Retention Chronicles

Mariah Parsons and Yaw Aning discussed the importance of creating a seamless post-purchase experience for e-commerce merchants. They emphasized the need to align the experience with the brand's strategy and goals, educate customers about the brand, and set goals based on the strategy. Both speakers highlighted the importance of keeping customers updated and mapping out the customer journey to build trust and transparency. Episode Timestamps: 0:05⁠ Post-purchase experience optimization for e-commerce businesses Expert CEO shares 10 post-purchase lessons from 5000 Shopify brands. Yaw Aning advises merchants to understand their post-purchase default settings. 3:55 Post-purchase experiences, brand strategy, and metrics for success Understand your brand strategy to choose the right post-purchase platform. Consumers prefer post-purchase experiences that educate and build the brand. Develop goals based on strategy to create a cohesive experience. 10:13 Post-purchase experience optimization for e-commerce merchants Yaw Aning suggests partnering with an agency to optimize post-purchase experience. Yaw Aning: Key moments in customer journey build trust, transparency. Mongoose's proactive communication best practices defuse frustration, build trust. Yaw Aning highlights Soylent's post-purchase strategy, segmenting customers based on their journey stage and providing tailored content and CTAs. Mobile-first design is crucial for tracking experiences, as 83% of views occur on mobile devices, and customers are often interrupted during on-the-go activities.

Mariah Parsons and Rachel Nilsson, Founder of RAGS, discussed Rachel’s experience in building her e-commerce business, emphasizing the importance of perseverance, creativity, and customer satisfaction.  Rachel shared her journey, including managing demand, partnering with large companies like Nordstrom and Disney, and navigating the unpredictable journey of entrepreneurship.  They also discussed the pros and cons of implementing limited edition models to increase FOMO marketing and getting creative with inventory sales. After Rachel’s premiere on Shark Tank, she navigated through having to deal with copycats but ultimately refocusing on doing their own thing and doing it well. This podcast is sponsored by Malomo, a leading shipment and order tracking platform for Shopify and Shopify Plus ecommerce brands.  To see what your personalized mockup of branded order tracking and transactional email/SMS would look like, fill out this form & we’ll send your free design right to your inbox! Episode Timestamps 4:37 Starting a clothing line from scratch, growing through social media and Shark Tank appearance 9:56 Limited edition drops, FOMO marketing, and serving customers 17:32 Limited edition products, inventory management, and consumer behavior 24:45 Challenges and successes of limited edition clothing model, with a focus on founder's personal experience and lessons learned 29:38 Entrepreneurship, success, and surrounding oneself with a supportive community 33:04 Entrepreneurship, innovation, and dealing with copycats

Mariah Parsons and Jonathan Penna, Co-Founder of ORBYT Skin & Azio Beauty, discussed their experiences navigating the challenges of e-commerce during the COVID-19 pandemic. Jonathan shared his journey of transitioning from a bakery to an e-commerce business, highlighting the challenges of scaling an operation during a global health crisis.  Mariah provided context and asked questions to delve deeper into the topic, exploring the impact of COVID-19 on the e-commerce industry and the strategies for adapting to the new normal. Later, Mariah and Jonathan discussed various strategies for building successful subscription-based businesses, including personalization, direct-to-consumer marketing, and optimizing subscription retention and growth.  Jonathan shared their experience with onboarding AI-powered customer support tools like Sienna AI, emphasizing the importance of careful onboarding and optimizing automations. This podcast is sponsored by Malomo, a leading shipment and order tracking platform for Shopify and Shopify Plus ecommerce brands.  To see what your personalized mockup of branded order tracking and transactional email/SMS would look like, fill out this form & we’ll send your free design right to your inbox! Episode Timestamps: 3:49 Skincare brand development and marketing strategies 9:10 Pre-orders and subscription model for a brand, with focus on education and UGC to drive sales 13:37 Marketing strategies for a skincare product with pre-orders and subscriptions 18:36 Implementing dynamic pricing for subscriptions, with focus on customer frustration and retention 23:02 Increasing subscription conversions through easy customization and control transfer to customers 28:44 Subscription services and customer preferences 34:12 AI-powered customer support tool and retail expansion 38:50 Strategies for expanding a subscription-based e-commerce business

Liz Krupka, Owner of Nomadd Marketing, joins Retention Chronicles to discuss email marketing and optimizing email templates Great email marketing has to parallel a brand’s tone and great customer experience. This is what Liz and her team focus on.  Liz and Mariah talk about how some ecommerce merchants have lost creative aspects of their marketing due to the shift towards performance marketing. The key is that these brands aren’t following what originally brought their customers to know and love their brand. So, some emails become too sales heavy, which end up turning customers away.  Liz proposes that instead, brands focus on what drove their audience and hone in on that. Find out which emails are the most successful that appeal to their audience and optimize those rather than fully redoing their emails. Liz also talks about email templates for ecommerce brands and how to compare templates accurately. Brands must take into account the email copy, email creative, email offerings, the seasonality, historical data, the economy, and more.  There are also considerations brands should make when considering becoming a promotion-heavy brand vs one that does not run promotions.  This podcast is sponsored by Malomo, a leading shipment and order tracking platform for Shopify and Shopify Plus ecommerce brands.  To see what your personalized mockup of branded order tracking and transactional email/SMS would look like, fill out this form & we’ll send your free design right to your inbox! Episode Timeline: 2:07 Celebrity endorsements and product placements in social media 6:42 Marketing strategies and post-purchase experiences 12:26 Email marketing challenges and strategies for brands in Utah 17:51 Email marketing strategies and audience analysis 23:04 Email marketing templates and their importance in improving email performance 28:27 Email marketing strategies and industry benchmarks for e-commerce brands 32:38 Marketing strategies, tactics, and best practices for email and SMS campaigns 38:54 Reducing promotions to focus on loyalty programs 43:05 Sustainable marketing strategies for fashion brands

Joel Reichert, four-time ecommerce owner and co-founder of Copper Pearl, Maven Thread, and Woven Nook, joins Retention Chronicles to discuss selling on Amazon vs. Shopify and running ads on Amazon vs Meta Joel started his career in ecommerce holding a financial role at a tech company and founded his first brand, Copper Pearl, in 2015. In 2.5 years, they grew the business to a 7 figure brand and sold the company in 2018. In 2017, he founded his two current brands, Maven Thread and Woven Nook. He’s also grown these brands to be a 7 figure company. Joel tells Mariah about how he started these ecommerce businesses with an investment of $10k and started selling on Amazon storefront. Joel explains that starting out on Amazon helped launch their product to help make their product make sense and then they transitioned into selling through their own website on Shopify.  There are a lot of differences between Amazon ads and Meta ads, such as the barrier to entry for ecommerce beginners and the rate of tweaking needed for each platform. From Joel’s perspective, starting on Amazon is the way to go. Joel and Mariah also discuss how customizable DTC products can be for specific cohorts of customers. Ecommerce also allows for there to be flexibility in logistics. This podcast is sponsored by Malomo, a leading shipment and order tracking platform for Shopify and Shopify Plus ecommerce brands.  To see what your personalized mockup of branded order tracking and transactional email/SMS would look like, fill out this form & we’ll send your free design right to your inbox! Episode Timestamps 6:10 Starting and growing an e-commerce business on Amazon and Shopify, with a focus on marketing strategies and scaling through wholesale 12:55 Amazon advertising, starting an Amazon business, and failed ecommerce startups. 18:18 Starting a business, preferences for customizable products. 22:44 Product design, customization, and data-driven decision-making in e-commerce. 27:50 Textile selection, manufacturing, and industry resources for eCommerce brands. 32:59 Shipping rates and challenges faced by e-commerce founders. 36:43 Amazon and Shopify e-commerce, brand growth, and customer support.

Chad Fisher (Founder) and David Stober (COO) of Ambaum join Retention Chronicles to discuss when merchants should use third party apps vs. custom solutions within Shopify’s capabilities The Ambaum team has been in the Shopify ecosystem since the early days. Chad and David share their experiences running a Shopify agency, and then expand on their experience to further discuss optimizing a Shopify store for growth.  Mariah emphasizes the importance of considering a brand's position on the growth curve when making decisions about what technology to add to your Shopify storefront. No brand is similar, and that’s what makes Shopify such a breeding ground for creativity. The group also discusses the evolving landscape of Shopify and its implications for custom development versus using apps.  Later, they discuss the value of attending industry events and networking with brands and agencies to build relationships that can benefit both parties. This podcast is sponsored by Malomo, a leading shipment and order tracking platform for Shopify and Shopify Plus ecommerce brands.  To see what your personalized mockup of branded order tracking and transactional email/SMS would look like, fill out this form & we’ll send your free design right to your inbox! Episode Timestamps: 8:46 Leveraging Shopify's growth for agencies and brands, with a focus on the increasing number of things touching the platform.  16:56 Shopify's future direction and its impact on merchants.  21:44 Shopify's capabilities and when to use custom vs. app solutions for merchants. 26:45 E-commerce, marketing, and branding for merchants.

Dallas Parsons, Senior Director of Marketing at Mixhers, joins Retention Chronicles to discuss adding value to the ecommerce customer experience.  Dallas started at Mixhers as a customer success manager, so she knows exactly what their customers care about most after her first-hand experience. She’s since transitioned into their marketing department to focus on customer retention, email marketing, designing the customer experience, implementing marketing technology, loyalty programs, & more.  Like many ecommerce brands, Mixhers continues to focus on customer retention as customer acquisition costs (CAC) continue to rise. They chose to funnel their energy towards what was working for them - email marketing. Dallas and her team decided to define an email marketing strategy that helped educate their customers. They did this by enabling a product quiz around which supplement would be the best for that customer based on their answers.  At face value, some ecommerce brand operators would argue that this isn’t a smart marketing approach as it could add friction to the buying experience. But, the Mixhers team saw that it actually helped their customer’s buying experience and resulted in higher revenue. With more confidence in what product they were buying, Mixhers customers benefited largely from this addition. Dallas tells Mariah about this decision and much more on this newest episode of Retention Chronicles. This podcast is sponsored by Malomo, a leading shipment and order tracking platform for Shopify and Shopify Plus ecommerce brands.  To see what your personalized mockup of branded order tracking and transactional email/SMS would look like, fill out this form & we’ll send your free design right to your inbox! Episode Timestamps: 8:47 E-commerce retention strategies, including lifecycle marketing and customer acquisition costs 15:03 Adding value to customer journey for subscription-based supplements 21:16 Email and SMS marketing strategies for a supplement brand, including customer journey mapping and lifecycle marketing 29:45 Developing a mobile app for tracking menstrual cycle and symptoms, with goals to increase brand trust and loyalty 34:30 Returns and exchanges in the supplement industry, with a new product launch coming soon

Harry Willis, Director of Partnerships and Business Development at Relo, joins Retention Chronicles to discuss increasing repeat orders and subscriptions for Shopify CPG brands. For Shopify and Shopify Plus brands, it can be difficult to know how to exactly tailor your customer experience when trying to motivate your customers to purchase more with you. Decisions like which day to target, which product to cross sell, who to show something to, and so many others are difficult to make without data and predictive analytics.  Harry WIllis, Director of Partnerships and Business Development at Relo, explains how Shopify brands are building their customer experience with the smartest tools around and how they’re hurdling the biggest retention challenges of the year.  For instance, one problem brands face is with increasing reorders and cross sells is that different products have different reorder times. But with product and customer tendencies, Shopify merchants are working around this with predictive analytics and making sure that their email marketing and SMS marketing is well-placed based on that order.  This podcast is sponsored by Malomo, a leading shipment and order tracking platform for Shopify and Shopify Plus ecommerce brands.  To see what your personalized mockup of branded order tracking and transactional email/SMS would look like, fill out this form & we’ll send your free design right to your inbox! Episode Timestamps: 6:00 CPG brand retention strategies using data analysis.  11:43 Personalized reorder reminders and cross-selling using Shopify data.  17:07 Using Klaviyo's predictive analytics for cross-selling and replenishment.  21:44 Using AI to optimize subscription marketing.  27:19 Using Klaviyo and Malomo to increase repeat orders and subscriptions for DTC brands. 32:48 CPG subscription-based brands and problem-solving.

Jay Davis, Founder of Pillow Cube, Cold Case Ice Cream, & Creatably, joins Retention Chronicles to discuss where to start when founding an ecommerce brand. Jay has had a vast background in marketing and he focuses on one thing - what’s not going to change in 10 years, and how he can focus on that.  Jay and Mariah talk about how easy it is to get caught up in marketing trends even if they might not be the best thing for your business. Making the (wrongful) assumption that traditional marketing of the past isn't as effective as our current age of digital marketing can lead to massive missed growth opportunities. After founding many brands, Jay’s biggest advice to other founders of products is to know your finances and if people will want your product. Jay shares his favorite test to run with friends and family to see if they enjoy a new product. We don’t want to spoil the details, but it’s one of those moments where you’ll reframe how you’re going about your customer testing. He also gives insight into some of his favorite customer retention plays. Jay also discusses 2024 macroeconomics of the ecommerce industry and what founders should be cautious about.  This podcast is sponsored by Malomo, a leading shipment and order tracking platform for Shopify and Shopify Plus ecommerce brands.  To see what your personalized mockup of branded order tracking and transactional email/SMS would look like, fill out this form & we’ll send your free design right to your inbox! Episode Timestamps: 1:46 Entrepreneurship, marketing, and business growth. 3:58 Viral marketing strategies and industry changes. 6:33 Marketing trends and social media platforms. 10:57 Marketing trends and the importance of connecting with people. 15:30 Entrepreneurship, marketing, and finance. 19:48 Product development and market research. 25:38 Entrepreneurship, business growth, and scaling. 31:36 Entrepreneurship, business growth, and work-life balance.  38:02 Customer retention strategies and brand development.  Summary43:12 Entrepreneurship, marketing, and customer retention.

Emerson Hammer, Director of Partnerships at Corso, joins Retention Chronicles to discuss ecommerce shipment protection in the order tracking experience. There’s a lot of tech stack consolidation in ecommerce right now as brands are striving for efficiency to get more out of their tech. Emerson tells Noah and Mariah about how ecommerce brands should really be focusing on retention and reverse logistics.  Emerson speaks to the .3-.5% of packages that have an issue with shipping and how brands traditionally have to eat that sunk cost, but with Malomo and Corso brands can mitigate shipping protection and costs while increasing the customer experience.  Brands can have full control over their refund policies, but few brands actually take the opportunity to increase their revenue in the post-purchase experience, like offering a gift card instead of a full return or providing cross and upsells. This podcast is sponsored by Malomo, a leading shipment and order tracking platform for Shopify and Shopify Plus ecommerce brands.  To see what your personalized mockup of branded order tracking and transactional email/SMS would look like, fill out this form & we’ll send your free design right to your inbox! Episode Timestamps:  2:05 Ecommerce growth strategies and supply chain management.  6:55 Ecommerce trends and tech integrations. 9:06 Shipping protection and its impact on brand revenue. 14:10 Integrating shipping protection and customer support for e-commerce businesses.  18:11 Streamlining return process for e-commerce brands. 22:55 Reducing friction in returns while maintaining good customer experience.  26:02 Streamlining post-purchase experiences for e-commerce brands. Please note that all numbers shown in the episode are from a staging environment and therefore not real customer data.