Today’s Guest Darren Hickey
Darren is the mastermind behind Fellowship, an award-winning web design agency that’s been building standout WordPress, Multisite, and WooCommerce sites for over 20 years. With a knack for turning digital dreams into reality, he’s helped everyone from scrappy startups to global giants supercharge their growth. Whether you're a CMO, Marketing Manager, or IT whiz, Darren’s your go-to guy for making your website work harder and smarter.
In this episode of the Ecommerce Podcast, host Matt Edmundson welcomes Darren Hickey from Fellowship Agency to discuss the intricacies of WooCommerce. The conversation explores Darren's extensive experience in web design and e-commerce, spanning over 30 years, with a focus on WooCommerce for the past decade. They delve into the reasons behind choosing WooCommerce over other platforms like Shopify and Magento, highlighting its flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and suitability for businesses seeking more than just a product catalogue. Darren shares insights into the benefits of WooCommerce for both new and re-platforming businesses, emphasising its ability to grow with a company's needs. The discussion also touches on the importance of mobile-first design and the evolving role of AI in e-commerce.
Key Takeaways:
1. WooCommerce's Flexibility and Cost-Effectiveness:
Darren Hickey highlights WooCommerce's adaptability and affordability as key reasons for its popularity among businesses. Its open-source nature allows for extensive customisation and integration, making it a suitable choice for companies looking to expand their e-commerce capabilities without incurring high costs.
2. Importance of Mobile-First Design:
The shift towards mobile-first design is crucial in today's e-commerce landscape. Darren emphasises the need to prioritise mobile user experience, as a significant portion of traffic and sales now come from mobile devices. Designing with a mobile-first approach ensures a seamless and efficient user journey, enhancing conversion rates.
3. AI's Emerging Role in E-commerce:
The episode touches on the potential impact of AI on e-commerce, with Matt sharing insights into how AI tools like ChatGPT can streamline business processes. While AI offers exciting possibilities, there are concerns about its sustainability and the uniformity of AI-generated content, which could affect its long-term viability in the industry.
If this episode of the eCommerce Podcast piqued your interest make sure to check out everything that gets done over here on the eCommerce Podcast, a space dedicated to eCommerce Wow!
Links for Darren
Sponsor for this episode
At the eCommerce Cohort, we're committed to helping you deliver eCommerce WOW through our lightweight, guided monthly Sprint that cycles through all the key areas of eCommerce.
What happens in a Sprint?
Just like this eCommerce Podcast episode, each Sprint is themed-based. So using this topic of Everything You Need To Know About Subscription eCommerce as an example - here's how it would work:
- Sprint Theme: Marketing.
- Week One: Coaching Session -> Marketing.
- Week Two: Expert Workshop -> Everything You Need To Know About Subscription eCommerce.
- Week Three: Live Q&A with our experts and coaches. This is a time to ask questions and contribute your thoughts and ideas so we can all learn together.
- Week Four: Submit your work for feedback, support, and accountability. Yup, all of this is to provide you with clear, actionable items you can implement in your eCommerce business or department! It's not about learning for the sake of learning but about making those constant interactions that keep you moving forward and ahead of your competitors. Sharing your work helps cement your understanding, and accountability enables you to implement like nothing else!
Who can join the eCommerce Cohort?
Anyone with a passion for eCommerce. If you're an established eCommercer already, you'll get tremendous value as it will stop you from getting siloed (something that your podcast host, Matt Edmundson, can attest to!).
If you're just starting out in eCommerce, we have a series of Sprints (we call that a Cycle) that will help you get started quicker and easier.
Why Cohort
Founder and coach Matt Edmundson started the Cohort after years of being in the trenches with his eCommerce businesses and coaching other online empires worldwide. One of Matt's most potent lessons in eCommerce was the danger of getting siloed and only working on those areas of the business that excited him - it almost brought down his entire eCommerce empire. Working on all aspects of eCommerce is crucial if you want to thrive online, stay ahead of your competitors and deliver eCommerce WOW.
Are you thinking about starting an eCommerce business or looking to grow your existing online empire? Are you interested in learning more about the eCommerce Cohort?
Visit our website www.ecommercecohort.com now or email Matt directly with any questions at [email protected].
Matt has been involved in eCommerce since 2002. His websites have generated over $50m in worldwide sales, and his coaching clients have a combined turnover of over $100m.