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Ecommerce Conversations is the long-running weekly podcast from Practical Ecommerce, hosted by ecommerce entrepreneur Eric Bandholz.
•• Listen in as Eric interviews in-the-trenches founders and executives who address the essentials of launching, growing, and sustaining an online business. Hear their successes, mistakes, and plans — addressing customer acquisition, web traffic, marketing tactics, on-site conversion, shipping, favorite tools, funding, obstacles, and much more.
•• New episodes every Friday. Subscribe to the podcast here, and then read a condensed transcript at https://www.PracticalEcommerce.com/tag/podcasts.
489 Episodes
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For years Brandon Eley's online shoe company, 2BigFeet, prospered by reselling prominent brands. But the profit margins slowly narrowed as did the sources for large footwear sizes, Eley's niche.The solution is Michael Ellis Footwear, Eley's direct-to-consumer brand, launched in 2021. "We finally decided to take matters into our own hands," he said.In this second appearance on the podcast, Eley shares the evolution of 2BigFeet, the launch of Michael Ellis, custom manufacturing, and more. For a...
Mickey Friedman co-launched Flair.ai in 2022, a year after graduating from the University of Chicago. The company, which has raised $5 million in seed funding, deploys artificial intelligence to perfect product photos, providing entire virtual scenes and setups.The process, Friedman says, dramatically lowers the cost of photo shoots while improving quality.In this episode, she addresses the rise of visual AI, the necessity of human intervention, and more. For an edited and condensed transcrip...
Matt Ragland is a 10-year email marketer, first at ConvertKit and now at Good People Digital, the Nashville-based agency he launched in early 2023. His approach to superior email performance is storytelling.He says, "Brands that excel at email marketing frequently tell a story to their ideal audience."In this episode, he addresses storytelling tactics, email design, automation strategies, and more. For an edited and condensed transcript with embedded audio, see: https://pec-ly.com/?6rUbFor al...
In 1962 Arto Alajian arrived in the U.S., having fled Egypt and his shoe-manufacturing business. He became a milkman in Los Angeles, and then a ceramic tile installer, and then a tile maker. That was 1966.Fast forward to 2024, and ARTO, the company, is a global supplier of handcrafted ceramic, porcelain, and concrete products. Armen Alagian, the founder's son, now co-owns the business.In this episode, he addresses the challenges and rewards of generational, family-owned companies. For an...
Before Shopify, YouTube, and Facebook, there was OverstockArt. David Sasson launched the company on the Yahoo Store platform in 2002 in Wichita, Kansas. It sells original, hand-painted reproductions of works by Van Gogh, Monet, and more.Much has changed since 2002, but not Sasson's passion and resilience. He has faced legal crises, replatforms, and competitors. Yet OverstockArt thrives.In this episode, he shares his journey, outlook, and advice for budding entrepreneurs.For an edited and cond...
No one can accuse ecommerce copywriter Chris Orzechowski of mimicking others. In an era of image-heavy emails, he prefers plain text. Amid the Facebook-Google advertising juggernaut, he likes X.Orzechowski is an 11-year writer and marketer, first as a freelancer and then, in 2020, at Orzy, the agency he founded. In this episode, he addresses his keys to successful product copy, frustration with Meta, and migration to X Ads.For an edited and condensed transcript with embedded audio, see: https...
Rabah Rahil first appeared on this podcast in September 2022. He was the chief marketing officer of Triple Whale, an analytics platform. He addressed customer acquisition, attribution, and more.He’s now the CMO of Fermàt Commerce, a SaaS provider of customized customer journeys. Founded in 2021, it has raised nearly $30 million in venture capital funding.In this episode, Rahil discusses Fermàt’s software, target customers, and his role with the company. For an edited and condensed transcript ...
The post-Covid ecommerce hangover has hit Roman Khan. He launched his first direct-to-consumer brand in 2013, acquired others, and in 2021 founded Peak 21, an aggregator with equity investors. The outlook was good.Fast forward to 2024, and many ecommerce companies are struggling. Mergers and acquisitions have cratered. Yet Khan perseveres. His team reviews dozens of purchase candidates every month, albeit cautiously.In this conversation, Khan shares his investment criteria, current market con...
Faraz Kahn began losing his hair at age 21. Years later, when searching for startup business ideas, he focused on own experience. The result is Fully Vital, a direct-to-consumer seller of hair loss serums and supplements that he launched in 2021.In this episode, Kahn addresses his launch of Fully Vital, marketing challenges, and lessons learned along the way.For an edited and condensed transcript with embedded audio, see: https://pec-ly.com/?6rliFor all condensed transcripts with audio, see: ...
BGR is a media site covering consumer technology, such as games and devices. Jonathan Geller launched the company in 2006 and sold it to Penske Media in 2010. He remains its president and general manager.The site has long relied on organic search traffic, which it monetizes with advertising and affiliate commissions. But the tsunami of low-grade AI content has upended search rankings and thus BGR's business.In this episode, Geller addresses the future of search engines, the era of weak conten...
Phillip Jackson launched Future Commerce in 2016. The company produces articles, newsletters, and podcasts focusing on coming trends and developments in business.He believes commerce produces a gentler society, one that fosters culture and stability. Commerce is culture, he states.In this episode, he discusses his company's mission, large versus small brands, the maturity of ecommerce, and more.For an edited and condensed transcript with embedded audio, see: https://pec-ly.com/?6rdYFor all co...
Study a successful entrepreneur, and you'll likely uncover resilience. Take Aaron Marino. Twenty years ago his first business, a fitness center, failed, leaving him with half a million dollars of debt. Fast-forward to 2024, and Marino is a YouTube celebrity and thriving serial entrepreneur, mainly with men's grooming products.He first appeared on the podcast in 2020. In this episode, he discusses failure, success, helping others, and more.For an edited and condensed transcript with embed...
Jake Zaratsian is a content creator at Jungle Scout, the Amazon seller platform. He's also a part-time brand owner on that marketplace, selling disposable dinnerware plates made from palm leaves. Curious, we asked him, "Why palm plates?"He cited three reasons. He sought a product with at least 300 monthly sales, a selling price of $20 each, and consumable for repeat buyers. Disposable palm-leaf plates fit the need.In this episode, Zaratsian addresses dos and don'ts for Amazon sellers, Jungle ...
Andrew Faris once managed huge Meta Ad budgets while CEO of ecommerce brands. He still manages huge budgets, but now at his agency on behalf of ad clients. We asked him for pointers on advertising bread-and-butter commodity-type products."Directness is the answer," he replied. "The more tightly you communicate your product and what it does, the better."This is Faris's third appearance on the podcast. In 2022 he discussed his career transition, having left the CEO role. Last year he addr...
Bryant Jaquez picked a heck of a time to become a CEO. A longtime CMO for direct-to-consumer brands, Jaquez accepted the CEO job early this year for BuddyLove, a Dallas-based women's apparel company coming off a pandemic-fueled boom and a dismal 2023."The overhead and debt service caught up with them," he said. "Thus far my job has been a lot of restructuring, evaluating expenses, and making deep cuts — some were painful, such as layoffs."In this episode, he shares his journey from chief mark...
Mike Tecku first appeared on this podcast in 2019 as an Amazon marketplace seller. He then sold that business, a maker of floormats, shortly afterward. He retired, became bored, and in 2022 launched Momentum, a direct-to-consumer nutritional shake producer. He and I discussed that venture last year in his second appearance.He's back. Momentum Shake is flourishing, as is Tecku. He's evolved from the nuts and bolts of making money to achieving a purpose, building a team, and self-improvement. "...
Allen Walton is the founder of SpyGuy, a seller of surveillance cameras from his base in Texas. He's also a world traveler and a seasoned acquirer of airline travel points. Ecommerce merchants who pay with a rewards credit card for advertising, shipping, and other expenses can "rack-up crazy points," he told me.In our recent interview, his third for this podcast, he elaborated on his methods for obtaining cheap airline tickets and hotel accommodations.For an edited and condensed transcript wi...
Aaron Orendorff is a chaplain turned writer turned digital marketer. He was the first editor-in-chief at Shopify Plus and then vice president of marketing at Common Thread Collective, an ecommerce agency.He's now head of marketing for Recart, an SMS platform, but his passion is empowering colleagues and clients. "I find joy in bigging others up," he says.In this episode, he shares his ecommerce journey, communication methods, and, importantly, achieving sobriety.For an edited and condensed tr...
Mike Carroll, a weightlifting buddy of host Eric Bandholz, lost his job last fall. He had been an insurance salesman for 25 years and is now contemplating a new career. Eric asked him, "Have you thought about ecommerce?"He had not.Launching an ecommerce company intrigued him, but he was unsure where to start. Knowing many would-be entrepreneurs with similar concerns, Eric invited him on the podcast.Here's that conversation.For an edited and condensed transcript with embedded audio, see: https...
Hosting "Ecommerce Conversations" is a welcome respite from my day job of running Beardbrand, the direct-to-consumer company I co-founded in 2012. I periodically post updates on Beardbrand's performance, hoping the transparency helps other entrepreneurs. This episode is my recap of 2023. It was a terrible year for me and Beardbrand — the first year we were in the red. We've always had around 15% margins, but not in 2023.We experienced declining sales, unexpected tax bills, a frivolo...
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