Add To Cart: Australia’s eCommerce Show

Nathan Bush
  • 4.2 (5)
  • Marketing
  • Updated Biweekly

Add To Cart is Australia's leading ecommerce and retail podcast, hosted by Nathan Bush. Over 600 conversations with the founders, operators and digital leaders building Australian ecommerce. Episodes cover ecommerce strategy, DTC brand building, omnichannel retail, email and SMS marketing, performance marketing, fulfilment, and the tech stack decisions that shape how retail brands actually sell online. Free community, newsletter and resources at addtocart.com.au. Proudly supported by Shopify and Klaviyo.

  1. The Unicorn Rule: Why The Lad Collective Publishes 15,000 Ads to Find 10 That Work | #639

    1d ago

    The Unicorn Rule: Why The Lad Collective Publishes 15,000 Ads to Find 10 That Work | #639

    The Lad Collective has shipped roughly 15,000 ads in four years. Around 10 of those have been unicorns. Mark Broadhead, Head of Creative and Growth, runs the Meta engine behind one of Australia's fastest-growing bedding brands, now 200,000 customers deep and expanding into North America. Mark joined as the founders' first employee, moving from his own vintage clothing business into the warehouse in Logan that The Lad Collective was running out of at the time. Four years later, he sits across creative, paid media and the brand's creative testing system. He's also one of the few people in ecommerce posting honest thinking on Meta account structures and AI in production on LinkedIn, which is what made him a must-have guest on the show. This episode picks up from The Lad Collective Story with founders Bill and Ed Ovenden in episode 160.  Today, we're discussing: Why Mark doesn't study other bedding brands for inspiration [11:50]The Unicorn Rule: 15,000 ads, 10 hits [27:3]How The Lad Collective uses content pillars to scale one idea across many formats [36:20]205 live ads, 260 campaigns, and the move toward 1,000 live creatives [18:08]The customer-driven UGC pipeline that feeds itself [40:39]The role of AI in ad production with Higgsfield and Kive [46:46]The Robert Irwin partnership and what it means for the US push [44:48]Working with Shelley Craft and how big partnerships balance the lo-fi brand [42:30]Why Mark will put almost any piece of content into the ad account [41:18]Read the full Showpo case study from our partners at Convert Digital → convertdigital.com.au/showpocasestudy Use the code from our partners → 🛍️ Shopify | 📧 Klaviyo Connect with Mark Broadhead | Explore The Lad Collective Subscribe to the Add To Cart newsletter  SMS us to Suggest a Guest Connect with Nathan Bush Join the Add To Cart Community

    58 min
  2. How to Choose the Right Marketing Channels Using Data | #638

    4d ago

    How to Choose the Right Marketing Channels Using Data | #638

    Most ecommerce teams are still arguing about channel split the same way they were five years ago. Meta versus Google, who gets the budget, who gets the credit. The argument usually gets won by whoever's most confident, not whoever's most right. The deeper issue is the data underneath it. Every ad platform is built to over-claim, because the more credit it takes, the more budget you hand it. Add up what Google, Meta and your email tool each say they drove and you'll sail past two hundred percent of your actual revenue. They're all counting the same customer, so the debate gets run on numbers that don't add up. The brands getting this right do three things differently. In this playbook, based on a conversation with Paula Mitchell, Digital GM of Freedom, we cover three things ecommerce operators need to know about choosing the right marketing channels using data: Match the channel to the job the campaign needs done, not a fixed Meta and Google ratioStop trusting the platforms' own numbers and judge the whole engine on one honest top-line metric like MERBuy independent measurement, but size it to your business instead of reaching for a full modelling platform too earlyConnect with Paula Mitchell Explore Freedom Subscribe to the Add To Cart newsletter  SMS us to Suggest a Guest Connect with Nathan Bush Join the Add To Cart Community

    15 min
  3. How Kathmandu Pulled Off a Four-Month Shopify Migration Mid Flash Sale | #637

    Jun 21

    How Kathmandu Pulled Off a Four-Month Shopify Migration Mid Flash Sale | #637

    Craig Mildenhall did not start in ecommerce. He started in loyalty. Years at Loyalty New Zealand. A stint at adidas in Europe, running global loyalty and consumer engagement. And somewhere in all of that, he figured out something most digital leaders are still catching up to: the data tells you what happened. The customer tells you why. As GM of Digital at Kathmandu, Craig has spent two years rebuilding one of Australia and New Zealand's most loved outdoor brands from the platform up. New site. New loyalty program. New way of working. And a four-month Shopify migration launched right in the middle of a flash sale. This one is full of practical stuff. Connect with Craig Mildenhall  Explore Kathmandu Subscribe to the Add To Cart newsletter  SMS us to Suggest a Guest Connect with Nathan Bush Join the Add To Cart Community

    52 min
  4. How to Find the Profit That's Already in Your Inventory | #636

    Jun 18

    How to Find the Profit That's Already in Your Inventory | #636

    Most businesses struggling with profitability aren't spending too much on ads. They're holding too much stock. The wrong stock. Stock bought on gut feel six months ago, sitting in a warehouse, tying up cash that could be doing something useful. Talea Bader is the co-founder of SKUTOPIA, an Australian fulfilment operation that's been building its own AI and robotics platform for eight years. He runs fulfilment for hundreds of businesses, from early-stage brands all the way through to enterprise, which gives him a view of what's actually happening inside these businesses rather than the version operators tell themselves. He's seen a business turning over $700 million move from significant losses to tens of millions in profit. Not by changing their marketing. Not by redesigning their website. By changing the way they managed inventory. Today, we're discussing: Why inventory is your biggest P&L lever, and most businesses go looking for profit in the wrong placeThe difference between gross margin and delivered margin, and why most buying decisions are made off the wrong numberWhy inventory reordering is still super manual, spreadsheet based, and driven by ego instead of scienceHow to know your weeks on hand before it becomes a crisisThe $700 million business that moved from significant losses to tens of millions in profit through better inventory management aloneConnect with Talea Bader | Explore SKUTOPIA Subscribe to the Add To Cart newsletter  SMS us to Suggest a Guest Connect with Nathan Bush Join the Add To Cart Community

    11 min
  5. Inside I.AM.GIA's Global Playbook: Dom Moretti on Running Two Fashion Brands With One Team | #635

    Jun 14

    Inside I.AM.GIA's Global Playbook: Dom Moretti on Running Two Fashion Brands With One Team | #635

    Dominique Moretti rebuilt the I.AM.GIA website from scratch in 12 weeks. Open rates sit above 50%. The re-engagement flow beats the welcome flow. And 90% of I.AM.GIA's revenue comes from the US. This is how she runs two global fashion brands with one lean team. Dom is Head of Ecommerce and Digital at A&S Labels, the Melbourne company behind Tiger Mist and I.AM.GIA. She started there as a graphic design intern twelve years ago, grew with the business, left for a stint at Calibre, and came back in a bigger role. She's also a Klaviyo Champion 2026. Nathan sat down with her at K:SYD in Sydney before the doors opened, the third of three conversations recorded there. Today, we're discussing: How Dom scrapped an I.AM.GIA website project mid-build, changed agencies and rebuilt in 12 weeks [12:09]Why she moved from headless to Shopify Native and what drove that decision [13:13]The re-engagement flow with no discount that's now outperforming the welcome flow [28:33]How to maintain 50-60% open rates for two fashion brands in 2026 [30:46]The app strategy: push notifications, Tapcart AI flows, and why apps beat SMS long-term [00:00]What TikTok Shop in the US actually requires in terms of product data, SLAs and live consistency [43:09]How Dom is using Claude and Klaviyo MCP for weekly reporting across all channels [37:29]Use the code ADDTOCART20 for 20% off storewide at tigermist.com.au and au.iamgia.com/  (excludes EV x TM Collection). Connect with Dominique Moretti | Explore Tiger Mist | Explore I.AM.GIA  Subscribe to the Add To Cart newsletter  SMS us to Suggest a Guest Connect with Nathan Bush Join the Add To Cart Community

    57 min
  6. How to Plan for a Product Recall Before You Need One | #634

    Jun 11

    How to Plan for a Product Recall Before You Need One | #634

    Most product businesses don't have a recall plan. Not because they've decided against it. Just because the moment hasn't arrived yet. Melanie Nolan built Naternal Vitamins to eight million dollars in four years without running a paid ad for the first two. She built it on trust. Then in April last year, a manufacturing error created iodine variability across fifteen thousand units of her prenatal supplement. The TGA required a full voluntary recall. She refunded nearly three hundred thousand dollars in a single month. And came out the other side still growing, with 95% of her customers still there. That outcome is not accidental. In this Playbook episode, Nathan unpacks three things every physical product business should do before a recall arrives, not during one. Today, we're discussing: Why recall infrastructure fails when you build it inside the crisis rather than before it [lesson one]The four systems Naternal built after the recall: recalls@ email, Google Drive docs, batch tracking, fillable forms [lesson one]Why going first on transparency is the commercial move, not just the ethical one [lesson two]How 95% of customers stayed after a $300K refund month because of how Mel communicated [lesson two]Why the brands that come through a crisis are the ones that move toward the problem [lesson three]The $22,000 recall insurance policy that was worth every cent [lesson one]Explore Naternal Vitamins | Connect with Melanie Nolan | Hear EP620 Subscribe to the Add To Cart newsletter  SMS us to Suggest a Guest Connect with Nathan Bush Join the Add To Cart Community

    15 min
  7. How Amart Holds Itself Accountable for Broken Promises: Inside Shippit's State of Shipping Report | #633

    Jun 9

    How Amart Holds Itself Accountable for Broken Promises: Inside Shippit's State of Shipping Report | #633

    The gap between when you say the parcel will arrive and when it actually does is still the biggest unsolved loyalty problem in Australian retail. This is the episode that puts numbers on it. This episode discusses Shippit’s State of Shipping Report 2026. Download your copy here. Rob Hango-Zada co-founded Shippit in 2014 and has published the State of Shipping Report three years running. This year's edition is the biggest yet. David Bauer is GM Customer at Amart Furniture, one of Australia's largest furniture retailers with 65 stores, an ecommerce operation, and a weekly leadership review that tracks something they call "broken promises." The conversation covers the 2026 report's most important findings, what they mean for retailers competing against an Amazon-trained consumer, and why the brands winning loyalty in this environment are doing the work no one wants to talk about. Today, we're discussing: Why only 7% of retailers offer an accurate delivery estimate at checkout, and what it would take to close the gap [13:50]How Amart tracks broken promises as a top-line weekly leadership metric [18:24]The 2.2-day actual vs 5.2-day promised delivery gap, and why most retailers can't close it [22:23]"Your last best experience is your new expectation" and what that means for every retailer competing with Amazon [14:48]Why free returns are functionally dead, and what easy returns actually looks like in 2026 [42:08]The rattle surcharge, fuel costs, and why disruption is now the default operating environment [36:10]Why Amart is building a white-glove delivery tier and what that signals about where premium retail is heading [40:04]Connect with David Bauer | Explore Amart Furniture | Connect with Rob Hango-Zada | Explore Shippit Subscribe to the Add To Cart newsletter  SMS us to Suggest a Guest Connect with Nathan Bush Join the Add To Cart Community

    50 min
  8. Inside the Emails of July, Step One and APG & Co: Three Klaviyo Champions on Why Segmentation Is Dying | The Klaviyo #632

    Jun 7

    Inside the Emails of July, Step One and APG & Co: Three Klaviyo Champions on Why Segmentation Is Dying | The Klaviyo #632

    Most brands know what their campaigns are doing. Fewer know whether their flows are actually doing the heavy lifting. This is the second of three special episodes recorded live at Klaviyo's Sydney event, K:SYD. Nathan put forward a panel instead of a single interview, and the room delivered. Three Klaviyo Champions, three very different businesses, one hour on email, CRM, data and where retention marketing is actually heading. Lachi Agnew is Head of Technology at July, the Melbourne luggage brand he has helped build from scratch over seven years. Flows are driving close to half of July's Klaviyo-attributed revenue, while campaigns get most of the creative attention. Hani Rifai is Chief Digital Officer at Step One, the ASX-listed bamboo underwear brand chasing $100 million with a team of 50 and one of Australia's sharpest data-first retention programs. Alice Michael is Head of Ecommerce and Operations at APG & Co, running Klaviyo across Sportscraft, SABA and JAG simultaneously with a lean team and three distinct customer bases. The conversation covers where discounting actually helps versus where it trains your best customers to wait, how to use RFM switches to deploy incentives at the right moment, and why segmentation is a workaround, not the destination. Today, we're discussing: Why flows outperform campaigns on revenue at July, and what Lachi is building to close the gap between the two [12:08]How Step One uses RFM category switches to trigger targeted messages at the exact moment a customer starts drifting [21:30]Hani's take on Pavlovian discounting: discount to solve a problem, not to plug a revenue gap [22:42]How Alice migrated three fashion brands off Salesforce Marketing Cloud and why one bottleneck was driving the whole decision [02:48]The Step One experiment using AI search data piped into Klaviyo to generate one-to-one abandonment emails based on what a customer actually asked [46:30]Why all three panellists agree segmentation is a workaround, and what true one-to-one communication actually requires [53:00]Connect with Lachi Agnew | Explore July | Connect with Hani Rifai | Explore Step One | Connect with Alice Michael | Explore APG & Co  Subscribe to the Add To Cart newsletter  SMS us to Suggest a Guest Connect with Nathan Bush Join the Add To Cart Community

    1h 4m
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4.2
out of 5
5 Ratings

About

Add To Cart is Australia's leading ecommerce and retail podcast, hosted by Nathan Bush. Over 600 conversations with the founders, operators and digital leaders building Australian ecommerce. Episodes cover ecommerce strategy, DTC brand building, omnichannel retail, email and SMS marketing, performance marketing, fulfilment, and the tech stack decisions that shape how retail brands actually sell online. Free community, newsletter and resources at addtocart.com.au. Proudly supported by Shopify and Klaviyo.

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