Cuppa Commerce

Dallas-based Daniel Vitiello, along with his business partner, Brandon Warman, has founded two startups (so far), both in the food/grocery space. Daniel and I chat about lessons learned during the development and launch of Handground, their coffee grinder, and how their latest venture, mobile app Cooklist, may revolutionize both grocery shopping and meal planning while helping consumers eat healthier, spend less time shopping, and save money. In this episode, we discuss: How Daniel and Brandon got their start in business and as entrepreneurs, including launching a new manual coffee grinder, Handground (available via Amazon) Taking learnings from Handground, how Daniel and Brandon surveyed people passionate about cooking to test their initial ideas for a food/cooking app How joining the TechStars accelerator program in 2018 – including working with Target – helped drive the initial launch of the Cooklist mobile app Two recent developments that make an app like Cooklist possible: Grocery store loyalty program d

After a long career with Elsevier, Amanda Wolff is now the CMO for OneSpace, a tech startup that specializes in helping consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies improve product and content visibility on Amazon and similar online retailers. We chat about what’s happening in the CPG ecommerce space today and accelerating changes in how consumers shop for and buy these products online. In this episode, we discuss: How delivery services (e.g. Instacart) and click-n-collect capabilities are impacting fast-moving consumer goods like beverages Ways OneSpace works with clients to establish or evolve their ecommerce operations, ensuring they optimize their online content on a regular cadence Where your products sit on a “digital shelf” and their search rankings can change every day or even during a single day, requiring constant vigilance The process of optimizing product content and getting it out to retailers so it’s available for online shoppers In addition to its content distribution platform, OneSpace content cre

CEO Sonal Puri of Webscale shares how her company helps B2C and B2B sellers of all sizes manage their cloud infrastructure globally, helping them take advantage of the cloud’s almost infinite scalability while optimizing costs, security, and performance. In this episode, we discuss: As a startup, how Webscale is disrupting the digital infrastructure space as “the digital cloud company” for more than 1000 online stores globally Webscale’s ability to manage applications in the public cloud on behalf of customers across all the “hyperscale” cloud providers, including Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Alibaba Cloud, and others The company’s experience with online commerce is key to helping clients manage their infrastructure for maximum benefit with minimal cost Large hyperscale providers are providing very reliable, scalable cloud infrastructure/hosting on demand, while Webscale runs its own services on top:  security, predictive autoscaling, performance, caching, content

This time I spoke with three commerce veterans who share their experience transforming how small- and medium-sized businesses offer an Amazon-like shipping/delivery experiences and compete with ecommerce giants:  Raphael Neff, owner of ChessHouse.com; Akhilesh Srivastava, founder and CEO of Fenix Commerce; and Vince Cavasin, head of marketing for Fenix. In this episode, we discuss: How Fenix “democratizes Amazon features for the masses” and helps mid-market retailers differentiate themselves with a better delivery and fulfillment experience Why delivery considerations/options should appear on product pages and not just in checkout, since delivery is a major purchase consideration ChessHouse.com has experienced a 37% improvement in conversion rate, much of which Raphael attributes to Fenix Overall, Fenix customers average: 14% improvement in end-to-end conversion (shopper on product page who submits an order) 38% improvement in cart abandonment rates 21% increase in shipping revenue Large decrease in pre-purc

As data experts with both consulting and client-side experience, both Patrick Ezell of Bridgetown AI and Andrew Duffle of Data in the Raw are excited by how retailers and direct-to-consumer brands can leverage all the capabilities offered by Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google and other emerging technologies to build a winning commerce strategy – if you embrace change and hire people passionate about data. In this episode, we discuss: The origins and focus of both Bridgetown AI and Data in the Raw, and how they differ from other offerings on the market Key evolutionary improvements for data from a digital commerce perspective Plummeting costs of data storage and compute with AWS and Google offerings Rising demands for online privacy and rollout of GDPR and similar laws/regulations Higher consumer expectations for a tailored and compelling online experience The need to invest in smart, passionate data science talent to maximize the effectiveness of today’s tools and data capabilities Finding/grooming data ta

As the co-founder and CEO of SUMO Heavy Industries, a boutique digital commerce consultancy, Bart Mroz focuses on helping clients’ digital teams become more successful. He takes his coffee black. In this episode, we discuss: Bart’s 20-plus years in the commerce industry and the founding of SUMO Heavy SUMO Heavy's focus on emerging sellers (up to $25M annual revenues) and the enterprise space ($100M+) and the company’s intentionally limited number of clients How SUMO Heavy assesses what new clients need and roadmaps the work to come The current commerce environment and what retailers and brands need to compete and succeed (hint: it’s the consumer experience) The value and dangers of the overall transparency demanded by consumers today How the ecommerce platform space has evolved over the years, and how to think about current offerings (e.g. Shopify, Big Commerce, Workarea Commerce) The push towards microservices and why Bart expects even more commerce software options to hit the market in the next two years Wh

Currently the VP of Partnerships at Coredna, Paul Savage leverages more than 15 years of digital experience to his role helping companies like Nintendo, Tivoli Audio, and Stanley grow their brands using the Coredna suite of applications. Originally from Cork, Ireland, Paul has also worked in Germany and likes his cuppa (double espresso) very strong indeed. In this episode, we discuss: Coredna’s origins as an in-house content management solution developed by an agency in Australia back in 2000, the more recent focus on ecommerce and push into the North American market, and how the solution has evolved into the fully featured, multi-tenant SaaS-based CMS + ecommerce platform offered today. The advantages of having a single platform – and thus a single business interface – that handles both content and commerce for brands, with the added bonus of maintaining a single view of the consumer. How Coredna can help scale an emerging brand, from initial story-telling and marketing efforts through to a full-blown commer

Currently the VP of Sales & Business Development for WhatCounts, an OSG company (formerly Windsor Circle), my guest Gautham Pandiyan is a scientist-turned-software expert who focuses on the retail, ESP and related markets. His team focuses on adding value to marketers’ personalization initiatives, helping them grow profitable repeat business. In this episode, we discuss: Windsor Circle’s recent acquisition by OSG and merger with WhatCounts, an email marketing provider, and what this means for the joint company’s offerings. The evolution/range of digital personalization capabilities, from Personalization 1.0 (using a customer’s name) through Personalization 4.0 (predicting buying behavior). Why personalization drives a more engaged and loyal customer base and, ultimately, a higher lifetime customer value, even in an era focused on privacy (e.g. GDPR). Personalization as a strategic imperative, not a nice-to-have, and its role in building a strong loyalty program. That email remains the most cost-effective

Currently the VP of Global Strategy, Transformation, Alliances and M&A for Tyco Retail Solutions, a division of Johnson Controls, my guest Amin Shahidi draws on a wealth of experience helping companies in retail, consumer goods, healthcare and other industries deploy transformational initiatives. These days in particular, his team offers expertise through leading-edge technology to help retailers achieve real-time inventory visibility, improving accuracy and operational efficiency. In this episode, we discuss: How retailers looking to evolve their store environment should tie transformation efforts to three key business outcomes: Share of mind (brand penetration) Share of wallet (revenue growth and profit) Operational excellence (including safety/security) Where different verticals focus on improving stores: Fashion retailers = the in-store experience to improve conversion Food and drug = growing wallet/market share over time DIY = inventory and keeping shelves stocked appropriately How merchants in Asi

A former developer and long-time veteran of the commerce platform industry, Bill Tarbell of Workarea Commerce has made a career of simplifying the complex. He shares where we’ve been and how the commerce industry needs to continue its evolution to better serve retailers and merchants of all sizes. In this episode, we discuss: Three eras of commerce platform evolution, from early “framework” type offerings (ATG, IBM WebSphere) to open source and ease-of-use pioneers (Magento, Demandware) to today’s modern, SaaS-based solutions (Shopify, Workarea Commerce) How Workarea aims to bring greater flexibility and customization to retailers and merchants who want to create an innovative experience across channels and customer touch points The difference between “microservices” and “headless” commerce architectures Where microservices works best versus headless approaches or “monolithic” platforms How standardization is coming (but isn’t here yet), when the commerce platform market becomes truly commoditized – more inno

In her work as a project/program manager in the retail and travel space, Karthika Mayo focuses on building out digital solutions for direct-to-consumer brands and retailers. In this episode, we discuss: Her recent work with cosmetics company e.l.f. to replatform from a legacy ecommerce system to Salesforce Commerce Cloud (along with other SF solutions) Why both vender salespeople and business executives should include a company’s broader digital team when considering a new commerce project Just selling to “who holds the checkbook” doesn’t work – your product may not be short-listed for consideration Digital stakeholders are found across the organization, and their adoption will determine a solution’s success post launch How the sales process itself is an educational opportunity Businesses use the RFP process to learn about available solutions and build out their list of requirements Insisting on using a scripted, scenario- and demo-based approach to evaluation is key to comparing options Vendors’ reputations

In her consulting work at Soleberry over the past 13 years, Gabrielle Hase has helped both established retailers and startup brands grasp how the digital space impacts customer behavior online and offline, giving her clients a deeper understanding of their consumer. In this episode, we discuss: How her new UK-based digital venture, CatDogFish, helps her keep in touch with the market and gives depth to the advice she’s offering clients The differing challenges facing today’s "digital first" startups vs. established consumer brands – and what each needs to do to keep both their product strategy and their brand story pointed in the right direction How to appeal to today’s "fickle and promiscuous" consumers, who expect weekly if not daily engagement from their favorite brands Why your digital strategy MUST be driven from the very top of the organization to have any chance to succeed Why the biggest challenges for direct-to-consumer businesses include "the hygiene factor" and getting your data in order Her view th

Chuck Cantrell, Director of Strategic Commerce Consulting for LiveArea, shares his thoughts on how direct-to-consumer brands and retailers can achieve omni-channel success, despite myriad internal/external challenges and competitive threats. Chuck outlines how focusing on the "Zero Moment of Truth" and and a customer-first philosophy can orient all of your omni-channel efforts.