Today's episode pulls back the curtain on one of the highest ROI strategies for Shopify brands: AI-powered SEO and organic growth.
If you're watching 98% of your paid traffic slip away before converting while acquisition costs keep climbing, this episode is your wake-up call. We're diving into the new playbook for driving organic reach that actually moves the needle.
My guest is Mike Simmons, CEO of Plug In Useful, whose SEO and site speed solutions power over 30,000 Shopify stores. He's a builder and operator living on the front lines of traffic acquisition for direct-to-consumer brands.
Plugin Useful's suite goes beyond "best practice" checklists. We're talking actionable recommendations, specialized keyword analysis, bulk content optimization, and tracking that shows if your SEO changes actually work.
Mike shares why native solutions like Shopify Magic leave money on the table, and reveals overlooked strategies like leveraging collection pages and schema markup. Plus, his take on how AI tools like Perplexity and Google's AI Overviews are changing the game.
Whether you're a founder, marketer prepping for Q4, or operator fighting complexity, this episode gives you clarity and tools to own your organic growth.
Check out his YouTube channel here for more strategies!
Reach out to us! We welcome questions and comments about this episode. Connect with us here or through our socials — your feedback is always welcome.
For more ecommerce, marketing, and growth strategies, check out the eCommerce Fastlane Insights Blog.
Today, we're diving into one of the most powerful—yet often misunderstood—strategies for Shopify brands: micro-influencer marketing.
If you're tired of celebrity endorsements that feel inauthentic and paid ads with questionable ROI, this episode is for you. We're exploring how authentic voices, strategic product seeding, and user-generated content can actually supercharge your growth while reducing those brutal acquisition costs we all know too well.
My guest is William Gasner, Co-founder and CMO of Stack Influence—a marketplace that's connected brands with over 11 million vetted micro and nano creators. But here's what makes William different: he's not just talking theory. He's a six-time founder who's scaled multiple seven-figure Shopify businesses before building the platform he wished existed when he was in the trenches.
Stack Influence isn't your typical SaaS database where you're left to figure things out. It's a living, two-sided marketplace that automates hundreds—sometimes thousands—of collaborations monthly. Think of it as where "give a product, get a post" is just the beginning.
William shares some eye-opening insights, like why major brands such as Unilever are shifting 50% of their budgets away from traditional Meta and Google ads toward influencer tactics. More importantly for most of you listening, he explains why smaller brands often see their best ROI from curated, genuine recommendations rather than big-money sponsorships.
We break down how social platforms are evolving, why content now matters more than follower count for reach, and how Stack Influence's unique "pay for outcome" model actually guarantees results—while most platforms only offer hope.
Whether you're scaling your Shopify brand and thinking about Q4 strategy, or you're a founder just launching your first product, this episode gives you a tactical roadmap to build real trust, amplify word-of-mouth marketing, and extract maximum value from every UGC asset—not just for social, but across your ads, website, and retention strategies.
Check out his YouTube channel here for more strategies!
Reach out to us! We welcome questions and comments about this episode. Connect with us here or through our socials — your feedback is always welcome.
For more ecommerce, marketing, and growth strategies, check out the eCommerce Fastlane Insights Blog.
Today, we're shining a light on an invisible profit killer lurking in many Shopify stores: technical debt.
It's the hidden drag on your growth, silently creeping in as you layer on apps, experiment with new tech, and expand your team—until suddenly, you're slowed by complexity, site issues, and mounting customer headaches.
My guest today is Paolo Vidali, Founder and CEO of Hidden Gears. Paolo’s team specializes in helping scaling Shopify brands get to the root of technical chaos—those “duct tape” solutions, clashing apps, and homegrown workarounds that work… until they don’t. If your store feels a bit buggier, slower, or just harder to operate as you grow, this episode is your roadmap to getting operationally lean again—before Q4 hits and every conversion counts.
Paolo shares real-world examples from his agency’s work: migrating brands in and out of headless, troubleshooting mysterious checkout bugs, and auditing countless tech stacks where everyone forgot why an app or workaround even exists. The conversation covers not just fixes, but how to future-proof your stack as AI, low-code tools, and ever-shifting Shopify features accelerate both opportunity and risk.
Check out his YouTube channel here for more strategies!
Reach out to us! We welcome questions and comments about this episode. Connect with us here or through our socials — your feedback is always welcome.
For more ecommerce, marketing, and growth strategies, check out the eCommerce Fastlane Insights Blog.
Welcome back to eCommerce Fastlane! Here's a painful reality that's quietly killing Shopify brands: you're spending thousands driving traffic to your store, but 98% of those visitors are complete ghosts.
They browse, they leave, and you have zero way to bring them back—while your competitors who've cracked visitor identification are building massive email lists from the exact same traffic.
If you're feeling the squeeze of rising acquisition costs while retention gets tougher thanks to the cookie apocalypse, this episode is your wake-up call.
My guest today is Liam Millward, Co-Founder and CEO of Instant. After working with 1,000+ Shopify brands—including headliners like Liquid I.V., July Luggage, and The Oodie—Liam's team has cracked the code on turning "anonymous" traffic into high-ROI repeat customers.
While most brands are still playing the "pray they come back" game with tools that identify maybe 5% of visitors, Instant routinely identifies 40-60%—turning anonymous browsers into revenue-generating customers. We're talking about brands like July Luggage adding $1.2M in incremental revenue in just 10 months, and College & Co seeing 62x ROI in their first 30 days.
Today, Liam reveals why most retention solutions are leaving money on the table, how AI-powered flows are eliminating the manual email grind, and why the brands implementing smarter identification now are building unfair advantages for Q4—while their competitors will be fighting for scraps from traffic they can't even track.
Check out his YouTube channel here for more strategies!
Reach out to us! We welcome questions and comments about this episode. Connect with us here or through our socials — your feedback is always welcome.
For more ecommerce, marketing, and growth strategies, check out the eCommerce Fastlane Insights Blog.
Welcome back to eCommerce Fastlane! Here's a story that might sound familiar: you're spending $10,000+ a month on ads, traffic looks solid, but somehow you're barely breaking even. Sound familiar?
The hard truth is that most Shopify merchants don't realize they have a revenue leak problem. While you're obsessing over getting more traffic, your store is quietly bleeding money through hidden conversion killers and psychological friction points that drive customers away.
I see it every BFCM season—brands celebrate stellar top-line numbers only to discover their net profit has vanished into the red. The real challenge isn't getting more eyeballs; it's plugging the invisible leaks that are costing you thousands every month.
My guest today is Matt Stafford, Managing Partner at Build Grow Scale. Matt's been in the trenches for nearly 30 years, scaling multiple 7- and 8-figure brands and helping close to a thousand founders break through growth plateaus. But here's what makes him different: he doesn't just tweak conversion rates—he decodes the psychology behind why people buy and why they don't.
Matt learned this the hard way. After selling $15 million in t-shirts, he launched a kitchen gadgets store that was crushing it at 100-200 sales per day...until it suddenly wasn't. Orders dropped to 30-40 per day, and with hundreds of thousands in inventory on the way, he had to figure it out fast.
That crisis became his breakthrough—and today, he's going to share the frameworks that can help you stop the bleeding and start scaling profitably.
Check out his YouTube channel here for more strategies!
Reach out to us! We welcome questions and comments about this episode. Connect with us here or through our socials — your feedback is always welcome.
For more ecommerce, marketing, and growth strategies, check out the eCommerce Fastlane Insights Blog.
Welcome back to eCommerce Fastlane! Today, we're tackling the hidden growth killer that's sabotaging even the best DTC brands—and most founders don't see it coming until it's too late.
You know the story: you've nailed product-market fit, your marketing is humming, orders are pouring in... then everything falls apart. Split shipments eat your margins. Inventory nightmares unfold. Customer complaints spike. And suddenly, you're drowning in operational chaos instead of celebrating growth.
Here's the thing most brands miss: those first warning signs are almost invisible. You start solving fulfillment problems with your leadership's time—founders manually fixing orders, ops managers chasing inventory issues. You're reacting instead of scaling, and that's where growth stalls.
My guest today is Aras Kolya, Chief Revenue Officer at ShipMonk, one of America's fastest-growing 3PLs that's doing things radically differently. While most 3PLs are just brokers stitching together fulfillment networks with middleware, ShipMonk is what Aras calls a "tech-enabled operator"—they own their warehouses, control their labor, and run their entire technology stack under one roof.
Their proprietary four-in-one platform combines warehouse management, order management, inventory systems, and transportation optimization into a single, real-time control tower. And here's why this matters: they're not just moving boxes—they're helping brands like Dr. Squatch scale from startup to 8-figure powerhouse without hitting that invisible ceiling.
If you're spending all your energy on acquisition but ignoring the post-click experience, you're leaving money on the table. Because as Aras puts it: "Fulfillment IS marketing." It's the fuel that feeds conversion, retention, and lifetime value—and most brands are getting it dead wrong.
Check out his YouTube channel here for more strategies!
Reach out to us! We welcome questions and comments about this episode. Connect with us here or through our socials — your feedback is always welcome.
For more ecommerce, marketing, and growth strategies, check out the eCommerce Fastlane Insights Blog.
Welcome back to eCommerce Fastlane! Today, we're diving deep into the evolving world of eCommerce SEO—and trust me, the game has completely changed in 2025.
Joining me is Jeff Oxford, founder and CEO of 180 Marketing, an eCommerce SEO agency that's delivered an average ROI of 874% across their client base. Jeff isn't just talking theory—he's managed over 300 eCommerce SEO campaigns and runs his own dropshipping store, so he knows exactly what it takes to scale organic traffic that actually converts.
Here's what makes this episode critical: while everyone's panicking about AI "killing" SEO, Jeff reveals why eCommerce SEO is actually the highest-ROI marketing channel for Shopify brands—and how the rise of ChatGPT product carousels, AI overviews, and generative search is creating massive new opportunities for brands that know how to adapt.
Whether you're watching your organic traffic plateau or wondering how to get your products featured in AI-driven shopping results, this episode gives you the exact playbook to dominate organic search in an AI-first world.
Check out his YouTube channel here for more strategies!
Reach out to us! We welcome questions and comments about this episode. Connect with us here or through our socials — your feedback is always welcome.
For more ecommerce, marketing, and growth strategies, check out the eCommerce Fastlane Insights Blog.
Welcome back to eCommerce Fastlane! Today, we’re spotlighting a marketing channel that’s quietly dominating Europe, Australia, and beyond—but is still underused in North America: WhatsApp marketing.
While most Shopify brands are stuck battling expensive Facebook ads and crowded email inboxes, a new frontier is emerging that offers 80–90% open rates and instant, conversational engagement.
To break down this opportunity, I’m joined by Jeremy Horowitz, CEO of CocoAI. Jeremy’s background in private equity, Shopify app acquisitions, and international DTC growth gives him a unique vantage point on why WhatsApp is poised to become the next big wave for Shopify merchants—especially as brands look to expand internationally and leverage AI-powered automation.
If you’re ready to move beyond traditional channels and tap into a high-value, conversational approach to commerce, this episode is your playbook for getting started.
Check out his YouTube channel here for more strategies!
Reach out to us! We welcome questions and comments about this episode. Connect with us here or through our socials — your feedback is always welcome.
For more ecommerce, marketing, and growth strategies, check out the eCommerce Fastlane Insights Blog.
Welcome back to eCommerce Fastlane! A fundamental shift is underway in how customers discover and purchase products, and most Shopify merchants are unaware of it.
The days of relying solely on Google search are numbered as consumers increasingly turn to AI assistants like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity for buying advice.
But here’s the problem: 80-90% of Shopify stores are currently invisible to these AI platforms.
Today, we’re pulling back the curtain on this new “AI Commerce” with a true industry insider. My guest is Tanner Larson, CEO of Built to Scale and author of the wildly popular book, E-commerce Evolved. Tanner has spent the last year working behind closed doors in the AI Commerce beta programs for major AI platforms, giving him a front-row seat to the biggest disruption since the smartphone.
If you’ve ever wondered why your store isn’t getting recommended by AI, Tanner explains that it’s not an SEO problem—it’s an infrastructure problem. This episode is a masterclass on how to fix that visibility gap and position your brand for the $47.6 billion revenue shift that’s happening right now.
Check out his YouTube channel here for more strategies!
Reach out to us! We welcome questions and comments about this episode. Connect with us here or through our socials — your feedback is always welcome.
For more ecommerce, marketing, and growth strategies, check out the eCommerce Fastlane Insights Blog.
Welcome back to eCommerce Fastlane! If you’re running a Shopify store, you know the pain of email overload, endless internal threads, and the chaos that comes with managing customer conversations across multiple channels.
Today, we’re tackling “inbox chaos” head-on with a tool designed to unify your team’s communication, streamline support, and bring true context-awareness to every customer interaction.
Joining me is Philippe Lehoux, co-founder and CEO of Missive—a collaborative communication platform trusted by over 25,000 teams worldwide. Philippe’s spent the last decade obsessing over how to break down the silos between internal and external communication, and his platform is now a go-to for Shopify merchants who want to turn their service side from a cost center into a profit center.
Whether you’re a solo founder drowning in emails or a fast-growing brand scaling your support team, you’ll hear actionable strategies to reduce context switching, leverage AI for smarter workflows, and create a seamless customer experience that drives loyalty and growth.
Check out his YouTube channel here for more strategies!
Reach out to us! We welcome questions and comments about this episode. Connect with us here or through our socials — your feedback is always welcome.
For more ecommerce, marketing, and growth strategies, check out the eCommerce Fastlane Insights Blog.
Welcome back to eCommerce Fastlane! Today, we’re diving into the world of challenger brands and what it really takes to break into—and win—in a market dominated by legacy giants.
If you’ve ever walked down the cleaning aisle, you know it’s ruled by “Big Clean”—massive CPG players with decades of brand equity. But what happens when a new player, powered by celebrity founders and a mission-driven approach, decides to shake things up? Enter Clean Boss, a botanical cleaning brand co-founded by Joy Mangano (yes, the Miracle Mop inventor and inspiration for the movie “Joy”) and global superstar Pitbull.
To unpack their journey, I’m joined by Nevin Jethmalani, Chief Digital Officer. Nevin’s got a front-row seat to what it takes to build a brand from scratch, leverage star power, and scale across DTC, Amazon, Walmart, and beyond. Whether you’re up against entrenched competitors or just looking for ways to stand out in a crowded market, you’ll hear actionable strategies for profitable acquisition, omnichannel growth, and building a business that lasts beyond the celebrity spotlight.
Check out his YouTube channel here for more strategies!
Reach out to us! We welcome questions and comments about this episode. Connect with us here or through our socials — your feedback is always welcome.
For more ecommerce, marketing, and growth strategies, check out the eCommerce Fastlane Insights Blog.
Welcome back to eCommerce Fastlane! I’m Steve Hutt, and today we’re diving into Shopify’s Summer Editions 2025—also known as the “Horizons” release.
If you’re new to Editions, here’s the quick scoop: every six months, Shopify rolls out a huge batch of updates—this summer’s release features over 150 enhancements spanning the entire platform. It’s their way of showcasing what’s new, what’s improved, and how they’re helping merchants like you stay ahead in today’s ever-evolving retail landscape.
Even in our digital-first world, 80% of commerce still happens in-store. Yet, so many brands are stuck juggling disconnected systems and clunky middleware. That’s why this year’s completely reimagined Shopify POS—version 10—caught my attention.
It’s not just a facelift; it’s a full transformation of what unified commerce can look like, packed with features designed to supercharge your retail journey and finally bridge the gap between online and in-person selling.
To unpack the details, I’m joined by Ray Reddy, Shopify’s VP of Product for Retail. Ray’s got a front-row seat to the evolution of omnichannel, and he’s here to share how POS 10 is unlocking new levels of efficiency, customization, and customer experience for brands of all sizes. Whether you’re running a single pop-up or hundreds of stores, you’ll hear firsthand how these updates can help you reduce friction, elevate your in-store game, and get a true 360-degree view of your customer.
Check out his YouTube channel here for more strategies!
Reach out to us! We welcome questions and comments about this episode. Connect with us here or through our socials — your feedback is always welcome.
For more ecommerce, marketing, and growth strategies, check out the eCommerce Fastlane Insights Blog.
Welcome back to eCommerce Fastlane! I'm Steve Hutt, and today we're diving into something that honestly blew my mind during our conversation.
Picture this: 95 million active buyers actively searching for unique products, built-in traffic you don't have to pay for, and a platform where most successful sellers never touch ads. Sounds too good to be true? That's exactly what I thought about Etsy before talking with today's guest.
I'm chatting with Dylan Jahraus, who built a million-dollar Etsy shop, then pivoted to teaching others how to do the same. She's the founder of The Ultimate Etsy Ecourse and created etSEO, an AI tool that takes the guesswork out of Etsy SEO. But here's what really caught my attention—Dylan shows Shopify store owners how to use Etsy as their secret weapon for free traffic and customer research.
If you've been burning cash on ads or struggling to find new customers, this conversation might just change how you think about growing your business.
Check out his YouTube channel here for more strategies!
Reach out to us! We welcome questions and comments about this episode. Connect with us here or through our socials — your feedback is always welcome.
For more ecommerce, marketing, and growth strategies, check out the eCommerce Fastlane Insights Blog.
Welcome back to eCommerce Fastlane. I'm your host, Steve Hutt. Ever felt like negative Amazon reviews are sabotaging your hard-earned sales, or that your product listings are quietly losing ground without you even knowing?
You're not alone. In today's landscape, managing your brand's reputation across both Shopify and Amazon is more critical—and more complex—than ever.
I'm excited to welcome Danan Coleman, CEO of eCom Triage, to the show. Danan's been in the trenches since 2010, helping brands crack the code on legitimate Amazon review removal and proactive catalog monitoring. If you've ever wondered whether you can actually get unfair reviews taken down (without breaking Amazon's rules), or how to safeguard your listings from costly, hidden issues, this episode is for you. You'll discover the exact process Danan uses to remove 5-15% of negative reviews and how even a tiny star rating drop can slash your sales by up to 50%.
What You'll Learn
Check out his YouTube channel here for more strategies!
Reach out to us! We welcome questions and comments about this episode. Connect with us here or through our socials — your feedback is always welcome.
For more ecommerce, marketing, and growth strategies, check out the eCommerce Fastlane Insights Blog.
Ever wondered how to truly bridge the gap between your Shopify store and your retail locations? Or maybe you’ve heard the term “clienteling” tossed around by big brands and wondered if it’s just for luxury retailers, or if it can actually move the needle for your business, too? If you’re looking to drive more foot traffic, boost repeat purchases, and finally unify your online and offline experiences, today’s episode is for you.
I’m thrilled to welcome back Leigh, co-founder of Endear, for a deep dive into the modern world of clienteling. Leigh has been in the trenches since before the pandemic, helping brands like Glossier, Allbirds, and Untuckit unlock the real potential of their retail stores by connecting them with their ecommerce data. Today, we’re unpacking how Endear is reimagining clienteling for the omnichannel era-making it scalable, data-driven, and accessible for every Shopify merchant ready to elevate their customer experience.
What You'll Learn
Check out his YouTube channel here for more strategies!
Reach out to us! We welcome questions and comments about this episode. Connect with us here or through our socials — your feedback is always welcome.
For more ecommerce, marketing, and growth strategies, check out the eCommerce Fastlane Insights Blog.
Are tariffs and supply chain chaos keeping you up at night? Not sure how to forecast inventory or manage cash flow when every shipment from China seems to come with a new surprise fee? If you’re a Shopify merchant importing from overseas, you’ve probably felt the sting of trade wars, unpredictable costs, and the pressure to deliver a seamless customer experience-without draining your bank account.
You’re definitely not alone. Today’s DTC reality is throwing curveballs at every direct-to-consumer brand, especially those navigating the ever-evolving landscape of tariffs and global fulfillment. That’s why I’m excited to welcome back Izzy Rosenzweig, founder of Portless, for his encore appearance on the show. Izzy has been in the trenches with hundreds of brands, helping them crack the code on cash flow, inventory agility, and tariff mitigation—especially in this turbulent era of trade wars and shifting global manufacturing.
What You'll Learn
Check out his YouTube channel here for more strategies!
Reach out to us! We welcome questions and comments about this episode. Connect with us here or through our socials — your feedback is always welcome.
For more ecommerce, marketing, and growth strategies, check out the eCommerce Fastlane Insights Blog.
Are you drowning in marketing data from too many platforms? Feeling uncertain about where your ad dollars are actually driving results, especially after the iOS 14 tracking shakeup? Maybe you suspect wasted spend but can’t pinpoint exactly where or why?
You’re definitely not alone. Many Shopify merchants grapple with fragmented data, inaccurate attribution, and the frustration of making marketing decisions based on guesswork rather than clear insights.
That’s why I’m thrilled to have Gurami Tateshvili, co-founder of MyDataNinja, on the show today. As a serial entrepreneur and Harvard Business School alum who built his own e-commerce businesses and digital agency, Gurami experienced these tracking and attribution pains firsthand. He co-founded MyDataNinja specifically to solve this problem, creating a platform that unifies ecommerce metrics into a single, actionable dashboard.
What You’ll Learn
Check out his YouTube channel here for more strategies!
Reach out to us! We welcome questions and comments about this episode. Connect with us here or through our socials — your feedback is always welcome.
For more ecommerce, marketing, and growth strategies, check out the eCommerce Fastlane Insights Blog.
Are you feeling like your Shopify brand could be doing more—maybe you’re struggling to connect the dots between your channels, or you know you’re not getting the most out of your existing customers?
You’re not alone. So many brands sense there’s untapped growth, but with commerce evolving so quickly, it’s tough to know what to prioritize or how to fill those expertise gaps.
That’s why I’m excited to welcome Dennis Yao, co-founder of The Other Group and my former lead at Shopify, to the show. Dennis has spent over 20 years in retail, wholesale, SaaS, and digital marketplaces—he’s helped mid-market and enterprise brands drive billions in revenue, and now he’s on a mission to help omnichannel brands execute smarter and grow faster.
What You'll Learn
Check out his YouTube channel here for more strategies!
Reach out to us! We welcome questions and comments about this episode. Connect with us here or through our socials — your feedback is always welcome.
For more ecommerce, marketing, and growth strategies, check out the eCommerce Fastlane Insights Blog.
Are you frustrated by unpredictable ROAS and rising Facebook ad costs that make scaling your Shopify brand feel impossible? You’re definitely not alone. Many brands see their first customer acquisition barely break even—or even lose money—forcing them to rely on retention just to stay afloat.
In this episode, I’m joined by Manel Gomez, CEO and founder of Meta Scaling Accelerator. Since 2016, Manel has managed over $25 million in Facebook ad spend, helping e-commerce brands break through the noise and actually scale profitably. He’s not just another ad guy—he’s the creator of the “Wave Surfing” methodology, a proven system for maximizing your ad spend during peak performance windows while minimizing risk.
We dig into:
If you’re ready for actionable strategies and a fresh perspective on Facebook ad scaling, you’ll love what Manel has to share.
Check out his YouTube channel here for more strategies!
Reach out to us! We welcome questions and comments about this episode. Connect with us here or through our socials — your feedback is always welcome.
For more ecommerce, marketing, and growth strategies, check out the eCommerce Fastlane Insights Blog.
Are conflicting data points between Shopify and Google Analytics 4 (GA4) undermining your marketing decisions? You’re not alone—and it’s likely costing your business more than you realize. Many Shopify brands struggle to establish a reliable source of truth for their marketing performance, leading to wasted ad spend, inaccurate reporting, and missed growth opportunities.
In this episode, we sit down with Josh Lauer, a marketing intelligence expert specializing in Google Analytics, data warehousing, and empowering ecommerce brands with clarity and confidence in their data. Josh shares how to bridge the gap between platform analytics (like Shopify) and marketing analytics (like GA4) to create a unified, trustworthy view of performance.
With firsthand insights into the frustrations caused by data discrepancies and the transition from Universal Analytics to GA4, Josh outlines actionable strategies to help you implement robust data solutions that drive smarter decisions and scalable growth.
Reach out to us! We welcome questions and comments about this episode. Connect with us here or through our socials — your feedback is always welcome.
For more ecommerce, marketing, and growth strategies, check out the eCommerce Fastlane Insights Blog.
