Ecommerce: The Hammersley Brothers Ecommerce Podcast

Images have always mattered in ecommerce, but right now their importance is changing dramatically. In this episode, Mark and Ian Hammersley discuss the revolution happening in ecommerce imagery, why product photography can have such a major impact on performance, and how AI is completely changing what brands are now able to create. For visually driven ecommerce businesses such as fashion, homeware and jewelry, the image does much of the selling. It affects whether someone clicks on an ad, whether they explore a product, whether they trust the brand and ultimately, whether they buy. Mark and Ian discuss what they have seen in their own ecommerce businesses, including products dramatically improving after their photography was changed. They also look back at how difficult ecommerce photography used to be. Professional shoots meant photographers, models, studios, locations, styling, lighting, editing, and significant organisation. Getting everything exactly right could take weeks or months. AI is changing that. Brands can now create, adjust and test imagery at a speed that would previously have been impossible. But simply having access to AI does not mean the images will be good. Mark and Ian explain why creative direction still matters, why you need to understand what good looks like, and why poorly executed AI imagery can actually make a brand look less trustworthy. They also discuss:   Why imagery is so important in ecommerce How product photography affects conversion rate Why fashion and homeware are particularly image-driven How AI is revolutionising product photography Why great photography was previously a competitive advantage How AI is removing barriers for smaller ecommerce brands Why creative direction is still essential How images influence Meta Ads and Google Shopping Why simple product imagery can outperform complicated creative How to test product images and identify winning products Why some lifestyle imagery can actually make products harder to understand How ecommerce brands can use AI without making their site look artificial   If your products are bought because of how they look, imagery may now be one of the most important areas of your ecommerce strategy. Subscribe for more practical ecommerce strategy, Meta Ads, Google Ads, AI, Shopify, and business growth discussions from the Hammersley Brothers. #Ecommerce #ProductPhotography #AI P.S. Whenever you’re ready... here are 3 ways Ian and I can help you grow your ecommerce business:   1. Talk to us. Book a call with us and let's talk about accelerating your growth - https://go.hammersleybrothers.com/apply-now/ 2. Grab a copy of our book - https://gohigh.hammersleybrothers.com/get-the-book 3. Follow the Hammersley Brothers on Instagram and connect with e-commerce owners who are scaling too -  https://www.instagram.com/hammersleybrothers

Where did the Hammersley Brothers Model actually come from? In this episode, Mark and Ian Hammersley go back to the beginning and explain how their ecommerce model was built, the problems they were trying to solve, and the lessons that shaped the way they approach ecommerce today. The story starts in 2008, when Mark and Ian were working with a group of ecommerce businesses during the financial crisis. Some were growing quickly. Some were stuck. Others were failing. The interesting part was that the difference was not always obvious from the outside. Successful businesses do not necessarily have better websites, better advertising or better teams. So Mark and Ian started looking deeper. They wanted to understand what the businesses that successfully scaled had in common and what was missing from the ones that could not grow. That process eventually became the foundation of the Hammersley Brothers Model. In this podcast, they discuss how that model developed over time, how years of working with ecommerce businesses changed and refined it, and why the same core principles continue to shape how they approach growth today. They also explore:   How the Hammersley Brothers Model originally started What they learned from ecommerce businesses during the 2008 financial crisis Why did some businesses scaled while others stayed stuck? How the model developed from real ecommerce experience Why the fundamentals matter more than individual tactics The role of math, psychology and management Why different ecommerce businesses need different strategies How ecommerce has changed since the model was first developed Why cheap traffic and better technology are no longer enough How the model is still used to identify opportunities for profitable growth This episode is a behind-the-scenes look at where the Hammersley Brothers Model came from and how nearly two decades of ecommerce experience helped turn it into the framework they use today. Subscribe for more ecommerce strategy, scaling advice, Google Ads, Meta Ads, and practical business discussions from the Hammersley Brothers. P.S. Whenever you’re ready... here are 3 ways Ian and I can help you grow your ecommerce business:   1. Talk to us. Book a call with us and let's talk about accelerating your growth - https://go.hammersleybrothers.com/apply-now/   2. Grab a copy of our book - https://gohigh.hammersleybrothers.com/get-the-book 3. Follow the Hammersley Brothers on Instagram and connect with e-commerce owners who are scaling too -  https://www.instagram.com/hammersleybrothers

If your Black Friday emails start the week of Black Friday, you've already lost sales to the brands that started weeks earlier. In this episode, Ian and I share the email sequences we actually use for Black Friday: when to start, how often to send, and why sending more emails makes you more money even if you hate getting them yourself. If you sell online and want this to be your biggest November yet, listen before you plan a single email. #BlackFriday #EmailMarketing #Ecommerce     P.S. Whenever you’re ready... here are 3 ways Ian and I can help you grow your ecommerce business:     1. Talk to us. Book a call with us and let's talk about accelerating your growth - https://go.hammersleybrothers.com/apply-now/   2. Grab a copy of our book - https://gohigh.hammersleybrothers.com/get-the-book 3. Follow the Hammersley Brothers on Instagram and connect with e-commerce owners who are scaling too -  https://www.instagram.com/hammersleybrothers

Not all ecommerce businesses are built the same, and some are dramatically easier to scale than others.   In this episode, Mark and Ian Hammersley break down the five different types of ecommerce businesses and rank them from easiest to hardest to scale.   The five types are: Compounders  Volume Retailers   Need-Driven Suppliers   Seasonal Specialists   High Ticket One-Timers Each model behaves completely differently.   A strategy that works brilliantly for a supplement brand could be disastrous for a furniture company. A business selling spare parts needs a completely different advertising, stock, and customer-acquisition strategy than a fashion retailer.   Mark and Ian explain why understanding your ecommerce type changes the numbers you should look at, the ROAS you can afford, how aggressively you can acquire customers, how much stock you need, and, ultimately, how quickly the business can grow.   They also discuss why some of the least exciting ecommerce businesses can quietly create enormous wealth.   Need-driven businesses selling things like replacement parts, shelving and specialist products can sometimes dominate markets because competition is lower and the customer already knows exactly what problem they need solving.   Meanwhile, Compounders such as supplements, skincare, and consumable products can scale incredibly quickly because repeat purchasing creates a high lifetime customer value. But they can also be brutally competitive and disappear almost as quickly as they grow.   The episode covers: The five ecommerce business models Which ecommerce model is easiest to scale?   Why repeat purchase businesses can grow so quickly   Why boring ecommerce businesses can be incredibly profitable Customer lifetime value and repeat purchasing New customer acquisition   ROAS and advertising strategy   Margins and scalability   Stock forecasting and cash flow   Seasonal ecommerce businesses   High-ticket ecommerce   Why one ecommerce strategy does not work for every business   If you're trying to scale an ecommerce brand, understanding which type of business you actually own could completely change how you approach growth.   Subscribe for more practical ecommerce strategy, Google Ads, Meta Ads, Shopify, and business growth discussions from the Hammersley Brothers.   #Ecommerce #EcommerceBusiness #EcommerceGrowth   P.S. Whenever you’re ready... here are 3 ways Ian and I can help you grow your ecommerce business:   1. Talk to us. Book a call with us and let's talk about accelerating your growth - https://go.hammersleybrothers.com/apply-now/   2. Grab a copy of our book - https://gohigh.hammersleybrothers.com/get-the-book 3. Follow the Hammersley Brothers on Instagram and connect with e-commerce owners who are scaling too -  https://www.instagram.com/hammersleybrothers

Your Google and Meta ROAS looks great. Ad spend is increasing. The platforms are telling you everything is working.   So why isn’t the business actually growing?   In this episode, Mark and Ian Hammersley unpack one of the most common problems they see in ecommerce businesses: brands dramatically increasing their advertising spend while recruiting the same number, or even fewer, new customers.   They explain why a high ROAS inside Google or Meta can give you a completely misleading picture of performance, particularly when existing customers, brand searches and attribution are inflating the numbers.   The conversation covers how to step back from the advertising dashboards and answer the question that actually matters:   When we put more money into advertising, did we get more money and more new customers out?   Mark and Ian also break down the ecommerce advertising S curve, where increasing spend initially drives growth before eventually reaching a point where putting more money into the account stops producing meaningful additional revenue.   And when you hit that limit, the answer is not always better ads.   Sometimes you need to improve the business itself.   They discuss: • Why a high ROAS does not automatically mean your ads are working   • How Meta can attribute existing customer sales to advertising   • Why one day view attribution can distort performance   • How Google brand traffic can inflate ROAS   • Why new customer revenue matters more than platform ROAS   • How to identify when an ad account has reached its scaling limit   • The ecommerce advertising S curve   • Why simply increasing your budget eventually stops working   • How conversion rate, AOV and lifetime customer value affect how far you can scale   • Why agencies can sometimes show you the numbers you want to see instead of the numbers you need to see   If you run an ecommerce business and keep increasing your advertising budget without seeing the growth you expected, this episode could help explain exactly what is going wrong.   Subscribe for more ecommerce strategy, Google Ads, Meta Ads, Shopify and business growth discussions from the Hammersley Brothers.   #Ecommerce #ROAS #GoogleAds       P.S. Whenever you’re ready... here are 3 ways Ian and I can help you grow your ecommerce business:     1. Talk to us. Book a call with us and let's talk about accelerating your growth - https://go.hammersleybrothers.com/apply-now/   2. Grab a copy of our book - https://gohigh.hammersleybrothers.com/get-the-book 3. Follow the Hammersley Brothers on Instagram and connect with e-commerce owners who are scaling too -  https://www.instagram.com/hammersleybrothers