This week's episode

Summer 2025 is over, and while most e-commerce businesses are breathing a sigh of relief after "surviving" another slow season, Matt's post-summer analysis reveals something different—while one business experienced the predicted 50% sales drop, another grew 19% year-on-year by challenging default assumptions and focusing on mobile optimisation and new customer acquisition while competitors pulled back. In this episode, Matt introduces Aurion's "undefault" principle for questioning business assumptions, shares research showing 70% of summer purchases happen in March-May, and provides three practical steps to challenge your seasonal defaults for 2026, proving summer can become a competitive advantage rather than a period to survive.

Sean Stone reveals why successful Shopify strategies often fail on Amazon, where 20% conversion rates are expected versus Shopify's 3%. Through his PAIR framework (Promotions, Advertising, Inventory, Rankability) and conversion rate benchmarking tools, sellers can identify "rankable" products and systematically climb organic rankings by treating Amazon as a competitive marketplace rather than another sales channel.

Digital marketing veteran Vlad Zhovtenko reveals why data ownership has become the biggest competitive advantage in e-commerce. As platforms change algorithms and new search behaviours emerge through TikTok and AI, businesses that control their own customer data can adapt quickly while competitors struggle. Learn his practical framework for identifying the 1-2 metrics that actually drive growth, avoiding the AI analysis trap, and building sustainable data advantages that compound over time.

Matt Edmundson reveals nine battle-tested Black Friday strategies that address operational realities rather than wishful thinking. From the "mom test" that prevents customer confusion to understanding that 70% of sales happen on mobile devices, these tips focus on building systems that work when traffic spikes. The key insight: Black Friday is a two-week opportunity, not a single day, requiring preparation for customer service floods, site speed issues, and mobile-first shopping behaviours.

Matt Edmundson reveals why most Black Friday campaigns fail by treating all customers equally. Learn the VIP list strategy that lets your best customers test offers early, reduces customer service pressure, and turns loyal buyers into your biggest competitive advantage. Discover customer segmentation tactics, SMS marketing for Black Friday, and how to build exclusive experiences that maximise lifetime value rather than just weekend revenue.

What if the secret to Black Friday success isn't just about discounts, but about building relationships that last? Matt Edmundson reveals a simple framework that transforms one-time buyers into lifetime customers through strategic knowledge and trust building.

Discover why some of the most successful eCommerce brands skip Black Friday entirely, and how others create compelling offers that protect margins whilst increasing customer lifetime value. Matt Edmundson shares the critical margin to lifetime value ratio that transforms Black Friday strategy, revealing alternatives to deep discounting including gift with purchase, strategic bundles, and the clever IKEA gift card trick. Learn why giving your best deals to loyal customers beats chasing strangers, and how to create genuine urgency without deception. Essential listening for anyone planning their November strategy who wants to avoid the race to zero margins.

Matt Edmundson confronts an uncomfortable truth: after 200+ episodes interviewing experts, he's only implemented about 5% of what he's learned. Drawing from his £38 million business lesson—when a supplier relationship decimated revenue from £6 million to £1 million—Matt argues that we're all drowning in good advice whilst our businesses stay the same. This solo episode marks a shift for the eCommerce Podcast, introducing focused implementation episodes and free peer cohorts to bridge the gap between learning and doing. His challenge: stop taking notes, start taking action.

Abhishek Chandra reveals how Asian e-commerce brands achieve 20% cart recovery through WhatsApp versus the UK's 5% email average, sharing lessons from sending 2 billion messages that generated £2 billion in sales. The GoKwik co-founder, who helped kick PayPal out of India, explains why conversational commerce is the future and how UK brands can gain first-mover advantage by meeting customers where they actually are - in messaging apps, not their inbox.

Jordan West reveals how TikTok Shop is revolutionising ecommerce by turning creators into commission-motivated salespeople who generate demand rather than capture it. He shares practical strategies including the 80-20 sampling approach and explains why this platform represents the biggest shift in online selling since the rise of social media.

George Bryant reveals his APPLE communication framework that increased a supplement company's customer lifetime value from $75 to $744 using just five strategic emails. He also shares the 'Triangle of Poop' - three critical mistakes that destroy customer relationships and provides actionable solutions for building retention through relationship-focused customer journeys.

Luke Yarnton shares game-changing insights on building authentic influencer programmes, revealing that the average brand has 200-250 potential influencers per 10,000 customers. His most surprising finding? Offering partial refunds instead of payments for content creation increases response rates from 3-5% to over 50%, completely transforming how brands can activate their customer advocates.