On today’s episode, Kunle is joined by Samir El-Sabini, Co-founder and CEO at Juni - the Digital Bank made for Media Buying. The platform aims to provide eCom businesses access to banking power, and has a waiting list of over 3000 while still being in Beta. When entrepreneurs think about launching a new DTC or eCom business, the focus is usually on the product. While identifying the right product and market can help you drive revenue, other nitty-gritties like compliance and banking can put a dent in your profitability. Most payment gateways have settlement periods ranging from 3-7 days. Delayed access to payouts can create cash flow issues for businesses. While access to credit in the eCommerce industry has certainly improved, choosing the right option for your business is still a very real challenge. This is where Juni is trying to reimagine banking for eCom and Media buying firms. Their services are completely focused on alleviating the pain points in eCommerce banking and credit. In today’s episode, Kunle and Samir talk about the typical financial challenges faced by eCom businesses. You will get to hear about how specialised knowledge, automation and credit solutions can help overcome those challenges. This is a great episode for businesses selling internationally. There is also a special offer for 2xers! ----------- SPONSORS: This episode is brought to you by: Klaviyo  This episode is brought to you by Klaviyo – a growth marketing platform that powers over 25,000 online businesses. Direct-to-Consumer brands like ColourPop, Huckberry, and Custom Ink rely on Klaviyo. Klaviyo helps you own customer experience and grow high-value customer relationships right from a shopper’s first impression through to each subsequent purchase, Klaviyo understands every single customer interaction and empowers brands to create more personalized marketing moments. Find out more on klaviyo.com/2x.   Rewind This episode is brought to you by Rewind. The #1 Backup and Recovery App for Shopify and BigCommerce stores that powers over 25,000 online businesses. Direct-to-Consumer brands like Gymshark and Movement Watches rely on Rewind. Cloud-based ecommerce platforms like Shopify and BigCommerce do not have automatic backup features. Rewind protects your store against human error, misbehaving apps, or collaborators gone bad with Automatic backups!   For a free 30-day trial, Go to Rewind.io, reach out to the Rewind team via chat or email and mention ‘2x ecommerce’ Famous This episode is brought to you by Famous. Famous enables brands on Shopify to easily build beautiful landing pages and product pages that include custom video, animations, and more. All pages built on famous are optimized for storytelling and selling on desktop and mobile.   Famous’ software allows you to build your pages in minutes without code, so you don’t need a developer. You just need to want to build a better experience for your customers. Famous has worked in the past with many leading online retailers including Honest, Justfab and more.   You can try it for free at famous.co/2x. ★ Support this podcast ★

Louis Lavedan, Strategic Partner Manager EMEA at Gorgias, discusses how segmentation and automation can boost productivity and drive revenue in eCommerce customer service. They also explore the importance of personalization, machine learning, and human connection in delivering customer happiness. The podcast highlights the growth of Gorgias, the evolution of customer service beyond shipping and refunds, and the significance of creating a premium customer service team. Additionally, they touch on using machine learning to analyze sentiments of social media comments and the benefits of consolidating customer information in a central system.

On today’s episode, Kunle is joined by Raúl Galera, Chief Advocate at ReferralCandy - a customer referral platform that gets shoppers to refer their friends and drive word-of-mouth. The company has worked with over 30,000 brands since launching in 2009. In today’s market, a company’s long-term success is closely linked to their cost of acquiring new customers. Cracking the right marketing mix that enables consistent acquisition and retention is what keeps marketers up at night.  It's safe to say that every brand wants more word-of-mouth referrals. There are many advantages of word-of-mouth marketing, most of all that it doesn’t cost anything. But building a reputation that drives organic customer acquisition is not just about creating buzz or being seen more. It starts with a solid product and an even better customer experience. But that being said, there are systems you can put in place that make referrals a bit more likely. This is where a platform like ReferralCandy comes in! In today’s episode, Kunle and Raúl talk about all things referral marketing. You will get to hear about what it takes to build a solid base that breeds loyal customers, the right time to activate customers, what incentives to offer and other best practices. This is a great episode for marketers - regardless of your industry or scale! ----------- SPONSORS: This episode is brought to you by: Klaviyo  This episode is brought to you by Klaviyo – a growth marketing platform that powers over 25,000 online businesses. Direct-to-Consumer brands like ColourPop, Huckberry, and Custom Ink rely on Klaviyo. Klaviyo helps you own customer experience and grow high-value customer relationships right from a shopper’s first impression through to each subsequent purchase, Klaviyo understands every single customer interaction and empowers brands to create more personalized marketing moments. Find out more on klaviyo.com/2x.   Rewind This episode is brought to you by Rewind. The #1 Backup and Recovery App for Shopify and BigCommerce stores that powers over 25,000 online businesses. Direct-to-Consumer brands like Gymshark and Movement Watches rely on Rewind. Cloud-based ecommerce platforms like Shopify and BigCommerce do not have automatic backup features. Rewind protects your store against human error, misbehaving apps, or collaborators gone bad with Automatic backups!   For a free 30-day trial, Go to Rewind.io, reach out to the Rewind team via chat or email and mention ‘2x ecommerce’ Famous This episode is brought to you by Famous. Famous enables brands on Shopify to easily build beautiful landing pages and product pages that include custom video, animations, and more. All pages built on famous are optimized for storytelling and selling on desktop and mobile.   Famous’ software allows you to build your pages in minutes without code, so you don’t need a developer. You just need to want to build a better experience for your customers. Famous has worked in the past with many leading online retailers including Honest, Justfab and more.   You can try it for free at famous.co/2x. ★ Support this podcast ★

On today’s episode, Kunle is joined by Chris Shipferling, Managing Partner at Global Wired Advisors - an investment bank specialising in buyouts in the DTC segment. Together with his highly experienced team, Chris provides companies with comprehensive financial advice and strategic planning through the sales transaction. Entrepreneurs start businesses for various reasons. For some it will come to represent their life’s work and carry on for decades. For others it is an asset to grow, nurture and ultimately sell for a profit. The latter is definitely the more prevalent scenario, especially in the DTC world. Almost every other day, we read about businesses getting bought and sold for huge sums of money.  Buyouts are becoming more common and aided by the stellar growth spurt of eCommerce, money has come flooding into the market. More VCs, PEs and Investment banks are on the lookout for companies ripe for sale. However, with more opportunity comes more noise and different challenges. It is easy for founders to take their eye off the ball, i.e. their business, while seeking out and speaking to investors. In today’s episode, Kunle and Chris talk about the ins and outs of an exit strategy. You will get to hear about how investors screen businesses, what metrics they look at, and how transactions are modelled. This is a great episode for anyone building a business (whether or not they plan to sell it in the future). ----------- SPONSORS: This episode is brought to you by: Klaviyo  This episode is brought to you by Klaviyo – a growth marketing platform that powers over 25,000 online businesses. Direct-to-Consumer brands like ColourPop, Huckberry, and Custom Ink rely on Klaviyo. Klaviyo helps you own customer experience and grow high-value customer relationships right from a shopper’s first impression through to each subsequent purchase, Klaviyo understands every single customer interaction and empowers brands to create more personalized marketing moments. Find out more on klaviyo.com/2x.   Rewind This episode is brought to you by Rewind. The #1 Backup and Recovery App for Shopify and BigCommerce stores that powers over 25,000 online businesses. Direct-to-Consumer brands like Gymshark and Movement Watches rely on Rewind. Cloud-based ecommerce platforms like Shopify and BigCommerce do not have automatic backup features. Rewind protects your store against human error, misbehaving apps, or collaborators gone bad with Automatic backups!   For a free 30-day trial, Go to Rewind.io, reach out to the Rewind team via chat or email and mention ‘2x ecommerce’ Famous This episode is brought to you by Famous. Famous enables brands on Shopify to easily build beautiful landing pages and product pages that include custom video, animations, and more. All pages built on famous are optimized for storytelling and selling on desktop and mobile.   Famous’ software allows you to build your pages in minutes without code, so you don’t need a developer. You just need to want to build a better experience for your customers. Famous has worked in the past with many leading online retailers including Honest, Justfab and more.   You can try it for free at famous.co/2x. ★ Support this podcast ★

On today’s episode, Kunle is joined by Bob Braham, CEO of Famous - a mobile-first platform that helps build stunning storefronts and landing pages for shopify stores. With Famous, you can build premium pages without code using the super intuitive page builder.  Gone are the days when having a great-looking online store was a novelty. ECommerce is now front and centre across all industries. To compete, and indeed survive, in today’s market, you need a store that not only works well but also helps you stand out from your competitors. Not every business has the means to hire developers to build trendsetting landing pages and storefronts.  This is the very problem that Famous solves with it’s page builder. You can create custom mobile-first landing pages and product pages in minutes - all without code. Famous completely integrates with your Shopify store. Now even bootstrapped businesses can build premium pages with additional spend (and headache!). This means quicker launches and iterations that will help drive growth.  In today’s episode, Kunle and Bob talk about Famous’ unique offering and positioning to help both businesses and design agencies. You will get to hear about the company’s background and plans for the future.  ----------- SPONSORS: This episode is brought to you by: Klaviyo  This episode is brought to you by Klaviyo – a growth marketing platform that powers over 25,000 online businesses. Direct-to-Consumer brands like ColourPop, Huckberry, and Custom Ink rely on Klaviyo. Klaviyo helps you own customer experience and grow high-value customer relationships right from a shopper’s first impression through to each subsequent purchase, Klaviyo understands every single customer interaction and empowers brands to create more personalized marketing moments. Find out more on klaviyo.com/2x.   Rewind This episode is brought to you by Rewind. The #1 Backup and Recovery App for Shopify and BigCommerce stores that powers over 25,000 online businesses. Direct-to-Consumer brands like Gymshark and Movement Watches rely on Rewind. Cloud-based ecommerce platforms like Shopify and BigCommerce do not have automatic backup features. Rewind protects your store against human error, misbehaving apps, or collaborators gone bad with Automatic backups!   For a free 30-day trial, Go to Rewind.io, reach out to the Rewind team via chat or email and mention ‘2x ecommerce’ Famous This episode is brought to you by Famous. Famous enables brands on Shopify to easily build beautiful landing pages and product pages that include custom video, animations, and more. All pages built on famous are optimized for storytelling and selling on desktop and mobile.   Famous’ software allows you to build your pages in minutes without code, so you don’t need a developer. You just need to want to build a better experience for your customers. Famous has worked in the past with many leading online retailers including Honest, Justfab and more.   You can try it for free at famous.co/2x. ★ Support this podcast ★

On today’s episode, Kunle is joined by Stefan Jordev, Director of Marketplace Strategy at Bobsled - a digital marketing agency that has successfully launched 100+ brands on Amazon and managed millions of dollars in monthly sales. The founder of Bobsled was a guest on the show way back in season 2. DTC brands pride themselves on being able to control all aspects of customer experience. Be it UI on their website, packaging or fulfillment and returns. Building a rapport and direct connect with the customer is a key driver. While selling on Amazon and other marketplaces, you lose control of the experience and connect with the customer. This is why many DTC and eCom brands steer clear of marketplaces. But with growing competition and an extremely volatile market, being omnipresent is growing in importance. Being everywhere your customers are is a soon-to-be norm. That being said, DTC brands have a lot of apprehension about how to make the transition to marketplaces and replicate their success on the platform. In today’s episode, Kunle and Stefan examine the case for DTC brands to start selling on Amazon. You get to hear about how to prepare for transition, leverage Amazon’s programs and ads to succeed on the platform.   ----------- SPONSORS: This episode is brought to you by: Klaviyo  This episode is brought to you by Klaviyo – a growth marketing platform that powers over 25,000 online businesses. Direct-to-Consumer brands like ColourPop, Huckberry, and Custom Ink rely on Klaviyo. Klaviyo helps you own customer experience and grow high-value customer relationships right from a shopper’s first impression through to each subsequent purchase, Klaviyo understands every single customer interaction and empowers brands to create more personalized marketing moments. Find out more on klaviyo.com/2x.   Rewind This episode is brought to you by Rewind. The #1 Backup and Recovery App for Shopify and BigCommerce stores that powers over 25,000 online businesses. Direct-to-Consumer brands like Gymshark and Movement Watches rely on Rewind. Cloud-based ecommerce platforms like Shopify and BigCommerce do not have automatic backup features. Rewind protects your store against human error, misbehaving apps, or collaborators gone bad with Automatic backups!   For a free 30-day trial, Go to Rewind.io, reach out to the Rewind team via chat or email and mention ‘2x ecommerce’ Famous This episode is brought to you by Famous. Famous enables brands on Shopify to easily build beautiful landing pages and product pages that include custom video, animations, and more. All pages built on famous are optimized for storytelling and selling on desktop and mobile.   Famous’ software allows you to build your pages in minutes without code, so you don’t need a developer. You just need to want to build a better experience for your customers. Famous has worked in the past with many leading online retailers including Honest, Justfab and more.   You can try it for free at famous.co/2x. ★ Support this podcast ★

On today’s episode, Kunle is joined by Guillaume Cabane, a SaaS Growth Hacker with over 2 decades of online selling expertise. He has been a growth advisor to high Growth SaaS Startups including G2, Gorgias, Metadata, Madkudu and also worked for Apple. All businesses, whether eCommerce, DTC or otherwise, grapple with an ever present challenge: “how do we compete?”. Competing on price is difficult, as the race to the bottom has eroded margins almost completely. Competing on product is also easier said than done, because creating a truly innovative product requires huge investments in R & D. So in a market where there is no room in pricing and products are more or less standardised, how can we compete? To answer this question, ask yourself, if given a choice would you buy a certain product from Amazon or a smaller-relatively unknown store? Chances are you would say Amazon. Why? Because you know what to expect in terms of customer experience. A seamless, hasslefree shopping experience is enough to win over customers. In today’s episode, Kunle and Guillaume discuss how creating a seamless, responsive and easy experience for customers can be a key driver of growth. Guillaume talks about what eCommerce can learn from SaaS and also shares some key CX metrics to track for driving growth.   ----------- SPONSORS: This episode is brought to you by: Klaviyo  This episode is brought to you by Klaviyo – a growth marketing platform that powers over 25,000 online businesses. Direct-to-Consumer brands like ColourPop, Huckberry, and Custom Ink rely on Klaviyo. Klaviyo helps you own customer experience and grow high-value customer relationships right from a shopper’s first impression through to each subsequent purchase, Klaviyo understands every single customer interaction and empowers brands to create more personalized marketing moments. Find out more on klaviyo.com/2x.   Rewind This episode is brought to you by Rewind. The #1 Backup and Recovery App for Shopify and BigCommerce stores that powers over 25,000 online businesses. Direct-to-Consumer brands like Gymshark and Movement Watches rely on Rewind. Cloud-based ecommerce platforms like Shopify and BigCommerce do not have automatic backup features. Rewind protects your store against human error, misbehaving apps, or collaborators gone bad with Automatic backups!   For a free 30-day trial, Go to Rewind.io, reach out to the Rewind team via chat or email and mention ‘2x ecommerce’ Famous This episode is brought to you by Famous. Famous enables brands on Shopify to easily build beautiful landing pages and product pages that include custom video, animations, and more. All pages built on famous are optimized for storytelling and selling on desktop and mobile.   Famous’ software allows you to build your pages in minutes without code, so you don’t need a developer. You just need to want to build a better experience for your customers. Famous has worked in the past with many leading online retailers including Honest, Justfab and more.   You can try it for free at famous.co/2x. ★ Support this podcast ★

On today’s episode, Kunle lays out the key pillars that’ll drive growth for DTC brands in 2021. He distills the experience of having worked with over 60 businesses in the last 3 years into key action points all brands can (and should) implement. 2020 was a landmark year for eCommerce, where growth and adoption went into fast-forward. The brands that could adjust and pivot prospered, those that couldn’t perished . In light of the pandemic the entire business landscape changed. Manufacturing, supply chain, marketing, fulfillment, customer service and everything else in between had to be rethinked. The very way customers perceive brands and “feel” about products has shifted. 2021 has started off much in the same vein as 2020. Emotions are running high all over the world. Building a “connect” with your audience is more important now than ever before. This approach has to drive everything from product launches to marketing to customer service. The businesses that maximise lifetime value of customers will maximise profits in the long-term. On today’s episode, I lay out my top strategies and tips that marketers or business owners can implement in 2021.  It is my personal mission to make an impact in eCommerce. If you find our content useful, then please leave us a review or reach out to us on social media. Thank you and onto the episode!  ----------- SPONSORS: This episode is brought to you by: Klaviyo  This episode is brought to you by Klaviyo – a growth marketing platform that powers over 25,000 online businesses. Direct-to-Consumer brands like ColourPop, Huckberry, and Custom Ink rely on Klaviyo. Klaviyo helps you own customer experience and grow high-value customer relationships right from a shopper’s first impression through to each subsequent purchase, Klaviyo understands every single customer interaction and empowers brands to create more personalized marketing moments. Find out more on klaviyo.com/2x.   Rewind This episode is brought to you by Rewind. The #1 Backup and Recovery App for Shopify and BigCommerce stores that powers over 25,000 online businesses. Direct-to-Consumer brands like Gymshark and Movement Watches rely on Rewind. Cloud-based ecommerce platforms like Shopify and BigCommerce do not have automatic backup features. Rewind protects your store against human error, misbehaving apps, or collaborators gone bad with Automatic backups!   For a free 30-day trial, Go to Rewind.io, reach out to the Rewind team via chat or email and mention ‘2x ecommerce’ Famous This episode is brought to you by Famous. Famous enables brands on Shopify to easily build beautiful landing pages and product pages that include custom video, animations, and more. All pages built on famous are optimized for storytelling and selling on desktop and mobile.   Famous’ software allows you to build your pages in minutes without code, so you don’t need a developer. You just need to want to build a better experience for your customers. Famous has worked in the past with many leading online retailers including Honest, Justfab and more.   You can try it for free at famous.co/2x. ★ Support this podcast ★

On today’s episode, Kunle is joined by Chase Dimond, Partner at Structured Social. Chase is a leading eMail Marketer who has generated over $50 Million in attributable revenue from eMail marketing. He is always willing to share knowledge and educate, and this reflects in his large following on social media. There are sweeping changes taking place in the marketing landscape as you read this. With privacy becoming better protected, the ability to “buy” revenue is diminishing. But there is one medium that allows you to connect with prospects on a personal level, and not depend on third parties. Yes, we are talking about eMail. In the age where customer retention could mean the difference between success and failure, eMail marketing is a stand-out performer. Whether you are a small business or an 8-figure business, eMail marketing can help you convert leads and retain customers. Email allows you to segment your audiences and hit them at the right time with the right offer. With the host of powerful tools available to leverage email marketing, the possibilities are endless. But getting it right is easier said than done! On today’s episode, Kunle and Chase get into the real nitty-gritties of what it takes to run successful eMail marketing campaigns. You will get to learn a ton about flows, campaigns, segmentation, split testing, list building, and tying it all together to drive revenue. Whether you are new to eMail marketing or a veteran, there are golden nuggets for you in this one! ----------- SPONSORS: This episode is brought to you by: Klaviyo  This episode is brought to you by Klaviyo – a growth marketing platform that powers over 25,000 online businesses. Direct-to-Consumer brands like ColourPop, Huckberry, and Custom Ink rely on Klaviyo. Klaviyo helps you own customer experience and grow high-value customer relationships right from a shopper’s first impression through to each subsequent purchase, Klaviyo understands every single customer interaction and empowers brands to create more personalized marketing moments. Find out more on klaviyo.com/2x.   Rewind This episode is brought to you by Rewind. The #1 Backup and Recovery App for Shopify and BigCommerce stores that powers over 25,000 online businesses. Direct-to-Consumer brands like Gymshark and Movement Watches rely on Rewind. Cloud-based ecommerce platforms like Shopify and BigCommerce do not have automatic backup features. Rewind protects your store against human error, misbehaving apps, or collaborators gone bad with Automatic backups!   For a free 30-day trial, Go to Rewind.io, reach out to the Rewind team via chat or email and mention ‘2x ecommerce’ Famous This episode is brought to you by Famous. Famous enables brands on Shopify to easily build beautiful landing pages and product pages that include custom video, animations, and more. All pages built on famous are optimized for storytelling and selling on desktop and mobile.   Famous’ software allows you to build your pages in minutes without code, so you don’t need a developer. You just need to want to build a better experience for your customers. Famous has worked in the past with many leading online retailers including Honest, Justfab and more.   You can try it for free at famous.co/2x. ★ Support this podcast ★

On today’s episode, Kunle is joined by Nick Shackelford, Managing Partner at Structured Social. Nick is a seasoned performance marketer and media buyer who works with over 100 brands. He is an active part of the ecosystem that is going to be affected by the upcoming iOS changes. His previous appearance on the show was one of our most popular episodes of 2020. If you’ve been following the Martech news in 2020, you may have noticed the ongoing spat between Apple and Facebook. Facebook even put out full-page newspaper ads criticizing Apple.  At the center of all the back-and-forth is privacy. More specifically it is a prompt called App Tracking Transparency (ATT), which will rollout in the coming days. This prompt will ask you to Opt-in or Opt-out of data sharing for each of your apps. Why is this a big deal?  If you are a DTC or eCommerce brand, then chances are that Facebook ads are a major part of your marketing strategy. Both Facebook and Facebook ads thrive on users data. You get better targeting, metrics and attribution because of this data. But that’s all going to change now. Over 50% of the buying audience have iOS devices. A chunk of those users might stop sharing data, and alter the marketing landscape for good. On today’s episode, Kunle and Nick look at the genesis of ATT, how it is going to affect Facebook marketing and how you can brace for impact when the changes roll out. Whether you’re a marketer, business owner or just a consumer - you’re probably on Facebook and you definitely don’t want to miss this one! ----------- SPONSORS: This episode is brought to you by: Klaviyo  This episode is brought to you by Klaviyo – a growth marketing platform that powers over 25,000 online businesses. Direct-to-Consumer brands like ColourPop, Huckberry, and Custom Ink rely on Klaviyo. Klaviyo helps you own customer experience and grow high-value customer relationships right from a shopper’s first impression through to each subsequent purchase, Klaviyo understands every single customer interaction and empowers brands to create more personalized marketing moments. Find out more on klaviyo.com/2x.   Rewind This episode is brought to you by Rewind. The #1 Backup and Recovery App for Shopify and BigCommerce stores that powers over 25,000 online businesses. Direct-to-Consumer brands like Gymshark and Movement Watches rely on Rewind. Cloud-based ecommerce platforms like Shopify and BigCommerce do not have automatic backup features. Rewind protects your store against human error, misbehaving apps, or collaborators gone bad with Automatic backups!   For a free 30-day trial, Go to Rewind.io, reach out to the Rewind team via chat or email and mention ‘2x ecommerce’ Famous This episode is brought to you by Famous. Famous enables brands on Shopify to easily build beautiful landing pages and product pages that include custom video, animations, and more. All pages built on famous are optimized for storytelling and selling on desktop and mobile.   Famous’ software allows you to build your pages in minutes without code, so you don’t need a developer. You just need to want to build a better experience for your customers. Famous has worked in the past with many leading online retailers including Honest, Justfab and more.   You can try it for free at famous.co/2x. ★ Support this podcast ★