eCommerce Fastlane: Shopify Growth Strategies—Where AI Efficiency Meets Human Connection
Steve Hutt | Shopify Expert | eCommerce Expert
Welcome to eCommerce Fastlane: Shopify Growth Strategies—Where AI Efficiency Meets Human Connection. I’m Steve Hutt, your experienced guide and host, here to help you unlock real, sustainable growth for your Shopify store by blending the best of automation with the power of authentic customer relationships.
Since 2016, eCommerce Fastlane has been the weekly pit-stop for ambitious DTC founders and marketers. With over 1.5 million downloads and 400+ episodes, this show is your trusted resource for:
- Proven Shopify strategies, apps, and best practices that drive measurable results
- Digital marketing tactics and retention playbooks that balance AI with genuine human touch
- Real-world founder stories and lessons learned from my own journey and 400+ interviews with industry leaders
- Deep dives into emerging tech (AI, AR/VR, automation) and how to use it without losing your brand’s soul
- Operations, logistics, and customer experience solutions that reduce overwhelm and foster loyalty
Each week, I sit down with Shopify partners, marketing experts, and successful store owners who share what’s actually working right now—no fluff, just actionable, battle-tested strategies.
Whether you’re launching your first store or scaling past seven figures, you’ll walk away from every episode with at least one practical idea you can implement immediately.
Ready to thrive in today’s fast-paced ecommerce world—growing smarter, not just faster? Hit subscribe and join thousands of merchants building customer-centric, future-proof brands with eCommerce Fastlane.
Let’s unlock your store’s true potential—together.
Steve Hutt
x-Shopify - DTC Founder - Podcast Host
Website: eCommerceFastlane.com
Newsletter: FastlaneInsider.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/shutt
X: x.com/stevenhutt
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ecommercefastlane
Email: steve@ecommercefastlane.com
Since 2016, eCommerce Fastlane has been the weekly pit-stop for ambitious DTC founders and marketers. With over 1.5 million downloads and 400+ episodes, this show is your trusted resource for:
- Proven Shopify strategies, apps, and best practices that drive measurable results
- Digital marketing tactics and retention playbooks that balance AI with genuine human touch
- Real-world founder stories and lessons learned from my own journey and 400+ interviews with industry leaders
- Deep dives into emerging tech (AI, AR/VR, automation) and how to use it without losing your brand’s soul
- Operations, logistics, and customer experience solutions that reduce overwhelm and foster loyalty
Each week, I sit down with Shopify partners, marketing experts, and successful store owners who share what’s actually working right now—no fluff, just actionable, battle-tested strategies.
Whether you’re launching your first store or scaling past seven figures, you’ll walk away from every episode with at least one practical idea you can implement immediately.
Ready to thrive in today’s fast-paced ecommerce world—growing smarter, not just faster? Hit subscribe and join thousands of merchants building customer-centric, future-proof brands with eCommerce Fastlane.
Let’s unlock your store’s true potential—together.
Steve Hutt
x-Shopify - DTC Founder - Podcast Host
Website: eCommerceFastlane.com
Newsletter: FastlaneInsider.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/shutt
X: x.com/stevenhutt
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ecommercefastlane
Email: steve@ecommercefastlane.com
Episodes
Mentioned books
Jan 18, 2022 • 38min
Drive More Revenue For Your Shopify Ecommerce Business With Zero-Party Data. Featuring Ben Parr of OctaneAI
In today’s episode, my guest is Ben Parr, the President and Co-Founder of Octane AI. They are the zero-party data marketing platform that’s helping thousands of Shopify and Shopify Plus e-commerce merchants to collect zero-party data and personalize their stores to drive growth.Octane AI is the leading zero-party data marketing platform for Shopify and Shopify Plus merchants like you. This year your business has been hit with major data privacy changes that have fundamentally changed advertising and likely the way you do business. And that’s okay if you know that there is a better way to do ecommerce marketing that’ll respect customers’ privacy, solve your advertising problem and help grow your revenue: collecting and leveraging zero-party data.Octane AI is helping thousands of Shopify merchants collect and use this clean data to personalize their email, SMS, ads, and more, giving customers the privacy they need and the personalization they want. This is the time to adapt and Shopify brands investing in zero-party data, optimization and retention will win the e-commerce game.Get today's Shopify ecommerce podcast show notes, full transcripts, actionable DTC marketing strategies, and tips to fast-track the growth and profitability of your Shopify ecommerce business.LEARN MORE and grow your Shopify store at eCommerceFastlane.com and eCommerceFastlanePodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jan 17, 2022 • 27min
Expand Sales By Exposing Your Shopify Brand To A Global Retail Ecosystem
In today’s episode, my guest is Roy Avidor the CEO and Co-founder of Cymbio. They help Shopify brands to easily increase and accelerate their digital sales channels through marketplace and dropship automation.Imagine getting access to over 600 retailers and scaling your brand? This is all possible today with the Cymbio platform.WHAT YOU WILL LEARN TODAYThe advantages of multi-channel retailing.The ease to grow digital sales channels.The process to grow sales and expose your brand to a global retail ecosystem.How to automate marketplace and dropship operations from beginning to end.Get today's Shopify ecommerce podcast show notes, full transcripts, actionable DTC marketing strategies, and tips to fast-track the growth and profitability of your Shopify ecommerce business.LEARN MORE and grow your Shopify store at eCommerceFastlane.com and eCommerceFastlanePodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jan 17, 2022 • 48min
Recruit, Manage And Grow Revenue With Groups Of People Who Love Your Brand
In today’s episode, my guest is Mike Schmidt, the Co-Founder of Dovetale. They are an influencer marketing app for Shopify merchants. They help brands to build community, recruit influencers, track sales through affiliate codes/links, send gifts and automate payments to these creators.It's a timely conversation with tons of learnings around the benefits and tactics to implement a successful influencer campaign.Listen through to the end of today’s show to get access to an exclusive extended listener-only trial.WHAT YOU WILL LEARN TODAYThe building blocks you need for a successful influencer program.Why partner recruitment through community engagement is a winning combination for Shopify brands.How to not fall into the trap of getting as many people as possible to be your influencers.Get organized with tools to collect applications and automate repetitive tasks for your influencer and affiliate programs.Get today's Shopify ecommerce podcast show notes, full transcripts, actionable DTC marketing strategies, and tips to fast-track the growth and profitability of your Shopify ecommerce business.LEARN MORE and grow your Shopify store at eCommerceFastlane.com and eCommerceFastlanePodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jan 17, 2022 • 38min
Personalize Your Shopping Experience In Real Time For Collections, Search, And Recommendations
In today’s episode, my guest is Zohar Gilad the Co-Founder and CEO of FastSimon. They are a shopping optimization platform for SMB all the way through to Enterprise retailers powered by Shopify Plus.Their app provides AI search, visual search, collection filters, collection merchandising, and personalization for fast-growing Shopify brands.Let’s jump in and learn more about how FastSimon is assisting Shopify brands with growth and scale!WHAT YOU WILL LEARN TODAYHow to enable and inspire your shopper's product discovery journey.How to scale both online and physical stores.What forward-thinking/progressive brands need to consider in terms of the customer experience.How to personalize your customer's shopping experience to maximize conversions.Get today's Shopify ecommerce podcast show notes, full transcripts, actionable DTC marketing strategies, and tips to fast-track the growth and profitability of your Shopify ecommerce business.LEARN MORE and grow your Shopify store at eCommerceFastlane.com and eCommerceFastlanePodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jan 16, 2022 • 37min
Maximize Your Shopify Store Profits With Automated Segmentation And Actionable Insights With Valentin Radu Of Omniconvert
In today’s episode, my guest is Valentin Radu the CEO & Founder of Omniconvert. Through their technology, they help Shopify brands to grow by using data to improve retention and customer lifetime value.Consider your new north-star strategy of Customer Value Optimization (CVO). The continual process to identify your most valuable customers by aligning your products and marketing to attract, create, and develop more of them.WHAT YOU WILL LEARN TODAYHow to use your Shopify data to improve customer lifetime value.Benefits of segmenting customers based on buying behavior and value.Use RFM modeling for marketing and retargeting to bring back newly acquired customers with high order value.How to implement NPS surveys (Net Promoter Score) to help monitor and use your customer's feedback for retention.Get today's Shopify ecommerce podcast show notes, full transcripts, actionable DTC marketing strategies, and tips to fast-track the growth and profitability of your Shopify ecommerce business.LEARN MORE and grow your Shopify store at eCommerceFastlane.com and eCommerceFastlanePodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jan 3, 2022 • 32min
The World’s Fastest-Growing Shopify Brands Acquire The Most New Customers Through Referrals
In today’s episode, my guest is Manish Goyal the Founder and CEO of Friendbuy. They are a Referral Marketing Platform that helps Shopify ecommerce merchants to accelerate customer acquisition through referral programs. Referrals are an incredible channel for dynamic business growth. It lowers your customer acquisition costs and increases your customer lifetime value.Let's learn more about expanding your reach and transforming your customers into loyal and engaged brand advocates.WHAT YOU WILL LEARN TODAYWhy high growth Shopify brands are leveraging word-of-mouth through scaleable technology.How a well-executed referral program can generate from 5% to 20% of total orders.The benefits of stackable account credits as a referral reward.How Friendbuy integrates with your existing tech stack like Klaviyo, Okendo, Attentive, and more.Get today's Shopify ecommerce podcast show notes, full transcripts, actionable DTC marketing strategies, and tips to fast-track the growth and profitability of your Shopify ecommerce business.LEARN MORE and grow your Shopify store at eCommerceFastlane.com and eCommerceFastlanePodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jan 3, 2022 • 30min
Discover Your Shopify Brand Insights And Grow Faster With Automated Business Intelligence
In today’s episode, my guest is Yasmin Nozari the Co-Founder and COO from Peel Insights. They are an automated business analysis system built for Shopify brands that are committed to growth.Peel is designed for DTC Shopify brands to quickly understand trends in their business and react to the most promising cohort signals, without the need for any technical skills. They share all the intel Shopify businesses need to sell to more customers and to earn more revenue from existing ones.They provide the daily analysis needed to make growth decisions.WHAT YOU WILL LEARN TODAYWhy business intelligence is a necessary superpower to succeed in e-commerce.What is cohort analysis and why is it important for a Shopify brand.The importance of focusing on improving LTV from your ad-driven leads.Get today's Shopify ecommerce podcast show notes, full transcripts, actionable DTC marketing strategies, and tips to fast-track the growth and profitability of your Shopify ecommerce business.LEARN MORE and grow your Shopify store at eCommerceFastlane.com and eCommerceFastlanePodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jan 3, 2022 • 26min
Scaling Your Shopify Store Involves A Lot Of Work. There Is A Way To Work Smarter, Not Harder
In today’s episode, my guest is Sara Du the Co-Founder and CEO of Alloy. They are a no-code automation tool that helps Shopify stores to power their growth.By using automated workflows (called recipes), merchants no longer need to hire an assistant or engineer to help run the day-to-day operations.Everything you do can be automated including offload marketing, customer service, shipping, fulfillment, tagging, and other time-consuming tasks so you can focus on growing your brand.WHAT YOU WILL LEARN TODAYHow Shopify brands are able to leverage data across their existing apps to improve marketing.The most impactful automation use cases for Shopify brands to enable.How are Shopify Flow and Zapier different than Alloy.What are prebuilt automation recipes and how is it helping Shopify brands.Learn how to offload marketing, customer service, shipping, fulfillment, tagging, and other time-consuming tasks.Get today's Shopify ecommerce podcast show notes, full transcripts, actionable DTC marketing strategies, and tips to fast-track the growth and profitability of your Shopify ecommerce business.LEARN MORE and grow your Shopify store at eCommerceFastlane.com and eCommerceFastlanePodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jan 3, 2022 • 36min
Get Featured Across The World's Most Well Known And Trusted Publishing Brands
In today’s episode, my guest is Chris Wirasinha the Co-Founder and CEO of Linkby. They are a platform that helps Shopify brands get more editorial coverage from premium publishers like Forbes Shopping, Bustle, Daily Mail, and more. Linkby can get you featured with full articles on premium news and lifestyle publishers and you only pay for the clicks back to your Shopify store.WHAT YOU WILL LEARN TODAYThe benefits of getting national editorial coverage for your Shopify brand.Shopify brands and verticals that have received notable coverage.Why readers are more likely to convert through editorial placements.Growing list of publishing brands that are available on Linkby today.Get today's Shopify ecommerce podcast show notes, full transcripts, actionable DTC marketing strategies, and tips to fast-track the growth and profitability of your Shopify ecommerce business.LEARN MORE and grow your Shopify store at eCommerceFastlane.com and eCommerceFastlanePodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Dec 31, 2021 • 48min
Learn How Social Commerce Is Driving DTC Success For Shopify-Powered Brands
In today’s episode, my guest is Ali Sammour, co-founder of Flatlay. They are a company that helps creators and Shopify brands partner with one another through community and commerce. They are an end-to-end social commerce marketplace and marketing platform for brands and creatives. They support brands to activate their community while sourcing content at scale. This is a timely and extremely important channel strategy.EPISODE SPONSORToday’s episode is brought to you by dotdigital, from email marketing to full omnichannel marketing orchestration, dotdigital transforms your customer insights into personalized marketing campaigns. Learn more about their incredible solution and get started today at dotdigital.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
