The Unofficial Shopify Podcast

Nehal Kazim, Founder and CEO of Ad Pros, is a seasoned performance marketer with a knack for profitability-first acquisition strategies. In this discussion, Nehal dives into the chaos sparked by Meta's Andromeda update, highlighting the costly trend of overproducing creatives. He shares insights on tracking daily new-customer margins and matching creative output to budget, emphasizing smart acquisition strategies. Plus, he reveals why focusing on high-LTV customer cohorts can optimize profits and challenges businesses to align their actions with true customer acquisition goals.

Kate Assaraf, founder of DIP Haircare and former beauty industry veteran, shares her remarkable journey of creating a million-dollar, plastic-free shampoo bar business. She discusses her decision to avoid Amazon and influencer marketing in favor of building strong local retail partnerships. Kate reveals how she built her own manufacturing facility after a partner went under, all while focusing on sustainable practices. Her unique approach highlights the power of community and ethical decision-making in a market driven by growth hacks.

Cara Marin, an e-commerce product expert at Seguno, shares groundbreaking insights from analyzing 162,000 discount code sets. She reveals that successful brands discount more intelligently with unique codes and segmentation, preserving their value while boosting sales. Surprisingly, a 10% discount can be almost as effective as 20%. Cara also discusses strategies like gift-with-purchase offers, avoiding public discounts, and the power of unique codes for tracking affiliate success. Her data-driven approach turns traditional discount strategies on their head, making this a must-listen for retailers.

Bora Celik, a seasoned software engineer and founder of Agentic, dives into the revolutionary world of AI agents that automate influencer outreach without human intervention. He argues that SaaS is dead, and shares how brands like Harney & Sons Tea utilize AI to find creators, negotiate deals, and manage campaigns effortlessly. Bora also discusses the power of vector databases for matching creators and the high-impact potential of agents in customer service. Discover where to start with these tools and learn about limitations to consider!

Celia Hatch, the dynamic founder of Buff Clucks and a serial entrepreneur, shares the extraordinary journey from a dream about chicken supplements to running a seven-figure business. She discusses how her son's school project sparked the idea and how she scaled it using Meta ads and innovative marketing strategies. Celia reveals insights on the booming backyard chicken market, the importance of educating customers through content, and the clever 'sneeze warning' that set her brand apart. Tune in for tips on scaling, subscriptions, and her wish for an improved Shopify store!

Shopify has dramatically increased the variant limit to 2,048, but beware of a sneaky 250 soft limit that can disrupt themes. Developers are buzzing about the new VS Code-based theme editor, while merchants express their frustration. The new unlisted product status offers a clever way to hide gifts and private sales. Plus, Shopify Plus now supports ACH payments for B2B transactions. The hosts explore how follow-up emails and the Shop app boost reviews, and they share tips for optimizing homepage design.

Kurt and Filip break down buy-two-get-two offers that crush percentage discounts, why five emails on Black Friday is actually conservative, and the three-week framework 8-figure brands use to win Q4. If you're planning to send a couple emails on Cyber Monday and call it done, this episode will make you rethink everything.SPONSORSSwym - Wishlists, Back in Stock alerts, & moregetswym.com/kurtCleverific - Smart order editing for Shopifycleverific.comZipify - Build high-converting sales funnelszipify.com/KURTLINKSFilip Pejic on X: https://x.com/BallinFilBedford Marketing: https://www.bedfordmarketing.co/The Paper Boy Newsletter: https://thepaperboy.beehiiv.com/WORK WITH KURTApply for Shopify Helpethercycle.com/applySee Our Resultsethercycle.com/workFree Newsletterkurtelster.comThe Unofficial Shopify Podcast is hosted by Kurt Elster and explores the stories behind successful Shopify stores. Get actionable insights, practical strategies, and proven tactics from entrepreneurs who've built thriving ecommerce businesses.

"These tools rely on automation that only catches 30% of issues. And for blind users with screen readers? The overlays often conflict with their assistive tech—making the site harder to use."Bet Hannon runs AccessiCart, an agency that fixes accessibility problems for e-commerce stores—usually right after they've been sued. We talked about why "quick fix" overlay plugins are making the problem worse, the four accessibility issues you can fix right now, and what the European Accessibility Act's €100K fines mean for US-based stores.SPONSORSSwym - Wishlists, Back in Stock alerts, & moregetswym.com/kurtCleverific - Smart order editing for Shopifycleverific.comZipify - Build high-converting sales funnelszipify.com/KURTLINKSAccessiCart: https://accessicart.comBet on LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/bethannonWAVE Accessibility Tool: https://wave.webaim.orgOverlay Fact Sheet: https://overlayfactsheet.comWORK WITH KURTApply for Shopify Helpethercycle.com/applySee Our Resultsethercycle.com/workFree Newsletterkurtelster.comThe Unofficial Shopify Podcast is hosted by Kurt Elster and explores the stories behind successful Shopify stores. Get actionable insights, practical strategies, and proven tactics from entrepreneurs who've built thriving ecommerce businesses.

I spent three days at Smart Marketer Live in Denver, capturing raw conversations with agency owners, brand founders, and Meta reps about what's actually working in 2025.This isn't your typical conference recap. We're talking about Meta's Andromeda update that killed everyone's ad performance over the summer, why TikTok Shop might be a trap, and how a chicken supplement business owner plans to poach employees like she's manifesting herbs.Featuring Beav Brodie (Tactical Baby Gear), Brett Curry (OMG Commerce), Attila from Smart Marketer, and Celia Hatch (Buff Clucks).SPONSORSSwym - Wishlists, Back in Stock alerts, & moregetswym.com/kurtCleverific - Smart order editing for Shopifycleverific.comZipify - Build high-converting sales funnelszipify.com/KURTLINKSTactical Baby Gear: https://tacticalbabygear.comFight Soap: https://fightsoap.usBuff Clucks: https://buffclucks.comOMG Commerce: https://omgcommerce.comSmart Marketer: https://smartmarketer.comWORK WITH KURTApply for Shopify Helpethercycle.com/applySee Our Resultsethercycle.com/workFree Newsletterkurtelster.comThe Unofficial Shopify Podcast is hosted by Kurt Elster and explores the stories behind successful Shopify stores. Get actionable insights, practical strategies, and proven tactics from entrepreneurs who've built thriving ecommerce businesses.

So there's this baseball media company. They make shirts about guys with nicknames like "The Big Dumper." And they needed three different store experiences, but only wanted to use one store. What our co-host Paul Reda figured out next is either brilliant or insane. Maybe both.Today on the show, we're asking: when does a hack become a feature? When does one store become three? And why would anyone voluntarily remove every frontend app from their Shopify store? Plus, ChatGPT can now sell your products directly. No, really. We'll explain how that works and why Kurt thinks automated fraud prevention might actually matter this time.SPONSORSSwym - Wishlists, Back in Stock alerts, & moregetswym.com/kurtCleverific - Smart order editing for Shopifycleverific.comZipify - Build high-converting sales funnelszipify.com/KURTLINKSJomboy Media Shop: https://shop.jomboymedia.com/ChatGPT Shopping Signup: https://shopify.com/chatgptCustomer Category Segmentation: https://changelog.shopify.com/posts/segment-customers-based-on-the-product-categories-they-ve-browsed-or-boughtAutomated Fraud Prevention: https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/payments/fraud-prevention/indexUnofficial Shopify Podcast Insiders (Facebook Group): https://www.facebook.com/groups/UnofficialShopifyPodcast/WORK WITH KURTApply for Shopify Helpethercycle.com/applySee Our Resultsethercycle.com/workFree Newsletterkurtelster.comThe Unofficial Shopify Podcast is hosted by Kurt Elster and explores the stories behind successful Shopify stores. Get actionable insights, practical strategies, and proven tactics from entrepreneurs who've built thriving ecommerce businesses.