At the Coalface Podcast - eCommerce Tech & Trends

Rhys & Chris are the Co-Founders of SparkLayer - https://www.sparklayer.io SparkLayer is a SaaS based plug and play Shopify App that adds powerful B2B functionality to Shopify Anyone that's worked with Shopify knows it lacks B2B functionality in a big way SparkLayer addresses this by adding in crucial B2B functional support like, tiered pricing, pricelists, tiered/group customer accounts, quotes and much more In this episode, Jason, Rhys and Chris discuss all things B2B eCommerce, Shopify, the B2B commerce opportunity and how B2B merchants can create sustainable, self-service digital offerings for their customers

Max is the Co-Founder and MD of Klar - https://www.getklar.com Klar is a SaaS based plug and play BI, analytics and reporting tool for eCommerce Klar natively connects to platforms like Shopify, WooCommerce, Google, Facebook and others Klar is designed to provide deep eCommerce performance analytics without the need for a data analyst/scientist Klar says: "Stop running your businesses on spreadsheets and, in turn, frustrating your team. With Klar, you can centralize all your data in one place and customize it to your reality. Save time and get clarity on how to profitably grow, with Klar" Klar was developed originally to scratch an itch for the founders and was then commercialised as the 'single source of truth for eCommerce' In this episode, Jason and Max discuss all things eCommerce data and analytics and what this means for eCommerce brands that want to leverage this data for smart growth

Matt is the VP of Partnerships at Reach Payments - https://www.withreach.com Reach is a turnkey cross border payments platform (gateway) for eCommerce Reach allows merchants to offer localised payment options without the high complexity and cost associated with setting up local operations in cross border destinations Reach also ensures an absolute minimum level of payment declinatures due to its strong global payment rail partnerships and anti-fraud capabilities In this episode, Jason and Matt discuss all aspects of cross border payments and what this means for eCommerce brands with global ambitions

Beck is the Founder and CEO of Marxent - https://www.marxentlabs.com Marxent 3D Cloud is a SaaS based 3D solution for leading furniture, kitchen, bath, office, and outdoor retailers and manufacturers From WebAR and Room Visualizers to 3D Product Configurators and 3D Room Planners - 3D Cloud supports a range of 3D apps and experiences 3D Cloud is a full suite of tools that helps merchants create and manage 3D, visual, interactive product shopping experiences online In this episode, Jason and Beck discuss 3D eCommerce experiences and their impact on eCommerce merchants selling across verticals that are highly dependent on product visualization to covert shoppers into buyers online

Frost is the Founder of San Francisco based Social Chat - https://socialchat.ai Social Chat is a Livestream Shopping & Customer Engagement Platform Social Chat allows brands to simulcast straight from their website and live stream on social at the same time Their AI driven system also generates product recommendations and interactive shopping experiences Streams are auto-saved and can be deployed on relevant eCommerce website product pages as additional product content, driving further conversions In this episode, Jason and Frost discuss the future of Livestream shopping and how it is rapidly evolving to become one of the most important sales and discovery 'channels' for many brands

Jon is the Co-Founder of San Francisco based Formtoro - https://formtoro.com Formtoro is a SaaS based, product and services platform to help brands gather, understand and apply zero party customer data Formtoro also helps brands create highly engaging customer experiences through perfectly timed pop-ups and customer journey based messaging Formtoro takes 'Quizz Commerce' to the next level by helping brands leverage human psychology to help customers get what they want, in real time In this episode, Jason and Jon take a deep dive down the customer/buyer psychology rabbit hole and dissect how brands often ignore it at their peril

Jay is the Co-Founder of Canada based Bold Commerce - https://boldcommerce.com Jay is also the host of the Own Your Commerce Podcast Bold Commerce was one of the first dev shops to start building apps for the Shopify App store and currently counts 13 apps in the app store to their credit Bold Commerce has also developed their own standalone suite of API driven apps and tools that can be used to plug into almost any eCommerce store or headless solution From promotional tools, to product options, to custom checkout solutions and so much more, Bold has been helping to build out the future of commerce for more than a decade In this episode, hear from one of the true luminaries of the commerce industry as Jason and Jay discuss how commerce has evolved over the last 10 years and how it's likely to over the next 10

Ohad is the Co-Founder & CTO of Namogoo - https://www.namogoo.com Namogoo is an eCommerce focused, SaaS customer experience platform Namogoo leverages customer intent signals to help remove customer website journey friction Namogoo also personalises the customer journey across eCommerce website, promotions, email & SMS and helps prevent 'journey hijacking' by 3rd party browser tools In this episode, Jason and Ohad discuss how every single eCommerce website visitor is different and how merchants should tailor experiences just for them, at scale

Austin is the Co-Founder & CEO of Northbeam - https://www.northbeam.io Northbeam is an eCommerce focused, SaaS marketing attribution and analytics platform Northbeam uses a proprietary system of tracking, data and analytics tools to help brands understand their most valuable marketing efforts in a cookieless world With the latest iOS privacy changes and impending death of 3rd party cookies, Nortbeam helps marketers assess their highest ROI channels as well as make important improvements to low performing channels for best ROAS Northbeam can help marketers manage budgets, effort and ROI across organic, paid, social, app and other, more difficult to track sources In this episode, Jason and Austin discuss the brave new world of online privacy and how brands can get ahead of the cookieless curve to ensure their ongoing success online

In this episode, Jason guests on the Better Automation Podcast This is taken from E06 of the Podcast Jason discusses eCommerce/Omnichannel integration and automation in depth in this deep dive interview!

Ashwin is the Founder & CEO of CustomFit.ai - https://www.customfit.ai CustomFit.ai is a SaaS, B2B Focused Experience & Hyper-Personalisation Platform CustomFit.ai differs from B2C eCommerce personalisation platforms in that it focuses primarily on content and customer journey personalisation vs search, merch & product recommendation personalisation. CustomFit.ai tracks all website interactions from the first landing page to detect the optimal path to engagement for that individual visitor/customer. CustomFit.ai also integrates with CDP & Marketing Automation platforms for further marketing segmentation and engagement. In this episode, Jason and Ashwin discuss the key differences between B2C and B2B digital experience personalisation and how B2B businesses can level up their customer experience through all stages of the customer journey lifecycle.

Rathna is the Founder & CEO of FlavorCloud - https://flavorcloud.com FlavorCloud is a Global, SaaS, Turn-Key Cross-Border Logistics & Shipping Platform FlavorCloud allows any eCommerce website to access global shipping options through a single, turn key integration FlavorCloud helps eCommerce merchants to easily offer shipping to almost any country in the world, at the best possible price FlavorCloud makes cross-border shipping as easy as shipping across town and it helps eliminate surprises for customers by ensuring that all taxes and duties are fully pre-paid at point of purchase In this episode, Jason and Rathna discuss the evolution of eCommerce, the challenges of cross-border commerce and how merchants can turn these challenges into strategic differentiators for their brands

Andy is the Co-Founder & CEO of Storyhub - https://www.storyhub.ai Storyhub is an 'in-beta' SaaS eCommerce CX intelligence and insights platform that turns data into stories that merchants can easily understand and then act on, in near real time Storyhub essentially helps merchants find, understand and nurture their biggest fans Storyhub gathers customer & brand data from merchant operational systems (eg eCommerce, helpdesk, shipping, returns, reviews, live chat platforms etc) and other data sources , then using AI & NLP weaves it all together into a social timeline like storyboard of insights that tell unique, actionable, internal stories and then creates action points that allow brands to keep their finger on the pulse of their customers Storyhub brings all e-commerce and CX data together, to find the hidden issues behind bad experiences - in one place This storytelling acts much like a human data scientist would but the process is 100% automated In this episode, Jason and Andy discuss the importance of deep customer understanding, respect and appreciation as the catalysts for customer stickiness and brand loyalty

Eric is the Founder & CEO of ClikDone - https://www.clikdone.com ClikDone is a new SaaS eCommerce platform in pre-release beta ClikDone is an eCommerce platform expressly engineered for busy service based businesses that need more than traditional eCommerce functionality ClikDone supports quote based sales, as well as sales based on combinations of products and services. ClikDone also offers configurators and calculators so customers can easily estimate the cost of their jobs by entering simple details online In this episode, Jason and Eric discuss how complex service based businesses differ significantly from product based businesses and how typical product focused eCommerce platforms don't work well in these environments

Daniel is the GM - Shopify at Rewind - https://rewind.com Rewind is a data backup and restore platform for SaaS platforms Many people don't know that most SaaS platforms (including Shopify, BigCommerce etc) don't routinely back up your data to make it available to you in any meaningful way SaaS platforms DO back up your data in case THEY make a mistake and need to recover the data If YOU make a mistake with your data and it gets corrupted or deleted in error, then you are pretty much on your own Basically, every business needs a BCP - Business Continuity Plan - and backing up your data in a routine, automated way should be a big part of any good BCP In this episode, Jason and Dan discuss the importance of a sound data back up and disaster recovery (DR) plan for your SaaS platforms

Jason recently featured on the Ecomonics Podcast: On Apple On YouTube Timestamps: 00:00 Intro 01:32 Living off-grid 04:09 Long-term impact of covid in the industry 06:23 Importance of the fundamental foundations of a business 09:18 The metaverse  28:59 Cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and it’s environmental impact   38:35 Advantange of retail today 01:04:49 Parting wisdom and how to reach out to Jason In this episode Jason talks all things eCommerce, retail and the Metaverse Jason also shares his thoughts on living off-grid and where the world is headed more generally This is a fascinating chat and dives deep in areas Jason hasn't talked a lot about before

Fern is the COO of Omnivore - https://www.omnivore.com.au Omnivore is a SaaS based, omnichannel product listing, data feed and integration platform Omnivore has out of the box, pre-built connectors for all major eCommerce platforms, marketplaces, social & ad platforms and shopping comparison websites Omnivore makes it easy for merchants to list their products on many different digital sales and marketing channels simultaneously and then integrate orders from transactional channels back into a core eCommerce platform or ERP for fulfilment In this episode, Jason and Fern discuss the importance of a well planned omnichannel strategy and how merchants can onboard new, popular channels quickly, easily and relatively cheaply

Jason Recently Spoke at the DTCX3 APAC Virtual Conference Here is his track from the conference where he discusses DTC strategies for B2B brands Many B2B brands want to establish DTC routes to market but have no idea where to start or how to measure success This talk covers all the basics of the why and how for you to sink your teeth into

Ido is the Founder & COO of Revuze - https://www.revuze.it Revuze have developed a unique, proprietary, AI driven, CPG product sentiment and insights engine called Sentimate - https://sentimate.com Sentimate is a consumer insights SaaS platform that claims: "Get instant and free access to 1 billion consumer product insights — indexed, analyzed, and ready to be used for your market research." Sentimate helps global CPG brands track the consumer sentiment around their products in near real time It does this by capturing and unifying User Generated Content data (primarily customer/user reviews) across thousands of major websites and marketplaces worldwide In this episode, Jason and Ido discuss the importance of monitoring and acting on customer sentiment for localised/regionalised product enhancement, marketing and New Product Development (NPD)

Yair Miron is the Founder & CEO of Rise.ai - https://rise.ai Rise.ai is a complete gift card, store credit, loyalty and associated customer experience SaaS platform & app originally built exclusively for Shopify Site builder platform Wix acquired Rise in May of 2021 and Rise technology will soon be coming to Wix and other platforms Rise also integrates with other popular apps and platforms such as Klaviyo, BOLD Apps and Loop Returns for a more seamless, end to end customer experience In this episode, Jason and Yair discuss how to identify market gaps, build a popular Shopify app from scratch and how merchants should build out a unique and differentiated customer experience despite heavy competition