Are brands looking far enough ahead when evaluating ecommerce platforms? On the latest episode of The FODcast, James sits down with Marina Milojkovic, VP UK at Grebban, to unpack why total cost of ownership in ecommerce is often far more complex than brands initially expect. From app sprawl and operational complexity, through to team structure, ownership and long-term scalability, the conversation explores why platform decisions cannot just be evaluated on implementation cost alone. We cover ...

Pricing in retail still isn’t where it needs to be. In this episode of The FODcast (and the launch of Season 8), we sit down with Meghan Stabler (Co-Founder and CMO at AI-driven, contextual pricing platform alentr) to explore why pricing remains one of the most complex and underdeveloped areas in digital commerce. Drawing on her experience as former SVP of Global Marketing at BigCommerce where she helped scale the business through to IPO, Meghan shares a clear and practical perspective on the...

B2B commerce complexity isn’t just technical. It’s organisational, behavioural and cultural. On this week’s episode of The FODcast, James sits down with Tom Williams, Head of Commerce at UNRVLD to unpack why B2B transformations stall…and what actually gets them moving. We cover a whole host of topics including: Complex pricing + org structures: different users, permissions and hierarchies; and why it needs uncovering earlyLegacy order channels (email, punchout, OCR and more): you often can’t ...

“People sleepwalk without intent.” That’s how Jim Tattersall, Founder & CTO at Rotate°, describes one of the most common causes of failed commerce transformations. In the latest episode of The FODcast, Jim and Andy Jackson (Rotate’s Chief Creative Officer) unpack why brands often reach for tools, platforms and architectures before they’ve properly defined the problem they’re trying to solve. They discuss: How hype cycles push teams into reactive decisionsWhy over-reliance on third-party t...

“We’re kind of drowning in a sea of sameness.” That’s how Rob Hoekman, Senior Director of Experience Consulting at Empathy Lab by EPAM describes the state of ecommerce today. On this week’s episode of The FODcast, our CEO Tim and Rob unpack how decades of optimisation and best practice have led to convergence - in platforms, patterns and experiences - and why differentiation is getting harder, not easier. They explore: How ecommerce capability has become commoditisedWhy replatforming now de...

“It’s not the licence cost that kills you; it’s the invisible overhead.” That’s how Serge El Hachem, Director of Solutions Engineering at Lazer Technologies, describes what’s really slowing enterprise commerce down. On this week’s episode of The FODcast, host James and Serge unpack how global retailers are simplifying their stacks, cutting total cost of ownership, and finding real speed on Shopify. We also cover: The invisible overhead - multiple vendors, fragile integrations, endless QA and ...

Confused about what’s actually working in digital commerce right now? You’re not alone. Between US conversion chaos, rising costs, and AI hype, it’s hard to tell what moves the needle and what’s just noise. On this week’s episode of The FODcast, host Tim Roedel sits down with Jamie Vaughan, ex MD at Signifly, to cut through the chatter and get practical about what to fix first. Here’s what we cover: The “Donald effect” impacting US growth - and how to rebuild confidence th...

"Accessibility isn’t a niche feature set; it’s the operating system of a fair and profitable digital world." On this week’s episode of The FODcast, James sits down with Hilary Stephenson, Managing Director at Nexer Digital, to unpack how inclusive design drives growth, reduces risk, and builds trust across every customer journey. In our chat, we cover a whole host of things, including: The European Accessibility Act - what’s in scope, what deadlines matter, and why compliance is only the floo...

AI is not just changing tools, it is changing teams, skills and how customers find you online. In this week’s episode of The FODcast, host James Hodges sits down with Rob Goodwin, Chief Data Officer at MSQ Partners, to talk about what is moving fast, what is hype, and what leaders should fix now. We cover: AI agents for triage, code generation and repetitive analytics, and what that means for junior and mid-level rolesThe rise of AI Ops to monitor, tune and audit models in productionWhy...

We’ve got an extra special episode of The FODcast dropping this week - not only do we have both Tim Roedel AND James Hodges side by side in the interviewer’s seat once again, but we’re also joined by two guests from global commerce agency Domaine, Kim Samuelsen and Max Rolon. In this four-way chat, we discuss how Shopify’s native capabilities now handle serious complexity across EMEA without the overhead of composable stacks - and what that means for brands weighing platform choice, exp...