On this episode we talk with long-time friend Adam Grohs. A man with as much if not more experience in the  eCommerce and Agency lead space than Rich and I. Adam is also the cofounder of agnoStack, which provides seamless, commerce-platform agnostic, customer support for orders across all channels.

Today. We get deep, quick, on a number of topics related to commerce and tech, and of course the the occasional question for Rich and I, and some drift topics that creep in - like how Rich manages his email - and Adam and I don’t. 

With Adam having 20+ years in the Agency space, specifically leading and managing Commerce engagements, we jump into the deep end to discuss his take on some of the confusion surrounding headless and composable commerce, and the potential for a new platform in the market. Including a dialog around the commoditization of commerce and the need for agencies to provide valuable services on top of the “new basics” and foundational tools.

We hit the platforms, mentioning Magento, Shop, BigCommerce, Salesforce, etc. - and Adams appreciation for how Commerce Tools has approached things. We also touch on some of the true newcomers, like Vue, and some of the more modern architectural approaches and needs for the emerging brand, while also waxing poetic on the challenge for the Enterprise to pick-up new school ideas and tools before their moment passes.

We then dig a bit deeper, and discuss the importance of creating differentiated experiences and focusing on post-purchase customer support and loyalty (a relatively new and uncharted area IMO), and go as far as highlighting the need for modernizing organizational structures and strategies to adapt to the changing landscape. 

After a LOT of that talk Adam gets to probe Rich and I a bit, and we share our personal experiences and some regrets as young leaders, highlighting the importance of accountability, empathy, and wanting everyone to succeed in our businesses. This leads to a dialog about our friendship and the camaraderie within the industry. 

Bottom line, we go deep on tech and the challenges and misconceptions, while also making some predictions of our own on how the Agency of the future can flourish in this new world of service opportunities.

Chapters

00:00 - Introduction and Background

02:18 - Fathers Day and College Orientation Updates

06:02 - Tea’s Birthday in Miami Adam

07:38 - Adam Grohs Introduces Himself

14:51 - How Adam and Rich Met

17:11 - Adam on (re)Becoming a Developer and Entrepreneur.

19:14 - Adam on being Commerce vs. Digital focused.

20:36 - Exploring Buzzword Bingo and Commerce Industry Confusion

23:50 - Adam on the Shift to Serverless and Microservices Architectures

28:02 - The Need for New Platforms in the Commerce Space

31:50 - The Real Shift in Customer Touchpoints

33:24 - Has Commerce Been Commoditized?

41:07 - Has Tech Become Overly Romanced?

43:18 - What is the New Battleground?

45:00 - Post-Purchase Experiences and Loyalty

49:04 - The Ability to Drop in Anywhere Along the Experience Chain

53:05 - Adam on Being Humbled by Modern Tech and New Experiences

53:34  - The Need to Modernize Organizational Structures

55:03 - Macro trends and Generational Preferences on an Experience or Brand

58:45 - The Opportunities Within the Commoditization of Technology

Adam Gets to Ask Some Questions

01:02 - (Q) What Are Your Essential Day-to-Day Tools That You Wish Existed When You Were Starting Out? 

01:06 - Drift Topic - We give Rich Anxiety as we Talk Email Management and our 50K+ Unread Inboxes 

01:12 - (Q) What Are Some of Your Regrets and Lessons Learned Looking Back, That You Would of Done Differently With What You Know Now? 

01:20 - Adam Expresses Appreciation for how Rich and Tea Operated 

1:25 - The Power of Friendship, The Idea of Working Together, and Closing Comments

Peace. -t