Ecommerce Conversations

Jaksot

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  Agency Owner on New-Store Strategies 11.09.2026 33min

  Host Eric Banholz asked Kenny Trusnik, founder of the agency Forest City Digital, how an ecommerce startup can attract customers amid today's AI tumult. "Focus on getting the product data as deep and clean as possible in a structured environment," he replied, adding additional tactics for LLM citations and referrals. In this episode, Kenny shares those approaches, along with his agency's focus, underlying principles, marketing playbooks, and more. For an edited and condensed transcript wi...
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  Grow or Die, Says Momentum Shake Founder (Encore) 04.09.2026 38min

  Please enjoy this repeat of a popular episode aired in August 2024. Mike Tecku first appeared on this podcast in 2019 as an Amazon marketplace seller. He then sold that business, a maker of floor mats, 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...
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  BK Beauty Doubles Down on TikTok Shop 28.08.2026 39min

  We've followed the growth of BK Beauty since its launch seven years ago. Paul Jauregui co-founded the direct-to-consumer cosmetics brand in Austin, Texas, with his wife, Lisa. Host Eric Bandholz has interviewed him multiple times since then. The company had hit $1 million in first-year revenue when they first spoke in 2020. Then in 2023, Paul shared the business's early wins with TikTok Shop, a new marketplace. The potential U.S. ban of TikTok in 2025 contributed to BK Beauty moving a...
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  BattlBox's Path from YouTube to Netflix 21.08.2026 36min

  How does an ecommerce entrepreneur land a Netflix series? Not easily. Just ask John Roman. He co-launched BattlBox, an outdoor gear company, in 2015. Its YouTube channel eventually caught the eye of producers who turned it into a Netflix series. The process was long, uneven, and stressful. Along the way, the founders sold BattlBox and bought it back. He shares his journey in this episode. For an edited and condensed transcript with embedded audio, see: https://www.practicalecommerce.com...
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  Ad Fraud Expert on Scams, Bots, Spoofs 14.08.2026 33min

  Jeromy Sonne is a Facebook ads pro turned fraud detection expert. His firm, Daypart, advises agencies and big-spend advertisers on the accuracy and legitimacy of their campaigns. Ad fraud, he says, can mean billed bot impressions, scam offers, and even money laundering, adding that the problem is worse on programmatic networks than on siloed platforms such as Meta and Google. In this episode, he addresses the reality of today's ad fraud and how advertisers prevent and detect it. For an edite...
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  Emotion-Led Ads Cut Costs 30% 07.08.2026 34min

  Sarah Levinger consults with ecommerce brands on marketing psychology. She says shoppers' emotions drive ad performance, and success comes from aligning messaging with those feelings. She did that with a D2C maker of hop-flavored teas, lowering acquisition cost by 30%. She shares that example and other ad tactics in this episode. For an edited and condensed transcript with embedded audio, see: https://www.practicalecommerce.com/emotion-led-ads-cut-costs-30 For all condensed transcripts wi...
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  Email Pro: Open Rate Is a Vanity Metric 31.07.2026 31min

  Nabeel Azeez runs a Dubai-based email marketing agency with clients in ecommerce, SaaS, and more. He emphasizes engagement-based segmentation and high frequency, sending for one client eight emails per day, each to a unique segment. In this episode, he shares his methods for driving revenue from ecommerce emails, including unorthodox views such as the open rate is a vanity metric and never unsubscribe dormant recipients. For an edited and condensed transcript with embedded audio, see: http...
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  The Top Cause of Wasted Ad Spend 24.07.2026 33min

  Brett Fish sees a lot of wasted ad spend. His company, TagHero, tracks clients' advertising performance on platforms such as Meta, Google Ads, and TikTok. He says the platforms are merely algorithms that respond to data. Good data leads to good results. Bad data wastes money, a kind of "garbage in, garbage out." In this episode, Brett addresses common ad setup errors, optimization opportunities, campaign management tools, and more. For an edited and condensed transcript with embedded audio,...
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  A One-Two Punch Drives Ecommerce Growth 17.07.2026 33min

  Sean Stone advises ecommerce merchants to adopt a one-two punch for growth. Punch one is developing a profitable, branded website. Punch two is converting the likely spillover traffic on Amazon. That tactic inspired the name of Sean’s latest agency, Spillover Commerce. He’s a longtime Amazon consultant who now says brands should focus on their own domains while selling Amazon-only items secondarily. In this episode, he addresses one-two strategies, commodity goods, traffic sources, and more...
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  Nail Profit before Site Extras, Owner Says 10.07.2026 38min

  Paolo Vidali has a suggestion for merchants looking to add advanced features to their ecommerce sites: Be careful. Focus first on profitability, he says, and solve the basics of product returns, customer service, and free shipping. Paolo is a developer and marketer who launched Hidden Gears, an ecommerce agency, in 2014. It's now a Hawaii-based Shopify expert partner with a varied client base: wholesalers, physical retailers, and D2Cs. His second site, SuperBuilt, offers vetted developers fo...
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  Avoid All-Caps Headlines, Says CRO Pro 03.07.2026 33min

  Nate Lagos is a seasoned conversion rate optimizer, yet a recent A/B test surprised him. A client used all caps in key landing page headlines. Nate, having read a tip on X, suggested they test headlines that capitalized only the first letter of each word. The result? Conversions increased by 25% Nate first appeared on the podcast in 2025, when he addressed Facebook ad performance. For this episode, he focuses on "bottoms-up" testing, audience targeting, and marketing male products to women...
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  Printful Exec on Profitable Print-on-Demand 26.06.2026 34min

  Thanks to companies such as Printful, an enterprising entrepreneur can select a product, upload an image to place on it, sync it with her ecommerce site, sell it, and then pay for it. Print-on-demand is big business, and David Hooker is a prominent participant. He's the brand director at Printful and a long-time SaaS executive. In this episode, he addresses POD pricing strategies, sales tactics, merchandising, and more. For an edited and condensed transcript with embedded audio, see:...
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  Building a Life, Not Just a Business 19.06.2026 26min

  The last few years have been rough for Beardbrand, the direct-to-consumer company that host Eric Bandholz founded over a decade ago. He says pretty much nothing has worked post-pandemic. The business is finally seeing revenue growth, but costs are rising too. In this week's podcast episode, Eric departs from interviewing guests to share his own experiences at Beardbrand and his evolution to a more balanced life. For an edited and condensed transcript with embedded audio, see: https://www.pr...
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  Pinwheel CEO on Selling Kid-Safe Phones 12.06.2026 37min

  In 2019 Dane Witbeck had a problem familiar to parents: What were his kids doing on their smartphones? That problem became his motivation to launch Pinwheel, an Austin, Texas-based seller of Android phones with parental controls for apps, usage limits, monitoring, and more. Fast forward to 2026, and Pinwheel is thriving and profitable. In this episode, Dane shares his company's production process, marketing tactics, economic model, and more. For an edited and condensed transcript with embedd...
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  Engineer Quits, Launches Online Art School 05.06.2026 36min

  Florence Morin is an artist-turned-engineer-turned-entrepreneur. She graduated from Canada's Polytechnique Montréal in 2013, only to realize she disliked engineering work. She longed to earn a living from making art. Fast forward to 2026, and Florence Art & Drawing is her online art school, launched in 2020, selling classes and instruction. Her 10-person team includes web developers, instructors, and support staff. In this episode, she shares her tactics for course content, customer acq...
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  2 Bootstrapped D2C Brands, 1 CEO 29.05.2026 30min

  For four years Eric Steckling has run two direct-to-consumer brands. Brio, the company he founded in 2014, sells beard trimmers and related goods. In 2022, he acquired Ollie, then a seller of teeth-whitening strips and now an expanded oral care provider. Eric first appeared on the podcast in 2023. In this latest conversation, he addresses Brio's challenges of selling long-lasting goods, Ollie's opportunity with consumable items, and juggling the two. For an edited and condensed transcript wi...
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  Ecommerce Investor on Turnaround Tactics (Encore) 22.05.2026 40min

  Please enjoy this repeat of a popular episode first aired in April 2025. Mehtab Bhogal is the co-founder of Karta Ventures, a Canada-based acquirer of troubled ecommerce businesses. The firm seeks companies with "issues," such as unpaid taxes, regulatory problems, and founder disputes. He says buying distressed companies is like salvaging a crashed car. "What are the parts worth?" he asks. In this episode, he addresses identifying hidden value, turnaround tactics, seller concerns, and more...
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  Chord Commerce CEO on Pivoting to Data 15.05.2026 37min

  When he appeared on this podcast in 2021, Bryan Mahoney had just co-founded Chord, an ecommerce platform that separated the public frontend from the nuts-and-bolts backend. It was a "headless" structure that enabled merchants to connect with their preferred external providers rather than a one-size-fits-all solution. The problem, Bryan says in retrospect, was a complicated setup that required replatforming. What merchants wanted was his tools that consolidated data from external vendors for ...
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  Inside Beardbrand's Expansion Plan 08.05.2026 33min

  We've hit a plateau at Beardbrand, the direct-to-consumer business I launched 15 years ago. Our revenue is down from its peak. We've made mistakes. The beard care space has dried up. We've moved from a blue ocean of growth and opportunity to a red ocean of fierce competition. If Beardbrand grows, a competitor loses, and vice versa. In this episode, I'll depart from my typical interview format and share our plans for moving Beardbrand forward. My goal is to help other merchants in similar ci...
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  Viahart Founder Eyes Sales in China 01.05.2026 34min

  Contrary to much U.S. sentiment, Molson Hart sees opportunity in China. His direct-to-consumer toy brand, Viahart, sells mostly on Amazon, though growth has slowed in recent years. China, he says, offers promise. In this our third interview (following episodes in 2022 and 2024), recorded from an X live stream, he shares his plans to sell toys in China, addressing cultural nuances, legalities, shopping preferences, and more. For an edited and condensed transcript with embedded audio, see: ht...