On this episode I’m chatting with my friend and long time collaborator Luke Hodgson, co founder of Commerce Thinking & High Cohesion. This is a new format I’m trialing where Luke and I pick off topics and debate them. I’ll admit I’m taking a lot of reference from Pichfork’s under or over Youtube series and Food 52’s overrated content. For this conversation, we’re debating experiential retail. We cover why new luxury focuses on knowledge rather than just price ,the Commerce Thinking...

On this episode I’m chatting with Rob Abrahams, Founder & CEO at COAT Paints and we’re discussing what it’s like to reimagine a 1,000 year old product. We discuss Rob’s transition from automotive to consumer products, how Coat is aiming to modernise both the front end and back end of the paint industry, why the DTC model is central to Coat's business strategy and certainly NOT dead, how TikTok is gaining importance for engaging their consumers and its impact on the home DIY movement,...

On this episode I’m chatting with James Kearns, Managing Director at Rapanui Clothing. Part of the Teemill group and a brand that focusses on natural and recycled materials. We discuss his journey in retail, transitioning from corporate giants to direct-to-consumer, and the intricacies of migrating to Shopify. specifically, the importance of technical resources during migration, risk management strategies, the significance of prioritisation, why the reason behind a migration is so...

We discuss Holly’s transition into a CEO role whilst acquiring Hera, the inception of their rewear programme, the commercial reality of recycle concepts for D2C brands, the importance of consumer experience when it comes to these programmes, why they decided to build instead of buy a recycle platform, the logistical considerations of rewear and why it can be both a retention and acquisition strategy. …………. 📧 Your Basket Is Empty newsletter here 💻 Your Basket Is Empty consulting here ⚡️...

We discuss his transition from car salesman and DJ to the world of D2C, why unlearning can be an advantage in a commerce world that is changing so fast, the new D2C playbook built on scaling profitably, the realities and challenges of new international markets and how to win at opinion leader marketing. …………. 📧 Your Basket Is Empty newsletter here 💻 Your Basket Is Empty consulting here ⚡️ Checkout our sponsor, Centra, here Enjoy ✌️

We discuss the skill set solutions people need, the ideal tech stack evaluation process, what tech companies can do to help their chances during a discovery process, the power of flex in a project, how brands can best prepare for a discovery and why perfection should not be the enemy of good. …………. 📧 Your Basket Is Empty newsletter here 💻 Your Basket Is Empty consulting here ⚡️ Checkout our sponsor, Centra, here Enjoy ✌️

We discuss why post purchases experiences are generally poor, the impact Amazon has had on consumer expectation, what it’s like to build a modern B2B SaaS roadmap, why eCommerce operating systems are important, taking incumbents like Global E and the power of a cool B2B brand. …………. 📧 Your Basket Is Empty newsletter here 💻 Your Basket Is Empty consulting here ⚡️ Checkout our sponsor, Swap, here Enjoy ✌️

We discuss why Luna Daily started as an omnichannel brand, the advantages and realities of working with retail partners like Sephora, the playbook for successful retail partner selection, the key ingredients and people one needs to scale a B2B operation, and why why more brands should embrace Amazon. …………. 📧 Your Basket Is Empty newsletter here 💻 Your Basket Is Empty consulting here ⚡️ Checkout our sponsor, SparkLayer, here. Enjoy ✌️

We discuss the complex nature of modern B2B and why it’s hard to define, the similarities and differences of B2B strategy circa 2017 and now, Chloe’s top B2B guests on her podcast and what others can learn from them and what’s exciting and what’s scary about B2B in 2024. …………. 📧 Your Basket Is Empty newsletter here 💻 Your Basket Is Empty consulting here ⚡️ Checkout our sponsor, SparkLayer, here. Enjoy ✌️

We discuss the advantages and challenges of independent retailers, what it’s like to work with distributors, why international expansion is an good B2B strategy - albeit harder than most think, balancing D2C and B2B and why the brand world trumps agency land. …………. 📧 Your Basket Is Empty newsletter here 💻 Your Basket Is Empty consulting here ⚡️ Checkout our sponsor, SparkLayer, here. Enjoy ✌️

We discuss where the biggest B2B opportunity are (B2B2C or B2C2B), whether modern D2C playbooks are informing modern B2B playbooks, the B2B and broader market opportunities in LATAM - where Jason currently lives, and what market places are winning and losing in 2024.

We discuss the definition and confusion of B2B, the different angles and channels B2B brands are faced with, what B2B2C and B2C2B brands can learn from each other, the emergence of B2B buyer experiences and what it means for B2B buyer personalisation and whether we need to rebrand or democratise the concept of omnichannel. …………. 📧 Your Basket Is Empty newsletter here 💻 Your Basket Is Empty consulting here ⚡️ Checkout our sponsor, SparkLayer, here. Enjoy ✌️

We discuss Martin’s journey from McKinsey to Centra, how a technology roadmap is developed and deployed, the impact VC funding has had on the eComm vendor market, the convergence of generative Ai and low code, what low code is doing to the agency landscape, the pros and cons of Headless and whether Centra will or won’t IPO in five years. …………. 📧 Your Basket Is Empty newsletter here 💻 Your Basket Is Empty consulting here ⚡️ Checkout our sponsor, Centra, here Enjoy ✌️

We discuss the reasons behind their move away from Magento, their technology decision process, the unique relationship they have with their agency (Limesharp) and how this helped shape a successful replatform, timeline and KPI expectations of the project, the keys to success of managing a project of this scale and why it’s good to think about migration first and growth second. …………. 📧 Your Basket Is Empty newsletter here 💻 Your Basket Is Empty consulting here ⚡️ Checkout our sponsor,...

We discuss what structured content is and why it’s important, how much airtime Ai should be given when it comes to content, the differences commerce, media and tech companies take when approaching content, what it’s like to work with Morning Brew (one of my big inspirations) and where content and commerce will be in 5 years. …………. 📧 Your Basket Is Empty newsletter here 💻 Your Basket Is Empty consulting here ⚡️ Checkout our sponsor, Centra, here Enjoy ✌️

We discuss why they were early adopters of Magento, the impact of their Paul Smith case study on them and the wider market, how agencies make platform decisions, balancing platform relationships and the big question - will Magento be around in 10 years? …………. 📧 Your Basket Is Empty newsletter here 💻 Your Basket Is Empty consulting here ⚡️ Checkout our sponsor, Centra, here Enjoy ✌️

We discuss how they think about Ai internally, whether Ai will power all personalisation, whether brands are actually adopting Ai, what verticals are best suited for Ai, general musing on MACH and Headless and whether we’ll be talking about Ai and MACH in 5 years. …………. 📧 Your Basket Is Empty newsletter here 💻 Your Basket Is Empty consulting here ⚡️ Checkout our sponsor, Centra, here Enjoy ✌️

We discuss the history of eComm tech from custom to open source to SaaS, the impact automation and commoditisation is having on platforms and service providers, the convergence of commerce and media and how that impacts the market, whether agencies will become more boutique, ShopifyGPT prompt predictions and why Ai WON’T end the agency model …………. 📧 Your Basket Is Empty newsletter here 💻 Your Basket Is Empty consulting here ⚡️ Checkout our sponsor, Centra, here Enjoy ✌️

We explore what design-significant brands are, why Headless accelerators are useful from a speed to market perspective, the key to finding harmony between brand and eCommerce metrics, the power of subscription design services, the importance of a CMS in a Headless architecture and why Grebban bet on Centra. …………. 📧 Your Basket Is Empty newsletter here 💻 Your Basket Is Empty consulting here ⚡️ Checkout our sponsor, Centra, here Enjoy ✌️

We start by defining the mid-market - a topic with many perspectives, how Headless offers a future-proofed vision, why ‘never having to replatform’ needs more airtime in terms of marketing, the huge advantages of Headless for editorial and brand-led companies, the misconceptions of losing the app market, the pros and cons of inhouse versus outsourced teams, the mechanics of total cost of ownership analysis and why 2024 will be the renaissance of Headless. …………. 📧 Your Basket Is Empty...

We discuss the history of commercetools, why the term Headless is meaningless, the advantage of a build AND buy tech strategy, why Ai tools are distracting from customer experience fundamentals, Shopify’s move into enterprise, the death of legacy platforms and why Kelly is bullish on B2B and making composable easier. …………. 📧 Your Basket Is Empty newsletter here 💻 Your Basket Is Empty consulting here ⚡️ Checkout our sponsor, Centra, here Enjoy ✌️

We discuss the growing desire for better quality coffee in the UK, why subscription models can be challenging but are well-suited for coffee due to its high frequency and repeatability, why brand identity and marketing metrics should be balanced to ensure a consistent and authentic customer experience, the importance of tailoring your loyalty programme based on different customer profiles and finally, what is coffee-core and why is it important? …………. 📧 Your Basket Is Empty newsletter here...

I sat down with Camilla Craven, fractional CMO. We discuss the mechanics of what it means to be a fractional CMO, the pros and the pitfalls of the role, the stage of businesses that get the most value from a fractoinal resources, why starting in agency world is major benefit, betting on luxury in bull and bear markets and why customer loyalty is incredibly but incredibly powerful. …………. 📧 Your Basket Is Empty newsletter here 💻 Your Basket Is Empty consulting here ⚡️ Checkout our...

On this special simulcast episode, I sat down with Richard Chapple, co-founder of The Growth Foundation. It’s a broad conversation where we tackle what it’s like to operate in the brave new world of growth. We cover why CRM is a gold pot waiting to be unleashed, the D2C principles that still exist today, avoiding choice paralysis, why D2C trumps omnichannel if it’s profitable, the pros and cons of geographical expansion and growth channels Rich is bullish on in 2024; Threads, Reddit and...