This week's guest is Christina Blake. Christina is the Innovation Lead at SEER Interactive focusing on bringing big data and fast insights to team members and clients of SEER by overseeing the development of new analysis tools, applications and other products. She brings years of experience as a strategist and leads in-house marketing efforts for both large and small businesses.

Show Takeaways:

• SEO and Trends for Ecommerce brands
  
• An explanation of ‘The Digital Shelf’
  
• Amazon SEO: Where can you compete?
  
• SEO tips for new store owners
  

Christina’s LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/christinablake/

SEER Interactive
https://www.seerinteractive.com/

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About the Show: ‘In The Ring’ is a weekly podcast about eCommerce hosted by John Suder, Bart Mroz and Brittany Blackman.

The show combines interviews with eCommerce leaders together with the latest news and strategies to give listeners actionable ideas and inspiration for their eCommerce businesses.

The show is a production of SUMO Heavy an eCommerce Consulting firm located in Brooklyn NY and Philadelphia.

Hosts:

John Suder (@johnsuder) - Producer and Director of Marketing at SUMO Heavy https://twitter.com/johnsuder

Bart Mroz (@bartmroz) - CEO/Co-founder of SUMO Heavy https://twitter.com/bartmroz

Brittany Blackman - Writer and Junior Marketing Coordinator at SUMO Heavy

Learn more about SUMO Heavy: http://www.sumoheavy.com

Follow Us:

Newsletter: SUMO Heavy Weekly https://www.getrevue.co/profile/sumoheavy

Twitter: @sumoheavy

Today on the show we have Liat Karpel Gurwicz from Wix.

Liat leads growth and strategic marketing for the Wix eCommerce platform which powers more than 700,000 online stores worldwide. In 2020, Wix sellers surpassed $5.4 billion in online transactions with 140% year of the growth in sales transactions, and 114% year of growth in overall sales revenue.

Show Takeaways:

• An explanation of Wix features
• Who is Wix for?
• Wix’s strategies for cart abandonment
• Audience segmentation: use whatever channels you have to get in front of your audience.
• Businesses are expanding in unexplored directions, discovering new audiences.
• Wix’s approach to the changing lifetime value of a customer
• Up-selling and cross-selling
• Post-COVID eCommerce strategies

Wix
https://www.wix.com

Twitter
@LiatKarpel

LinkedIn
https://il.linkedin.com/in/liatkarpel

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About the Show: ‘In The Ring’ is a weekly podcast about eCommerce hosted by John Suder, Bart Mroz and Brittany Blackman.

The show combines interviews with eCommerce leaders together with the latest news and strategies to give listeners actionable ideas and inspiration for their eCommerce businesses.

The show is a production of SUMO Heavy an eCommerce Consulting firm located in Brooklyn NY and Philadelphia.

Hosts:

John Suder (@johnsuder) - Producer and Director of Marketing at SUMO Heavy https://twitter.com/johnsuder

Bart Mroz (@bartmroz) - CEO/Co-founder of SUMO Heavy https://twitter.com/bartmroz

Brittany Blackman - Writer and Junior Marketing Coordinator at SUMO Heavy

Learn more about SUMO Heavy: http://www.sumoheavy.com

Follow Us:

Newsletter: SUMO Heavy Weekly https://www.getrevue.co/profile/sumoheavy

Twitter: @sumoheavy

Today on the show we have Adam Rose, Founder & Chief Talent Officer at eCommerce Placement.

Adam has recruited in-house for companies such as Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, AIG, and Pfizer. As the sole Recruiting Manager for Borderfree, a leading global eCommerce and international shipping startup, Adam scaled the business from 40 to 300 employees prior to the company's successful acquisition by Pitney Bowes.

Adam is an expert at recruiting candidates for eCommerce strategy and management, online marketing, marketplaces, trade marketing, shopper marketing, merchandising, operations, and web analytics.

Show takeaways:

• Adams background
• Observations on the current drought of tech talent
• The rush for talent, companies realizinge remote is the new norm
• Salaries/bonuses/equities are creeping up
• Overseas: Uptick in demand for talent especially in CPG and Fashion
• Clients are still finding their way with talent using a mix of internal teams and agencies
• Recruiting forecast for the rest of 2021: Amazon, Walmart, Marketplaces, CPG, Analytics
• Navigating the online Alcohol/Cannabis marketplace
• Advice for those looking to get into the eCommerce workplace

eCommerce Placement
https://www.ecommerceplacement.com/

Adam's LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/recruit4ecommerce/

About the Show: ‘In The Ring’ is a weekly podcast about eCommerce hosted by John Suder, Bart Mroz and Brittany Blackman.

The show combines interviews with eCommerce leaders together with the latest news and strategies to give listeners actionable ideas and inspiration for their eCommerce businesses.

The show is a production of SUMO Heavy an eCommerce Consulting firm located in Brooklyn NY and Philadelphia.

Hosts:

John Suder (@johnsuder) - Producer and Director of Marketing at SUMO Heavy https://twitter.com/johnsuder

Bart Mroz (@bartmroz) - CEO/Co-founder of SUMO Heavy https://twitter.com/bartmroz

Brittany Blackman - Writer and Junior Marketing Coordinator at SUMO Heavy

Learn more about SUMO Heavy: http://www.sumoheavy.com

Follow Us:

Newsletter: SUMO Heavy Weekly https://www.getrevue.co/profile/sumoheavy

Twitter: @sumoheavy

Today on In the Ring we have Kai Davis. Kai runs Double Your eCommerce with SEO and provides growth and SEO consulting for Shopify merchants. He also writes about marketing growth and lead generation Lead Generation for service professionals daily at KaiDavis.com.

Show Takeaways:

• Why the discovery phase is so important when starting with a potential client
• Why a 40-minute phone call with a price instead of a deep dive is inappropriate (and unfair to the client!)
• Start at the goal
• Why paid discoveries? Why can’t you spend time with me? By charging the client, we know that they take the recommendations seriously and actually sees it as something valuable.
• RFPs are bad - the client is writing a self-diagnosis and is missing the critical thinking.
• What to say to the client who just wants to 'get to work' - and skip discovery.
• Why 'Slow and Steady' is fast
• What to tell the client who wonders why it takes so long/too expensive
• Why is it beneficial to agencies and consulting firms to do this as their first engagement as a paid discovery?
• Kai’s approach to Roadmapping
• How acknowledging the value sets the client up for success

More about Kai Davis:

Quick Start Roadmapping by Kai Davis
https://kaidavis.com/products/roadmapping/

Kai’s Daily Newsletter
Sign up at https://kaidavis.com/

Double Your eCommerce with SEO
https://doubleyourecommerce.com/

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About the Show: ‘In The Ring’ is a weekly podcast about eCommerce hosted by John Suder, Bart Mroz and Brittany Blackman.

The show combines interviews with eCommerce leaders together with the latest news and strategies to give listeners actionable ideas and inspiration for their eCommerce businesses.

The show is a production of SUMO Heavy an eCommerce Consulting firm located in Brooklyn NY and Philadelphia.

Hosts:

John Suder (@johnsuder) - Producer and Director of Marketing at SUMO Heavy https://twitter.com/johnsuder

Bart Mroz (@bartmroz) - CEO/Co-founder of SUMO Heavy https://twitter.com/bartmroz

Brittany Blackman - Writer and Junior Marketing Coordinator at SUMO Heavy

Learn more about SUMO Heavy: http://www.sumoheavy.com

Follow Us:

Newsletter: SUMO Heavy Weekly https://www.getrevue.co/profile/sumoheavy

Twitter: @sumoheavy

Today on the show we have an interview with Jordan West, CEO of Mindful Marketing.

As a multi-brand owner and marketer with his own agency, Jordan shares insights with SUMO Heavy Co-founder and CEO, Bart Mroz on scaling his online audience:

• Lessons learned in the restaurant industry
  
• Running gated eCommerce campaigns via SMS and VIP lists
  
• How brands can leverage Facebook VIP Groups: how he made $250,000 of eCommerce sales in 24 hours without using Facebook ads or discounts
  

About Jordan:
When he was 23 he decided to buy a Taco Del Mar restaurant.

He knew he made a huge mistake at 2pm the first day when only 3 customers had walked in. (two of them were his parents)

For the next 5 years he worked hard to grow sales every way he could think of and in the end, tripled his revenue which still didn't seem to matter on the profit side. He didn’t make much.

He realized the one thing he seemed to be the best at in the restaurant endeavour was the marketing and getting people in the door.

Fast forward to 2014, his wife Carmen started a modest baby clothing line and was selling at craft markets. He tested out running a few ads on Facebook... and the rest is history. He learned every up and coming strategy and tactic and helped grow the small start-up to a multi-million dollar company and still growing.

Jordan West (LinkedIn)
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordan-west-marketer/

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About the Show: ‘In The Ring’ is a weekly podcast about eCommerce hosted by John Suder, Bart Mroz and Brittany Blackman.

The show combines interviews with eCommerce leaders together with the latest news and strategies to give listeners actionable ideas and inspiration for their eCommerce businesses.

The show is a production of SUMO Heavy an eCommerce Consulting firm located in Brooklyn NY and Philadelphia.

Hosts:

John Suder (@johnsuder) - Producer and Director of Marketing at SUMO Heavy https://twitter.com/johnsuder

Bart Mroz (@bartmroz) - CEO/Co-founder of SUMO Heavy https://twitter.com/bartmroz

Brittany Blackman - Writer and Junior Marketing Coordinator at SUMO Heavy

Learn more about SUMO Heavy: http://www.sumoheavy.com

Follow Us:

Newsletter: SUMO Heavy Weekly https://www.getrevue.co/profile/sumoheavy

Twitter: @sumoheavy

Today on In the Ring we have Steve Dennis, a strategic advisor and keynote speaker on retail innovation.

Steven is also podcast host and the best-selling author of Remarkable Retail: How to Win and Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption.

He has been named a top global retail influencer by multiple organizations and his thoughts on the future of shopping are regularly shared in his role as a Forbes Senior Contributor.

In this episode, Steve and SUMO Heavy CEO and Co-founder, Bart Mroz walk us through a plethora of topics like shifting consumer habits and spending, BOPIS, and Steve’s 8 Essentials of Remarkable Retail.

They also touch on omnichannel, and discuss the do’s and don’ts of competing with Amazon.

Steve Dennis - Consulting for Remarkable Retail
https://stevenpdennis.com/consulting/

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About the Show: ‘In The Ring’ is a weekly podcast about eCommerce hosted by John Suder, Bart Mroz and Brittany Blackman.

The show combines interviews with eCommerce leaders together with the latest news and strategies to give listeners actionable ideas and inspiration for their eCommerce businesses.

The show is a production of SUMO Heavy an eCommerce Consulting firm located in Brooklyn NY and Philadelphia.

Hosts:

John Suder (@johnsuder) - Producer and Director of Marketing at SUMO Heavy https://twitter.com/johnsuder

Bart Mroz (@bartmroz) - CEO/Co-founder of SUMO Heavy https://twitter.com/bartmroz

Brittany Blackman - Writer and Junior Marketing Coordinator at SUMO Heavy

Learn more about SUMO Heavy: http://www.sumoheavy.com

Follow Us:

Newsletter: SUMO Heavy Weekly https://www.getrevue.co/profile/sumoheavy

Twitter: @sumoheavy

Today on In The Ring we have Rachel Jacobs, founder of eCommerce Partnerships.

Rachel was Previously the COO of a leading Shopify Plus agency, in London

Her new focus at Ecommerce Partnerships is on the four corners of every ecommerce agency: Positioning, Acquisition, Delivery and Retention. She helps ecommerce agencies move away from being dependent on projects in favour of profitable retainers.

Rachel has over ten years of experience doing marketing and partnerships and has worked with a number of different industries like nursing, finance, construction, and start-ups.

In this episode, Rachel and SUMO Heavy CEO and Co-Founder, Bart Mroz walk us through Paid Discovery in eCommerce.

eCommerce Partnerships
https://ecommercepartnerships.com/

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About the Show: ‘In The Ring’ is a weekly podcast about eCommerce hosted by John Suder, Bart Mroz and Brittany Blackman.

The show combines interviews with eCommerce leaders together with the latest news and strategies to give listeners actionable ideas and inspiration for their eCommerce businesses.

The show is a production of SUMO Heavy an eCommerce Consulting firm located in Brooklyn NY and Philadelphia.

Hosts:

John Suder (@johnsuder) - Producer and Director of Marketing at SUMO Heavy https://twitter.com/johnsuder

Bart Mroz (@bartmroz) - CEO/Co-founder of SUMO Heavy https://twitter.com/bartmroz

Brittany Blackman - Writer and Junior Marketing Coordinator at SUMO Heavy

Learn more about SUMO Heavy: http://www.sumoheavy.com

Follow Us:

Newsletter: SUMO Heavy Weekly https://www.getrevue.co/profile/sumoheavy

Twitter: @sumoheavy

A conversation with Ben Marks, Director Global Market Development at Shopware and Bart Mroz, Co-founder/CEO of SUMO Heavy. Recorded in March, 2021.

Talking points:

- Ben's Magento background

- It’s about the merchant’s needs, not the platform

- When platforms fight for usage: we don’t care about the platform, we care about what fits the merchant bes

- Agencies that survive long term stress good merchant engagement

- Payments & profit margins

- Shopware (history and background)

- Magento 2.0

- Dealing with the pandemic & working with Adobe

- SAAS is eating software

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About the Show: ‘In The Ring’ is a weekly podcast about eCommerce hosted by John Suder, Bart Mroz and Brittany Blackman.

The show combines interviews with eCommerce leaders together with the latest news and strategies to give listeners actionable ideas and inspiration for their eCommerce businesses.

The show is a production of SUMO Heavy an eCommerce Consulting firm located in Brooklyn NY and Philadelphia.

Hosts:

John Suder (@johnsuder) - Producer and Director of Marketing at SUMO Heavy https://twitter.com/johnsuder

Bart Mroz (@bartmroz) - CEO/Co-founder of SUMO Heavy https://twitter.com/bartmroz

Brittany Blackman - Writer and Junior Marketing Coordinator at SUMO Heavy

Learn more about SUMO Heavy: http://www.sumoheavy.com

Follow Us:

Newsletter: SUMO Heavy Weekly https://www.getrevue.co/profile/sumoheavy

Twitter: @sumoheavy