Steve Dinelli, Chief Digital Officer at Barrington Media Group, joins this episode of E-Commerce with Coffee?! to talk about the direct-to-consumer (DTC) e-com world. Steve first tells the story of his own surprising trajectory, from starting a customer acquisition firm out of his garage to later arriving at Barrington Media Group with years of high-profile work (and success) to speak to. The journey taught him many lessons, and over the interview, Steve points to multiple topics where he feels differently now than he did just a few years ago. The DTC landscape is changing. The cost of customer acquisition has gone consistently up for more than half a decade, and now Steve says there’s no sign of it stopping. The barrier of entry to DTC is now so low, Steve explains, that even teenagers are starting Shopify storefronts and seeing success. The booming competition is what has driven prices up. Steve explains how hitting the right notes with your target customers only looks simple from the outside. Even the most tangible results are powered by some of the most agile and market-conscientious strategies behind them. Listen to this episode of E-Commerce with Coffee?! to hear about these key DTC strategies for yourself. What to listen for: Steve tells a fascinating story of how he got into digital marketing and customer acquisition as a “for fun” project on the side, and how it quickly snowballed. Steve’s story is like so many others in digital marketing today because many of the roles the pros have didn’t even exist five years ago. Steve then gets into how much lower the barrier of entry is today for online brands. Even teenagers, he says, are getting in on Shopify dropshipping. The lower barrier of entry has come with higher barriers (i.e., more competition and bigger investments) to acquire customers. “I’ve seen things over the last five or six years become a lot harder for DTC brands,” he says. The success of other DTC brands seems so tangible to the brands looking in that success in e-commerce seems more easily attainable than it is. With more competition now than ever, Steve breaks down what brands need for their own e-commerce success. Steve’s also learned a lot recently about the offline world that fascinates him, like with direct mail. Listen to the episode to hear what Steve says about paper types, envelopes, and other must-consider details that shape how prospects receive a message. Steve also has his own two cents on working with marketing agencies who “do it all” versus single-silo experts. He’s had his own evolution in recent years on which he prefers. DTC brands need to “start on Facebook and Google,” Steve says. “Get traffic and see if your product is going to work.” Then (and only then) is it time to look at other paid customer acquisition channels and strategies. Knowing where your customers come from is the most important part of customer acquisition, Steve explains. Listen to the full episode to hear what he has to add about Google versus Facebook. A love letter from our sponsor: If you're a brand listening and you can relate, don't stop here! Visit the Amber Engine blog for more tips, strategies, and insights to sell more online. We love e-commerce, and our product information software (PIM) and data enrichment strategies simplify and speed up your rollout to Amazon and other marketplaces. Our clients launch in weeks instead of months, eliminate the guesswork, and enable interdepartmental collaboration to drive a winning presence online. Stay awesome, Amber Engine

In this episode of E-Commerce with Coffee?!, host Nate Svoboda interviews Chase Clymer of Electric Eye. The digital marketing master has worked from his unlikely origins in a rock band to the head of a marketing agency as a product of his insatiable desire to learn new strategies and optimizations for product-based businesses. Perhaps a dash of nerdiness has helped, too. Indeed, the very name Electric Eye comes from a beloved metal song—but don’t let that fool you, because Chase is the kind of guy you’d love to get a beer with but he also knows how to get down to business. In this episode of the podcast, Chase talks through the principal benefits of using Shopify for product-based businesses. He also talks about his “Brand Scaling Framework,” which can be managed by his team at Electric Eye or by anyone else if applied correctly. The result? Month-over-month growth of all the metrics that matter, equating to a fatter bottom line. Listen in for all of Chase’s insights on this episode of the podcast! What to listen for: Chase first got into his marketing career as a freelancer, simultaneously helping a pal of his who was skilled but not as savvy on the business side of things. Chase helped him and, as a result, grew. Before they knew it, the two friends had started an agency together. “True service marketing is a whole different monster,” Chase points out as he talks about new trends on the horizon. Listen in for Chase’s insights on this trend and how to keep up with trends in general. “Our goals in the business keep evolving,” Chase says. This is the nature of digital marketing, because change happens so fast. With new technology comes new possibilities (and new KPIs for his clients). “Once you find a strategy that works, double down on it,” Chase says. Listen in to him explain why one funnel that works beautifully is so much better than 12 funnels that sort of work. “Product-market fit” is the hardest part of launching a business, Chase says. He then breaks this down in hugely relatable terms. “Just put blinders on until you have this figured out,” he says. “Until then, the rest is just noise.” Chase then digs into why he recommends Shopify over other platforms. He does point out, “the further you get away from the DTC model, the less Shopify makes sense for you.” Digging into which platform is right for what business is another question Chase dives deep into in the interview. A love letter from our sponsor: If you're a brand listening and you can relate, don't stop here! Visit the Amber Engine blog for more tips, strategies, and insights to sell more online. We love e-commerce, and our product information software (PIM) and data enrichment strategies simplify and speed up your rollout to Amazon and other marketplaces. Our clients launch in weeks instead of months, eliminate the guesswork, and enable interdepartmental collaboration to drive a winning presence online. Stay awesome, Amber Engine

In this episode of E-Commerce with Coffee?! Emily Ferguson—the Director of E-Commerce at Marie Claire—joins host Nate Svoboda for an in-depth look at e-commerce content, tech, and ROI.  The interview bounces around each of these key pillars of e-commerce because Emily, herself, has a hand in all of it. Situated physically and figuratively between advertising, design, and branding and even the account managers at Marie Claire, Emily develops new products for the brand and is given the autonomy to do whatever it takes to polish and promote the company’s delivery of its chic personality. Emily’s autonomy and big decision-making came after a powerhouse career where she built her own brands. Emily actually started off in the fast-paced trading sector of banking, but fashion and e-commerce drew her in like a moth to a flame. With passion and perseverance, Emily has learned a LOT about e-commerce since jumping in.  Now, all you have to do to gain some top insights Emily enjoys is listen to this episode of E-Commerce with Coffee?! What to listen for:  Emily tells a fascinating story about how she went from the banking world to e-commerce. And if she was able to translate the skills of the fast-paced trading world to the fast-paced world of e-com, there’s a secret sauce that can help you, too. Emily even talks about being a little naïve when she got into e-com. There are a lot of gurus that make it sound easy. With perseverance and some great ideas, however, she made her dream come true. Building relationships is a big part of success in e-commerce, and Emily found that side of things natural. She did find the tech side of things to be harder, though, and if you listen in you can build off of what she learned. “You learn more in five minutes in your own business than you do in five years working for a company,” Emily jokes. But only sort of—then, she explains why. Emily occupies a fascinating role at Marie Claire at the intersection of multiple departments in the development of new products. Listen to the interview to hear just how she lays out what areas of the business she touches. Emily’s number-one goal on any given day at Marie Claire is for new products to “do well.” Her motivations are made clear throughout the interview as she talks about some of her early products. Talking about e-commerce “then” and “now,” Emily says, “back then we were all trying to play the SEO game, which was pretty much impossible unless you were one of the big players. Now we have the most opportunity we've ever had for people to build brands online.” Emily also talks about the key partnerships that e-commerce brands need to support today’s most competitive strategies. She also makes the point that your best “partner” will always be yourself. “Don't be afraid to make mistakes in your career,” Emily says. “The trick is to carry on.” Emily also talks about how to make a recognizable brand. Listen to the pinpoint focus she has in making brand decisions that render brands instantly “stickier.” A love letter from our sponsor:  If you're a brand listening and can relate, don't stop here! Visit the Amber Engine blog for more tips, strategies, and insights to sell more online. We love e-commerce, and our product information software (PIM) and data enrichment strategies simplify and speed up your rollout to Amazon and other marketplaces. Our clients launch in weeks instead of months, eliminate the guesswork, and enable interdepartmental collaboration to drive a winning presence online. Stay awesome, Amber Engine

Barb Davids joins E-Commerce with Coffee?! to talk about the power of SEO now and how to prepare for the future. Just like Google changes its algorithm all the time, user behavior changes continually. With this growing tech and shifting paradigm, search optimizations are continually changing, too. To get found and make the most of your content and product data, Barb dives into topics like the different product attributes on different sales channels, SEO advantages small and medium businesses have over the big dogs, tangential content, and more. The biggest gap in SEO strategy and brands’ desired end results, Barb says, is when product listings don’t have their product data optimized (or even filled out completely). She then talks about this missed opportunity and others like it. Brands listening in can easily avoid these mistakes. Finally, Barb dives into the last 15 months since the start of the pandemic and what it’s all meant for e-commerce. She even leaves E-Commerce with Coffee?! listeners with special SEO strategy resources on her website! What to listen for:  If you sell your products on different platforms including Amazon, Wayfair, and others, your wording probably changes a little platform-to-platform. (Or, at least, it should.) Different platforms will have different product attributes to fill out. That said, the core of SEO strategy is the same across platforms, and Barb explains why. Start with each platform’s “Help” information to learn how to best utilize the system. You can also look for online communities of other business owners selling there. This kind of proactive learning is a key strategy, and Barb discusses the benefits. With all the product pages, content, social profiles and more your brand has online, learn how to prioritize which pages to rank. “Tangential content” is also worth learning about, and Barb gives you a quick 101 of what it is and how it’s beneficial.  Savvy keyword research is a big part of how small and medium-sized brands compete with the big dogs. After all, there’s a finite number of search terms to compete on. Barb walks through how this is done. Barb also talks about the advantages smaller organizations have over the big guys in branding and even SEO.  Competitors in SEO aren’t just the other brands that sell what you sell. They’re also the other entities that compete with the search terms you want to rank for, whatever their reason. Listen to Barb’s take on how to manage this. Email marketing might be the “dinosaur” of the digital marketing world, but it’s still an important piece of the marketing puzzle. It has, however, changed. Barb talks this over. Barb then goes into what's changed—and surprised her—the most in e-commerce in the last 12 months. The biggest gap in digital marketing for e-commerce is when products don’t have optimized product data, or are missing field data altogether. Barb explains what that means to Google. Barb also put together some resources just for the listeners of E-Commerce with Coffee?! Check them out here on the Compass Digital Strategies website.  A love letter from our sponsor: If you're a brand listening and can relate, don't stop here! Visit the Amber Engine blog for more tips, strategies, and insights to sell more online. We love e-commerce, and our product information software (PIM) and data enrichment strategies simplify and speed up your rollout to Amazon and other marketplaces. Our clients launch in weeks instead of months, eliminate the guesswork, and enable interdepartmental collaboration to drive a winning presence online. Stay awesome, Amber Engine

Today’s consumer expectations include near-instant replies on multiple channels, greater accessibility, and a more immersive shopping experience. A big part of this rising trend seems to be the tech that makes it possible, from chat apps to social media. Did consumers start to expect instant replies on chat, messengers, and text because of the new apps they have? Or did the apps come to exist as a response to consumers’ rising expectations? Sean Kopen, the President and Founder of Cinder Inc., joins E-Commerce with Coffee?! to talk about this and more. Sean also provides a deep look into brand transparency and how it meets today’s consumer expectations in important ways. Transparency can be a game-changer when applied internally from the top down, and Sean explains why. Finally, Sean digs into new tech integrations into e-commerce processes and how to choose the right solutions for each need. From “opportunity analysis” to getting stakeholders fully on board, it’s all in this episode of E-Commerce with Coffee?! What to listen for: Increasing transparency can seem like a business “risk” in some contexts because brands want to protect themselves; Sean talks about how acting on behalf of the consumer is a good investment Getting stakeholders on board with new levels of transparency is hard, but it's the best long-term strategy, especially in the context of e-commerce where consumers easily navigate to the competition Sean also talks about what transparency has to do with the brand and product accessibility Sean then discusses the equation to decide what tech solutions to integrate into e-commerce management Listen to Sean touch on one of the biggest things an organization needs in order to shift to e-commerce: internal champions who can face the inevitable challenges Transparency is important internally, too, especially when pitching opportunities for tech solutions that phase out archaic legacy processes Sean dives into how to make some of the hard decisions, especially when organizations face analysis paralysis The terms of a contract with any new tech solution are one of Sean's talking points, in the context of today's e-commerce agility needs In talking about consumer expectations, Sean has some great insights on online chat, too Many brands are missing opportunities in the “post-purchase” customer experience, and Sean talks about what those brands can do A love letter from our sponsor: If you're a brand listening and you can relate, don't stop here! Visit the Amber Engine blog for more tips, strategies, and insights to sell more online. We love e-commerce, and our product information software (PIM) and data enrichment strategies simplify and speed up your rollout to Amazon and other marketplaces. Our clients launch in weeks instead of months, eliminate the guesswork, and enable interdepartmental collaboration to drive a winning presence online. Stay awesome, Amber Engine

In this episode of E-Commerce with Coffee?! we interview Ben Zettler of Ben Zettler Digital Media. Listen to the episode to hear about his start in managing the online presence of professional athletes, and how he then moved to digital consultation and e-commerce for brands on Shopify. The expertise Ben acquired from all this hyper-niche experience informed everything he’s done since then—and that’s been a lot. Since starting his own e-commerce consultation firm, Ben has worked with hundreds of brands selling on Shopify. He’s worked with established companies who are just migrating from another e-com platform to Shopify, and he’s also helped build brands from the ground up. Some of the topics Ben touches on in this episode include marketing channels, dropshipping, and the KPIs a brand on Shopify really needs to know. Ben has some interesting advice on market saturation, too. This, mind you, is coming from a guy who successfully started and sold his first online sunglasses brand in just a few short years. This episode of E-Commerce with Coffee?! covers a lot of ground for the brands interested in ramping up their online strategy with Shopify. Hear what Ben has to say! What to listen for: Ben's preferred hot beverage is tea, not coffee—that still has caffeine, right? Ben also talks about the evolution of Shopify from when he opened his store (number 41,000 on the platform, compared with the 2 million storefronts there now) Social selling is something Ben talks a lot about, namely the shift from idle scrolling to “discovery shopping” Ben then explains the marketing channels you “own” and how they're more relevant today than ever According to Ben, the name of the game in marketing these days is to get users interested enough in what you're saying that they'll opt-in 99% of the brands Ben works are on or moving over to Shopify, which gives him extraordinary insights into best practices on the platform Ben also talks about “overthinking” the saturation of your market—because it doesn't necessarily happen that way (and Ben explains why) There was a recent craze for dropshipping businesses, but Ben has seen why this doesn't work—listen to how he talks about getting behind unique products instead Unless you're getting 20% or more of your sales from email and text marketing, Ben talks about the opportunity that your brand is missing A love letter from our sponsor: If you're a brand listening and you can relate, don't stop here! Visit the Amber Engine blog for more tips, strategies, and insights to sell more online. We love e-commerce, and our product information software (PIM) and data enrichment strategies simplify and speed up your rollout to Amazon and other marketplaces. Our clients launch in weeks instead of months, eliminate the guesswork, and enable interdepartmental collaboration to drive a winning presence online. Stay awesome, Amber Engine

In this episode of E-commerce with Coffee?! we talk to Brian Beck, E-Commerce Expert Advisor and the author of Billion Dollar B2B Ecommerce. The B2B world hasn’t gotten as much press this last year as B2C, but it’s seen just as many changes (maybe more). In this interview, Brian brings us a fascinating analysis of what that means. Brian covers multiple B2B-specific topics, including: Key differences in B2B vs. B2C Surprising similarities in B2B and B2C Top KPIs for B2B e-commerce Amazon Business (and major upcoming changes) “Channel conflict” “Too often I hear manufacturers using ‘channel conflict’ as a reason not to engage [in e-commerce],” Brian says, “and...that's a losing strategy.” Brian offers case study after case study of what brands and manufacturers are doing successfully and not-so-successfully in B2B. Then, Brian digs deep into Amazon’s strategy, talking about everything from 1P vs. 3P sellers to the rich possibilities for brands with more visual-audio-rich product information. Listen to hear these tips and more in this episode of E-commerce with Coffee?! What to listen for: Listen up for how Brian describes caffeine! Brian also reminisces about the e-commerce scene in the ‘90s when he got started Next, Brian talks about recent shifts in B2B and how they’re similar but different from the B2C consumer expectations When Brian talks about KPIs in B2B e-commerce, he has some exceptional insights on what changes certain metrics like conversion rates in the B2B world compared with B2C Brian also talks about “channel conflict,” an ever-changing challenge business face in today’s multichannel world Amazon Business has become the fastest-growing part of Amazon’s distribution, so the monster platform is already in the B2B world; Brian talks about what that means for brands 70% of brands don’t even know all the sellers selling their products on Amazon, and Brian talks about how brands can take more strategic control Brand loyalty has been “turned on its head,” Brian says, and you can hear what COVID-19 has to do with it Brian also describes meeting new consumer expectations (especially the B2B industry) as “existential,” and his rationale is fascinating One of the best parts of this interview is all the real examples Brian gives—listen for yourself to hear them all! A love letter from our sponsor: If you're a brand listening and you can relate, don't stop here! Visit the Amber Engine blog for more tips, strategies, and insights to sell more online. We love e-commerce, and our product information software (PIM) and data enrichment strategies simplify and speed up your rollout to Amazon and other marketplaces. Our clients launch in weeks instead of months, eliminate the guesswork and enable interdepartmental collaboration to drive a winning presence online. Stay awesome, Amber Engine

In this episode of E-Commerce with Coffee?! we talk to Jim Loden, Vice President of Sales at Petra Industries. Petra is a wholesale distributor that partners with omnichannel and e-commerce brands to supercharge their presence online. Jim rolls into this episode with a wealth of experience to back him up. He’s been around the block for sure, and has spearheaded major strategic shifts at Petra (and for the clients they serve). On E-Commerce with Coffee?! Jim starts off by talking about what’s at stake for brands in e-commerce. “If you choose not to participate in the e-commerce world,” he says, “you’re not going to make it.” He makes one heck of a case to back that up. Jim also talks about key partnerships, without which your brand’s profit margins seriously erode. Every channel (from Amazon to Home Depot) has different requirements for brands selling their products there, and it’s the strategic relationships that help you navigate those waters.

In this inaugural episode of E-Commerce with Coffee?! we talk to our very own Eddie Porrello, Director of Production Management at Amber Engine. He hit the tech scene when Twitter was new (wow), and here he tells the story about how he wound his way to Amber Engine and PIM technology. Of course, Eddie's passionate about e-commerce, starting with his verdant days in ads and marketing for online brands. With experience in the commodity market after that, Eddie got deep into the algorithms and strategies behind e-commerce. That's what later pointed him to the software development world. With that backdrop, Eddie talks about the changes that have popped up in e-commerce more recently and those that are yet to come. Don't miss out! Give the whole episode a listen. What to listen for: Eddie worked for a firm with 30 million SKUs sold across 60-70 different channels, hear what that was like Eddie also has an interesting relationship with caffeine he wasn't shy to share! As a consumer, Eddie hasn't stepped foot in a grocery store for over a year thanks to the ease of delivery services, and he believes this model is more important than most realize PIM technology "then and now" is broken down in this episode, too Learn about the key "chapters" of market shifts Eddie defines Brand "personality" is also discussed as the most valuable asset brands have today A love letter from our sponsor: If you're a brand listening, and you can relate, don't stop here! Visit the Amber Engine blog for more tips, strategies, and insights to sell more online. We love e-commerce, and our product information software (PIM) and data enrichment strategies simplify and speed up your rollout to Amazon and other marketplaces. Our clients launch in weeks instead of months, eliminate the guesswork, and enable interdepartmental collaboration to drive a winning presence online. Stay awesome, Amber Engine