eCommerce Fastlane: Shopify Growth Strategies—Where AI Efficiency Meets Human Connection

Ray Reddy, VP of Product for Retail at Shopify, discusses groundbreaking advancements with the Shopify Summer Editions 2025. He unveils the transformative Shopify POS 10, designed to enhance efficiency and unify online and in-store experiences. Reddy explains how this update optimizes customer interactions and streamlines workflows, empowering merchants to thrive in a competitive landscape. With a focus on intuitive design and improving user journeys, he highlights the importance of integrating technology to meet retail challenges head-on.

Welcome back to eCommerce Fastlane! I'm Steve Hutt, and today we're diving into something that honestly blew my mind during our conversation.Picture this: 95 million active buyers actively searching for unique products, built-in traffic you don't have to pay for, and a platform where most successful sellers never touch ads. Sounds too good to be true? That's exactly what I thought about Etsy before talking with today's guest.I'm chatting with Dylan Jahraus, who built a million-dollar Etsy shop, then pivoted to teaching others how to do the same. She's the founder of The Ultimate Etsy Ecourse and created etSEO, an AI tool that takes the guesswork out of Etsy SEO. But here's what really caught my attention—Dylan shows Shopify store owners how to use Etsy as their secret weapon for free traffic and customer research.If you've been burning cash on ads or struggling to find new customers, this conversation might just change how you think about growing your business.Check out his YouTube channel here for more strategies!Reach out to us! We welcome questions and comments about this episode. Connect with us here or through our socials — your feedback is always welcome.TwitterLinkedInFacebookFor more ecommerce, marketing, and growth strategies, check out the eCommerce Fastlane Insights Blog. 

Welcome back to eCommerce Fastlane. I'm your host, Steve Hutt. Ever felt like negative Amazon reviews are sabotaging your hard-earned sales, or that your product listings are quietly losing ground without you even knowing?You're not alone. In today's landscape, managing your brand's reputation across both Shopify and Amazon is more critical—and more complex—than ever.I'm excited to welcome Danan Coleman, CEO of eCom Triage, to the show. Danan's been in the trenches since 2010, helping brands crack the code on legitimate Amazon review removal and proactive catalog monitoring. If you've ever wondered whether you can actually get unfair reviews taken down (without breaking Amazon's rules), or how to safeguard your listings from costly, hidden issues, this episode is for you. You'll discover the exact process Danan uses to remove 5-15% of negative reviews and how even a tiny star rating drop can slash your sales by up to 50%.What You'll LearnAmazon Review Removal Secrets: The truth about getting negative reviews removed (yes, it's possible!) and how star rating drops from 4.3 to 4.2 can slash sales by 50%.Bulletproof Listing Strategy: How to build Amazon listings that convert, plus catalog monitoring to catch costly issues before they hurt your bottom line.Real Results & Protection: Case studies of brands that 5x'd sales velocity, plus proactive steps every Shopify merchant should take to defend their brand on Amazon.Amazon Ads Reality Check: Danan's honest take on when (and if) you should invest in Amazon's advertising ecosystem.Check out his YouTube channel here for more strategies!Reach out to us! We welcome questions and comments about this episode. Connect with us here or through our socials — your feedback is always welcome.TwitterLinkedInFacebookFor more ecommerce, marketing, and growth strategies, check out the eCommerce Fastlane Insights Blog. 

Ever wondered how to truly bridge the gap between your Shopify store and your retail locations? Or maybe you’ve heard the term “clienteling” tossed around by big brands and wondered if it’s just for luxury retailers, or if it can actually move the needle for your business, too? If you’re looking to drive more foot traffic, boost repeat purchases, and finally unify your online and offline experiences, today’s episode is for you.I’m thrilled to welcome back Leigh, co-founder of Endear, for a deep dive into the modern world of clienteling. Leigh has been in the trenches since before the pandemic, helping brands like Glossier, Allbirds, and Untuckit unlock the real potential of their retail stores by connecting them with their ecommerce data. Today, we’re unpacking how Endear is reimagining clienteling for the omnichannel era-making it scalable, data-driven, and accessible for every Shopify merchant ready to elevate their customer experience.What You'll LearnClienteling Demystified: What it really means (spoiler: it’s not just for luxury) and how modern brands are using it to drive sales through genuine relationships.The Omnichannel Advantage: Why unifying your online and offline data is the secret sauce for higher conversion rates, lower returns, and raving fans.CRM as Your Retail Superpower: How Endear’s Shopify-native CRM gives your store associates actionable insights-turning every interaction into a revenue opportunity.Automated, Yet Personal: Practical tactics for scaling thank you notes, VIP outreach, and post-purchase campaigns-without losing the human touch.Driving Foot Traffic (and Revenue): Proven strategies to get your online shoppers into your stores and maximize their lifetime value.Attribution That Makes Sense: How to finally track which messages, associates, and campaigns are actually moving the needle-in store and online.Appointments, Reimagined: Why Endear’s new appointments feature is tailor-made for retail, and how it’s driving 90%+ conversion rates for in-store visits.Scaling Smarter: Lessons from brands like Psycho Bunny and Eleventy on building a culture of relationship-driven selling (and how to templatize what works). Check out his YouTube channel here for more strategies!Reach out to us! We welcome questions and comments about this episode. Connect with us here or through our socials — your feedback is always welcome.TwitterLinkedInFacebookFor more ecommerce, marketing, and growth strategies, check out the eCommerce Fastlane Insights Blog. 

Are tariffs and supply chain chaos keeping you up at night? Not sure how to forecast inventory or manage cash flow when every shipment from China seems to come with a new surprise fee? If you’re a Shopify merchant importing from overseas, you’ve probably felt the sting of trade wars, unpredictable costs, and the pressure to deliver a seamless customer experience-without draining your bank account.You’re definitely not alone. Today’s DTC reality is throwing curveballs at every direct-to-consumer brand, especially those navigating the ever-evolving landscape of tariffs and global fulfillment. That’s why I’m excited to welcome back Izzy Rosenzweig, founder of Portless, for his encore appearance on the show. Izzy has been in the trenches with hundreds of brands, helping them crack the code on cash flow, inventory agility, and tariff mitigation—especially in this turbulent era of trade wars and shifting global manufacturing.What You'll LearnSurviving Tariffs: Why trade wars aren’t forever, but smart brands need to adapt now to thrive later.Delayed Tariffs, Better Cash Flow: How Portless lets you pay import taxes only when you make a sale-unlocking capital and reducing risk.Agile Inventory & Forecasting: Leveraging smaller MOQs and faster restocks to supercharge your inventory turns and avoid costly overstock.Factory-to-Door in Days: How Portless delivers a “local” shipping experience from China, Vietnam, and soon India-delighting customers with 3-6 day delivery times.Returns, Refurbs, and Realities: Practical strategies for handling returns, QC, and resale in a lean, cross-border supply chain.Beyond China: The real pros and cons of shifting manufacturing to Vietnam, India, Mexico, and beyond-and what you need to know before making a move.Global Expansion Playbook: Why brands are shifting marketing dollars to tariff-free countries, and how Portless helps you tap into 55+ markets with local delivery experiences.Check out his YouTube channel here for more strategies!Reach out to us! We welcome questions and comments about this episode. Connect with us here or through our socials — your feedback is always welcome.TwitterLinkedInFacebookFor more ecommerce, marketing, and growth strategies, check out the eCommerce Fastlane Insights Blog. 

Are you drowning in marketing data from too many platforms? Feeling uncertain about where your ad dollars are actually driving results, especially after the iOS 14 tracking shakeup? Maybe you suspect wasted spend but can’t pinpoint exactly where or why?You’re definitely not alone. Many Shopify merchants grapple with fragmented data, inaccurate attribution, and the frustration of making marketing decisions based on guesswork rather than clear insights.That’s why I’m thrilled to have Gurami Tateshvili, co-founder of MyDataNinja, on the show today. As a serial entrepreneur and Harvard Business School alum who built his own e-commerce businesses and digital agency, Gurami experienced these tracking and attribution pains firsthand. He co-founded MyDataNinja specifically to solve this problem, creating a platform that unifies ecommerce metrics into a single, actionable dashboard.What You’ll LearnNavigating Post-iOS 14 Tracking: Understand the ongoing challenges and why standard pixels often fall short.Accurate Attribution: How server-side and cookieless tracking provide a clearer picture of ad performance across channels (Meta, Google, TikTok, Bing).Unified Data Dashboard: The benefits of seeing all your ad spend, revenue, and key metrics in one place, saving time and enabling faster decisions.Calculating True Profitability: Moving beyond blended ROAS to understand net profit per order and ad campaign by incorporating Cost of Goods Sold (COGS).Identifying Wasted Spend: Techniques to spot inefficiencies, including potential bot traffic and underperforming campaigns.Actionable Insights: How to translate unified data into smarter budget allocation, campaign optimization, and scaling strategies.Offline & Complex Sales: Addressing tracking challenges for scenarios like Cash on Delivery (COD) or orders with returns/cancellations.Check out his YouTube channel here for more strategies!Reach out to us! We welcome questions and comments about this episode. Connect with us here or through our socials — your feedback is always welcome.TwitterLinkedInFacebookFor more ecommerce, marketing, and growth strategies, check out the eCommerce Fastlane Insights Blog. 

Are you feeling like your Shopify brand could be doing more—maybe you’re struggling to connect the dots between your channels, or you know you’re not getting the most out of your existing customers?You’re not alone. So many brands sense there’s untapped growth, but with commerce evolving so quickly, it’s tough to know what to prioritize or how to fill those expertise gaps.That’s why I’m excited to welcome Dennis Yao, co-founder of The Other Group and my former lead at Shopify, to the show. Dennis has spent over 20 years in retail, wholesale, SaaS, and digital marketplaces—he’s helped mid-market and enterprise brands drive billions in revenue, and now he’s on a mission to help omnichannel brands execute smarter and grow faster.What You'll LearnOmnichannel strategy: How to move from buzzwords to practical execution across retail, DTC, wholesale, and marketplaces.Retention as a growth engine: Why nurturing “raving fans” is the smartest way to boost profitability and customer lifetime value.Social vs. video commerce: What’s working now on TikTok Shop and with shoppable video, and how to resource it.Real-world AI adoption: Where Gen AI is actually shifting the game for brands—think content, support, and the future of SEO.Bridging the execution gap: How to spot and fix missing pieces in your tech stack, strategy, or team.Building authentic community: Simple ways to use content and loyalty to create long-term customer value.Check out his YouTube channel here for more strategies!Reach out to us! We welcome questions and comments about this episode. Connect with us here or through our socials — your feedback is always welcome.TwitterLinkedInFacebookFor more ecommerce, marketing, and growth strategies, check out the eCommerce Fastlane Insights Blog. 

Are you frustrated by unpredictable ROAS and rising Facebook ad costs that make scaling your Shopify brand feel impossible? You’re definitely not alone. Many brands see their first customer acquisition barely break even—or even lose money—forcing them to rely on retention just to stay afloat.In this episode, I’m joined by Manel Gomez, CEO and founder of Meta Scaling Accelerator. Since 2016, Manel has managed over $25 million in Facebook ad spend, helping e-commerce brands break through the noise and actually scale profitably. He’s not just another ad guy—he’s the creator of the “Wave Surfing” methodology, a proven system for maximizing your ad spend during peak performance windows while minimizing risk.We dig into:How to spot your brand’s natural conversion peaks using Shopify AnalyticsWhy testing customer motivations (“angles”) beats endless audience tweaksMatching creative formats to how your customers really shopEmbracing ROAS ups and downs—and how to ride those waves for profitUsing AI for faster creative production (without losing your strategic edge)Building an ad account structure that can handle real growthIf you’re ready for actionable strategies and a fresh perspective on Facebook ad scaling, you’ll love what Manel has to share.Check out his YouTube channel here for more strategies!Reach out to us! We welcome questions and comments about this episode. Connect with us here or through our socials — your feedback is always welcome.TwitterLinkedInFacebookFor more ecommerce, marketing, and growth strategies, check out the eCommerce Fastlane Insights Blog. 

Are conflicting data points between Shopify and Google Analytics 4 (GA4) undermining your marketing decisions? You’re not alone—and it’s likely costing your business more than you realize. Many Shopify brands struggle to establish a reliable source of truth for their marketing performance, leading to wasted ad spend, inaccurate reporting, and missed growth opportunities.In this episode, we sit down with Josh Lauer, a marketing intelligence expert specializing in Google Analytics, data warehousing, and empowering ecommerce brands with clarity and confidence in their data. Josh shares how to bridge the gap between platform analytics (like Shopify) and marketing analytics (like GA4) to create a unified, trustworthy view of performance.With firsthand insights into the frustrations caused by data discrepancies and the transition from Universal Analytics to GA4, Josh outlines actionable strategies to help you implement robust data solutions that drive smarter decisions and scalable growth. Reach out to us! We welcome questions and comments about this episode. Connect with us here or through our socials — your feedback is always welcome.TwitterLinkedInFacebookFor more ecommerce, marketing, and growth strategies, check out the eCommerce Fastlane Insights Blog. 

You’re not alone. Many e-commerce brands are feeling the "margin crunch" as shipping costs skyrocket. Carrier rate hikes, hidden surcharges, and complex contracts can feel like unavoidable profit killers, making it harder to stay competitive and profitable.Today, we’re talking with Michael Moriarty, a strategic partner at Schooley Mitchell, an independent cost reduction consulting firm that has saved businesses over $1 billion. They specialize in uncovering savings in complex expense categories, with a strong focus on helping e-commerce brands slash their shipping costs.Michael and the Schooley Mitchell team deeply understand the intricacies of carrier contracts (FedEx, UPS, etc.) and work solely on behalf of their clients – not the carriers – to find savings and optimize shipping spend. Reach out to us! We welcome questions and comments about this episode. Connect with us here or through our socials — your feedback is always welcome.TwitterLinkedInFacebookFor more ecommerce, marketing, and growth strategies, check out the eCommerce Fastlane Insights Blog.