Ecommerce Conversations
Practical Ecommerce
Ecommerce Conversations is the long-running weekly podcast from Practical Ecommerce, hosted by ecommerce entrepreneur Eric Bandholz. •• Listen in as Eric interviews in-the-trenches founders and executives who address the essentials of launching, growing, and sustaining an online business. Hear their successes, mistakes, and plans — addressing customer acquisition, web traffic, marketing tactics, on-site conversion, shipping, favorite tools, funding, obstacles, and much more. •• New episodes every Friday. Subscribe to the podcast here, and then read a condensed transcript at https://www.PracticalEcommerce.com/tag/podcasts.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Oct 29, 2021 • 28min
21 Years In, 2BigFeet Charts Opportunities, Growth
Where can you find a size 24 men's shoe? At 2BigFeet.com. Brandon Eley co-launched the business in 2000, before Google AdWords and long before Facebook and Shopify. "We've seen a lot of changes in 21 years," he said. "Keyword stuffing was legitimate search engine optimization back then."
Oct 22, 2021 • 31min
Gas Station Coffee Spurs Golden Ratio Founder
Solving a personal hardship may be the most common motivator for starting a business. Clark Nowlin's hardship was acidity in coffee. It wrecked his stomach. Golden Ratio Coffee is Nowlin's solution. It's a producer of low-acid coffee. He founded the business last year in Austin, Texas, and it now sells direct-to-consumer in all 50 states.
Oct 15, 2021 • 29min
Amid Facebook Ad Turmoil, Supply.co Retrenches
Patrick Coddou is a direct-to-consumer pioneer, having launched Supply.co in 2015. The company designs, manufactures, and sells premium shaving products — all to great success. Until 2021. That's when Apple's iOS 14.5, which launched in April, upended Facebook's ability to hyper-target ads. Coddou's company relied on sales from those ads. He's retrenched the company and is soon to launch two new products.
Oct 1, 2021 • 33min
PPE Provider Thrives on Influencers (and Hollywood)
Roman Zrazhevskiy's company, Mira Safety, sells protective gas masks. It launched in 2018, targeting consumers, medical providers, law enforcement, and others. The masks protect against tear gas, chemicals, and, yes, viruses. Still, reaching prospects was a challenge.
Sep 24, 2021 • 28min
Lessons from Bankruptcy Drive Ecom Agency Founder
Josh Durham knows the downside of entrepreneurship. He founded an ecommerce company in 2015 and quickly grew revenue. Then it went out of business. Fast forward to 2021 and Durham has bounced back. He founded a successful marketing agency, Aligned Growth Management, that builds on his own early-day lessons.
Sep 17, 2021 • 29min
Should DTC Brands Sell to Mass Merchandisers?
Beardbrand's products are in all 2,000 Target stores. Lindsey Reinders, my business partner, drove that project in 2018. Selling goods to mass merchandisers is a goal of many direct-to-consumer ecommerce brands. Has it worked out for Beardbrand? I asked Lindsey that question and more.
Sep 10, 2021 • 25min
Software Exec Shifts to Bicycle Components, and Thrives
Brian De Groodt launched Dispatch Custom Cycling Components in 2018 after a long career in enterprise software. The company sells bicycle headset caps, which sit atop the stem connecting handlebars to the frame. Customers can customize the caps, adding uniqueness to their bikes.
Aug 27, 2021 • 31min
Hyve Founder: Bacteria Is Helpful for Home Cleaning
Shreya Patel is a biologist and healthcare administrator who seeks to change how folks clean their home. Products that kill bacteria do more harm than good, she says. And that's why she launched Hyve, a direct-to-consumer seller of household cleaning goods. She says, "Cleaners that kill 99.9% of bacteria leave 0.1% that are likely the most harmful."
Aug 20, 2021 • 33min
Apparel Merchant Is the 'Godfather of Memewear'
Ardon Lukas launched Shirtwascash in 2014, having spent several years in corporate finance. He sells t-shirts, hoodies, shorts, sweatshirts, you name it — all printed with cultural memes or images. Some are edgy; all are interesting. He's the "godfather of memewear," according to his LinkedIn profile.
Aug 13, 2021 • 30min
'Intrepreneurship' Has Rewards, Says Company Founder
Bryan DeLuca has a name for folks who build brands within large corporations. He calls them "intrepreneurs." He should know. Having co-founded and then sold a successful ecommerce business, DeLuca worked for a traditional retailer, creating brands within the company.
