commerce across online, offline, and wholesale channels. With one of the largest and robust ecosystems among commerce platforms, we’re excited to have them join us on this podcast journey. Check them out here. Checkout Factory here Sign up to our newsletter here.

On this episode I’m back with my co conspirator and regular guest Luke Hodgson - co founder of Commerce Thinking and High Cohesion. Today we’re discussing the 2025 predictions report we (Factory) released last week. The report was a bit of a big dog, so we decided to tackle a few but not all subjects. However, I highly recommend you go and check out the full blog at Factory-digital.com So what did we talk about? The importance of community as a central element of brand strategy, the evolving nature of commerce platforms into customer experience platforms, the changing eCommerce technology landscape, the implications of AI adoption for brands, where we are with sustainability and why stock turn will be the most important topic in 2025. This podcast is brought to you by our mates at Shopify. Shopify is a key player that’s revolutionising retail by empowering unified commerce across online, offline, and wholesale channels. With one of the largest and robust ecosystems among commerce platforms, we’re excited to have them join us on this podcast journey. Check them out here. Checkout Factory here. Sign up to our newsletter here.

Rob Watkiss, CTO at Sungod, began his career in aerospace engineering before steering his brand toward a composable commerce stack. He talks about the crucial shift from monolithic systems to agile architectures, emphasizing scalability and the need for the right technology stack. The conversation includes insights on the balance of team skills, the power of experimentation, and navigating the challenges of back-end integration. Rob also reflects on his transition to consumer tech, focusing on innovation and customer care in the performance eyewear market.

On this episode I’m breaking down the most boring product update of 2024: Shopify’s Winter Editions with Ben Homer Senior Solutions Engineer at Shopify. We touch on Ben’s journey from agency to tech, the pros and cons of RFPs, Black Friday Cyber Monday stats and how Shopify held up over the period, a deep dive on Edition announcements - specifically, customer accounts, checkout, POS, semantic search and Shopify Flow, and why this Editions release was so so boring. This podcast is brought to you by our mates at Shopify. Shopify is a key player that’s revolutionising retail by empowering unified commerce across online, offline, and wholesale channels. With one of the largest and robust ecosystems among commerce platforms, we’re excited to have them join us on this podcast journey. Check them out here. Checkout Factory here. Sign up to our newsletter here.

On this episode I’m chatting with Miranda Shanahan a very excellent brand consultant and we’re discussing whether brands are becoming TV shows? We touch on the evolving landscape of brand marketing, the impact of platforms like TikTok and Instagram on content distribution, the role of brand hosts, how brands can create compelling content on a budget, the significance of targeting niche communities for brand relevance and whether brands are indeed becoming TV shows? This podcast is brought to you by our mates at Shopify. Shopify is a key player that’s revolutionising retail by empowering unified commerce across online, offline, and wholesale channels. With one of the largest and robust ecosystems among commerce platforms, we’re excited to have them join us on this podcast journey. Check them out here Checkout Factory here Sign up to our newsletter here

On this episode I’m back chatting with my mate, and tech strategy guru, Luke Hodgson - co founder of Commerce Thinking and High Cohesion - and we’re dicussing whether UK brands need to worry about Trump’s tariffs. We touch on what UK brands need to think about in order to assess their exposure to US tariffs, the de minimis rule changes and their impact, why brands should model potential scenarios to prepare for tariff impacts before policies are formalised, why opening a US distribution center may be a strategic move, what the tariffs mean for consumer price, whether these tariffs will repair the frosty EU and UK relationship and pose the question - is Trump bluffing? This podcast is brought to you by our mates at Shopify. Shopify is a key player that’s revolutionising retail by empowering unified commerce across online, offline, and wholesale channels. With one of the largest and robust ecosystems among commerce platforms, we’re excited to have them join us on this podcast journey. Check them out here. Checkout Factory here Sign up to our newsletter here.

On this episode I’m chatting with Louise Macnab, founder of JERMS - a brand creating A Holistic Approach to Gut Health and we’re discussing why bacteria has a bad reputation? We touch on the mission to make gut health accessible to everyone, cutting through the gut health market which is becoming more and more saturated, why scientific credibility is crucial for building trust in health brands, the power of customer engagement through consultations and how it helps build community and loyalty, how Louise's background in law aids her in navigating business challenges and why bacteria is often misunderstood but so incredibly beneficial and essential for health. This podcast is brought to you by our mates at Shopify. Shopify is a key player that’s revolutionising retail by empowering unified commerce across online, offline, and wholesale channels. With one of the largest and robust ecosystems among commerce platforms, we’re excited to have them join us on this podcast journey. Check them out here. Checkout Factory here. Sign up to our newsletter here.

Morgan Fowles, the CEO of Tala, a community-driven activewear brand for busy women, dives into the debate on customer obsession. She argues it's not just a trend, but a fundamental value that should drive product development. Fowles highlights the importance of blending qualitative and quantitative customer insights and the role of creators in modern branding. She shares how authentic engagement and social media shape consumer connections, emphasizing that understanding customer dynamics is crucial for staying relevant in today's competitive landscape.