eCommerce Fastlane: Shopify Growth Strategies—Where AI Efficiency Meets Human Connection
Steve Hutt | Shopify and eCommerce Expert
Running a Shopify store? You already know success isn't about finding the right app—it's about knowing which strategies actually work at your specific stage of growth.
I'm Steve Hutt, and I've lived every level of the ecommerce journey. From eBay Power Seller shipping products from my garage, to co-founding and scaling VisionPros.com (an optical DTC startup) through to a successful exit, then spending 6+ years as a Shopify Merchant Success Manager helping 100+ brands from startup to enterprise scale, including working with teams at Tentree, Dr. Squatch, Bulletproof Coffee, Salt & Straw Ice Cream, MUD/WTR, Bokksu, and many more.
Here's what makes this podcast different: I've been on both sides of the table.
6+ years working inside Shopify gave me access to what's coming before most merchants know it exists. Building, scaling, and successfully exiting my own ecommerce businesses taught me what actually works when your money and reputation are on the line. That combination of insider access plus real operator experience gives you a perspective you won't find anywhere else.
Since 2018, eCommerce Fastlane has delivered over 430 episodes and more than 2 million downloads to ambitious Shopify founders and marketers. Every week, I chat with operators, developers, and experts who share what's actually moving the needle right now—not theory, but patterns I've seen work consistently across dozens of brands at multiple stages.
Whether you're launching your first store or scaling past seven figures, every episode gives you stage-aware strategies you can implement this week. We dig into Shopify apps, digital marketing, retention tactics, AI tools, and the operational stuff that actually reduces overwhelm—while building customer loyalty that lasts.
You'll learn how to leverage emerging tech without losing what makes your brand unique. You'll also hear real founder stories, including lessons from my own journey building and exiting a DTC brand, plus insights from guests across 430+ episodes who've been exactly where you are.
This isn't content for content's sake. It's what you'd get sitting at a mastermind table with someone who's built, scaled, and exited—and helped hundreds of others do the same.
Ready to grow smarter, not just faster? Join thousands of founders and marketers in the eCommerce Fastlane community through our podcast, newsletter, blog, and forthcoming book "Thriving with Shopify."
Steve Hutt
DTC Founder | Podcast Host
Find Us Online
Website: eCommerceFastlane.com
Newsletter: FastlaneInsider.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/shutt
X: x.com/stevenhutt
Instagram: instagram.com/ecommercefastlane
Email: steve@ecommercefastlane.com
I'm Steve Hutt, and I've lived every level of the ecommerce journey. From eBay Power Seller shipping products from my garage, to co-founding and scaling VisionPros.com (an optical DTC startup) through to a successful exit, then spending 6+ years as a Shopify Merchant Success Manager helping 100+ brands from startup to enterprise scale, including working with teams at Tentree, Dr. Squatch, Bulletproof Coffee, Salt & Straw Ice Cream, MUD/WTR, Bokksu, and many more.
Here's what makes this podcast different: I've been on both sides of the table.
6+ years working inside Shopify gave me access to what's coming before most merchants know it exists. Building, scaling, and successfully exiting my own ecommerce businesses taught me what actually works when your money and reputation are on the line. That combination of insider access plus real operator experience gives you a perspective you won't find anywhere else.
Since 2018, eCommerce Fastlane has delivered over 430 episodes and more than 2 million downloads to ambitious Shopify founders and marketers. Every week, I chat with operators, developers, and experts who share what's actually moving the needle right now—not theory, but patterns I've seen work consistently across dozens of brands at multiple stages.
Whether you're launching your first store or scaling past seven figures, every episode gives you stage-aware strategies you can implement this week. We dig into Shopify apps, digital marketing, retention tactics, AI tools, and the operational stuff that actually reduces overwhelm—while building customer loyalty that lasts.
You'll learn how to leverage emerging tech without losing what makes your brand unique. You'll also hear real founder stories, including lessons from my own journey building and exiting a DTC brand, plus insights from guests across 430+ episodes who've been exactly where you are.
This isn't content for content's sake. It's what you'd get sitting at a mastermind table with someone who's built, scaled, and exited—and helped hundreds of others do the same.
Ready to grow smarter, not just faster? Join thousands of founders and marketers in the eCommerce Fastlane community through our podcast, newsletter, blog, and forthcoming book "Thriving with Shopify."
Steve Hutt
DTC Founder | Podcast Host
Find Us Online
Website: eCommerceFastlane.com
Newsletter: FastlaneInsider.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/shutt
X: x.com/stevenhutt
Instagram: instagram.com/ecommercefastlane
Email: steve@ecommercefastlane.com
Episodes
Mentioned books
Aug 2, 2022 • 45min
Why The Fastest Growing DTC Brands Leverage Quizzes With Gen Furukawa Of Prehook
In today’s Shopify ecommerce podcast, my guest is Gen Furukawa the Co-Founder of Prehook. (at Prehook.com) They are a growing quiz platform for Shopify merchants. Prehook helps hundreds of high growth Shopify merchants sell more, accelerate list growth, and capture zero party data with quizzes. Gen also hosts the eCommerce marketing podcast, Cart Overflow, where he shares what the best brand operators, agencies, and tech platforms are doing to grow their ecommerce revenues. Gen has been in ecommerce for 10+ years, with the last 7 years in eCommerce SaaS. Prior to Prehook, Gen was part of the founding team and lead Marketing at Jungle Scout, the leading software for Amazon sellers. Profitably GROW and SCALE your Shopify store with the resources mentioned in today's ecommerce podcast episode.Have any questions or comments about this episode? You can reach us at hello@ecommercefastlane.com or through any of our social channels. We love hearing from our listeners!Looking to profitably grow and scale revenue for your Shopify store? Click here eCommerceFastlane.com for the latest strategies. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jul 21, 2022 • 39min
Shopify Brands Can Now Join The Fight Against The Fake Web To Improve ROAS With Lucas Rabinowitz Of Cheq.ai
In today’s Shopify ecommerce podcast, my guest is Lucas Rabinowitz the Sr Director of Growth from CHEQ. They are a Go-To-Market Security company that helps Shopify brands and organizations to protect themselves from the Fake Web. The Fake Web is any traffic interacting with your Shopify brand that doesn’t have the intention or ability to ever convert. This can range from harmful scrapers and crawlers, to click farms, to competitors, and even malicious human users and account hackers.This is an eye-opening episode in the underworld of the web and how you can protect your and improve ROAS at the same time.Profitably GROW and SCALE your Shopify store with the resources mentioned in today's ecommerce podcast episode.Have any questions or comments about this episode? You can reach us at hello@ecommercefastlane.com or through any of our social channels. We love hearing from our listeners!Looking to profitably grow and scale revenue for your Shopify store? Click here eCommerceFastlane.com for the latest strategies. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jul 5, 2022 • 1h 11min
8-Figure Ecommerce Marketer Reveals The Trojan Horse Method With Jason K. Williamson Of Optimonk
In today’s Shopify ecommerce podcast, my guest is Jason K Williamson the Founder of E2.Agency and the developer of The Trojan Horse Method.Jason specializes in ecommerce email and SMS marketing by helping Shopify merchants maximize their existing traffic and to explode their profits with retention marketing.Profitably GROW and SCALE your Shopify store with the resources mentioned in today's ecommerce podcast episode.Have any questions or comments about this episode? You can reach us at hello@ecommercefastlane.com or through any of our social channels. We love hearing from our listeners!Looking to profitably grow and scale revenue for your Shopify store? Click here eCommerceFastlane.com for the latest strategies. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jun 29, 2022 • 42min
Scale Your Shopify Store Revenue By 10x Through Google Ads With Shri Kanase Of Yoru Marketing
In today’s Shopify ecommerce podcast, my guest is Shri Kanase the CEO and Co-Founder from Yoru Marketing. They are a Google Ads marketing agency that helps Shopify ecommerce brands to scale consistently and steadily with PPC.Establishing omnipresence and market share via Google Ads is more important than ever before now due to Facebook inconsistencies and ad account suspensions. There’s no time to leave potential sales on the table, so let's jump in a learn more!Profitably GROW and SCALE your Shopify store with the resources mentioned in today's ecommerce podcast episode.CLICK HERE > eCommerceFastlane.com or eCommerceFastlanePodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jun 28, 2022 • 39min
Livestream Commerce For Shopify Is Now Transforming Engagement Into Revenue With Frost Li Of Social Chat
In today’s Shopify ecommerce podcast, my guest is Frost Li the Founder and CEO of Social Chat. They are a software platform and Shopify App that enables brands to host livestream shopping events directly on a Shopify store's website.Learn about this amazing technology that supercharges engagement. Livestream and chat with your customers in your own store and drop exclusive discount codes and checkout links to drive purchases.Profitably GROW and SCALE your Shopify store with the resources mentioned in today's ecommerce podcast episode.CLICK HERE > eCommerceFastlane.com or eCommerceFastlanePodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jun 27, 2022 • 39min
Better Data = Better ROAS: Get The Post iOS 14.5 Visibility Solution With Alexa Kilroy Of Triple Whale
In today’s Shopify ecommerce podcast, my guest is Alexa Kilroy the Head of Brand of Triple Whale.They have developed an analytics platform for key stakeholders of Shopify brands looking to scale their businesses.Triple Whale’s (mobile-first) data-driven dashboard combines centralization, visualization, and attribution to illustrate KPIs in a simple and actionable way, making sophisticated insights into advertising performance accessible for any Shopify store.Profitably GROW and SCALE your Shopify store with the resources mentioned in today's ecommerce podcast episode.CLICK HERE > eCommerceFastlane.com or eCommerceFastlanePodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jun 24, 2022 • 39min
Personalize Email, SMS, And Paid Social Campaigns Through AI Segmentation With Shanif Dhanani Of Apteo
In today’s Shopify ecommerce podcast, my guest is Shanif Dhanani the Co-Founder & CEO of Apteo. They are a marketing personalization platform that helps Shopify brands drive sales from personalized emails, SMS, and social media ads.Apteo predicts what your customers will do or buy next, segments them based on those predictions, and syncs those segments to your existing marketing tools where your team can create highly targeted campaigns. Shopify brands can see an increase of 30% incremental revenue and experience up to a 20X ROI by using Apteo.Profitably GROW and SCALE your Shopify store with the resources mentioned in today's ecommerce podcast episode.CLICK HERE > eCommerceFastlane.com or eCommerceFastlanePodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jun 19, 2022 • 57min
Create An Exceptional Order Experience For Your Shopify Business To Drastically Impact Conversions And Profitability With Akhilesh Srivastava Of Fenix Commerce
In today’s Shopify ecommerce podcast, my guest is Akhilesh Srivastava the Founder and CEO from Fenix Commerce. They are a SaaS platform that helps eCommerce retailers provide an amazon like delivery experience.Consumer expectations around shipping are changing. The number one reason consumers don’t buy from your Shopify store is related to shipping. In order to gain material advantage retailers need to provide fast, cheap and on-time shipping options. To help Shopify brands deliver a better customer experience Fenix Commerce have built an ecommerce delivery operations system that utilizes upstream data and AI to optimize shipping operations, costs and delivery dates based on real-time product, inventory, customer and carrier info. This allows brands to deliver a superior pre and post-purchase shipping experience while increasing customer satisfaction. It turns shipping from a cost-center to a profit-center all while helping brands see a 17% increase in conversion and an 8% reduction in shipping costs. Profitably GROW and SCALE your Shopify store with the resources mentioned in today's ecommerce podcast episode.CLICK HERE > eCommerceFastlane.com or eCommerceFastlanePodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jun 15, 2022 • 41min
Spectacular ROI: Retarget Anonymous Shopify Store Visitors Over Email With Adam Robinson Of GetEmails
In today’s Shopify ecommerce podcast, my guest is Adam Robinson, the CEO and Co-Founder of GetEmails. Their platform identifies 45% of your anonymous Shopify store traffic and sends you deliverable email addresses of those people that didn’t purchase or fill out a form on your website. You then clone your welcome sequence from our email service provider and change the title of the first email to "Thank you for visiting (your brand name here).With extremely high open and click-through rates, this will be your highest-ROI channel. Profitably GROW and SCALE your Shopify store with the resources mentioned in today's ecommerce podcast episode.CLICK HERE > eCommerceFastlane.com or eCommerceFastlanePodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Jun 8, 2022 • 34min
Yotpo Subscriptions: Now Is The Time To Double Down On A Recurring Revenue Channel With Judith Zhu Of Yotpo
In today’s Shopify ecommerce podcast, my guest is Judith Zhu, a Product Marketing Manager from Yotpo. Yotpo is an ecommerce marketing platform with advanced solutions for customer reviews, visual marketing, loyalty, referrals, and SMS marketing. I’ve had the pleasure over the years to have Yotpo on the show to share specifically how Shopify brands are winning with their platform.Today will not disappoint as eCommerce Fastlane is the exclusive podcast to share the next and exciting iteration with Subscriptions by Yotpo!Profitably GROW and SCALE your Shopify store with the resources mentioned in todays ecommerce podcast episode.CLICK HERE > eCommerceFastlane.com or eCommerceFastlanePodcast.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
