eCom Collab Club Podcast - The eCommerce Podcast for DTC Businesses

Peter Gardner and Adam Pearce
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  • BUSINESS
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Get the undocumented, unfiltered, and unscripted confessions, strategies, and secrets of the biggest and fastest-growing DTC brands. Packed with actionable insights, this business podcast will help you grow revenue and master subjects like CRO. Each episode breaks down the wins and painful mistakes that shaped today’s top eCommerce brands. Hosted by Peter Gardner and Adam Pearce, the founders of the eCom Collab Club™ and Blend Commerce, the Shopify CRO agency trusted by DTC businesses to get your visitors to Buy Now, Buy More, & Buy Again.

  1. 3D AGO

    We Need To Talk About The Box

    Most eCommerce brands obsess over the digital stuff. Ads. Funnels. Landing pages. Checkout flows. And then the customer finally buys… and the entire experience ends in a box. In this episode, Adam Pearce sits down with Luke Howitt, Co-Founder of Supplied, to talk about the most overlooked moment in the customer journey: when the product actually arrives. They unpack why packaging shapes first impressions, influences retention, and quietly becomes one of the biggest operational headaches as brands scale. If your brand's growing fast, or you want it to, this episode might save you from discovering the “cardboard bottleneck” the hard way. They cover: – Why packaging is the book cover to your brand– The moment digital experience becomes physical reality– Why brands underestimate the power of the unboxing experience– How packaging affects loyalty and repeat purchase– Why packaging becomes a bottleneck as brands scale– Operational challenges high-growth brands run into– How packaging decisions impact logistics, cost and CX– Balancing brand presentation with sustainability About the Guest Luke Howitt is Co-Founder of Supplied, an end-to-end packaging supplier helping eCommerce brands design and scale packaging that matches their brand experience. Supplied works with fast-growing brands to ensure packaging supports both brand perception and operational efficiency as they scale. About the Host Adam Pearce is Co-Founder of Blend Commerce and eCom Collab Club®, helping brands grow through better customer experience, CRO and smarter operational thinking. Links Supplied → https://supplied.agency → https://www.linkedin.com/in/lukehowitt/ Adam Pearce (LinkedIn) → https://www.linkedin.com/in/shopifyexpertadampearce Blend Commerce → https://blendcommerce.com 👍 Like🔔 Subscribe💬 Comment: What’s the best unboxing experience you’ve ever had from a brand? And (because you want to – go on, you know you do), what's the worst? #ecommercepackaging #theunboxingexperience #customerexperience #ecommerce #brandpackagingstrategy #dtcpackaging #ecommercefulfilment #ecommercegrowth #brandexperience

    48 min

  2. FEB 26

    Support Sells Stuff

    Customer support has spent years being treated like admin.The inbox. The tickets. The thing you “deal with later.” Turns out… it’s quietly influencing whether customers buy, bounce, or come back annoyed. In this episode, Adam Pearce is joined by Gareth Cummings, CEO of eDesk, to unpack why customer support sits inside the revenue funnel — and why ignoring it is costing brands more than they realise. They cover how customer questions shape buying decisions, what breaks as brands scale, and where AI actually helps support teams (without removing the humans that customers still want). If you care about conversion, retention, or not drowning in tickets — this one’s worth wrapping 'round your ears. They cover: – Why support is wrongly treated as a cost centre– Where customer questions influence conversion– What customers are actually asking before they buy– Why support data should sit closer to marketing– Where support lives in the funnel (hint: everywhere)– What breaks first as brands scale– How response speed impacts revenue and returns– Where AI helps — and where it’s dangerous– Why fully human-less support is a terrible idea– What £3–10m founders can do tomorrow morning About the Guest Gareth Cummings is CEO of eDesk, a customer support platform built specifically for eCommerce brands looking to scale without sacrificing speed, consistency or humanity. About the Host Adam Pearce is Co-Founder of Blend Commerce and eCom Collab Club®, helping brands grow by focusing on the things that actually move the needle. Links eDesk → https://www.edesk.com Adam Pearce (LinkedIn) → https://www.linkedin.com/in/shopifyexpertadampearce Blend Commerce → https://blendcommerce.com #ecommerce #customersupport #cx #conversion #retention #aiincx #ecomcollabclub

    49 min

  3. FEB 20

    The Subscription Reinvention – What's Next for Subs?

    For a while, subscriptions were hailed as the holy grail of eCommerce.Launch one, sit back, count the money. Easy. Reality had…other plans. In this episode, Adam Pearce is joined by John Burke, Founder and Non-Executive Director of Craft Gin Club, to talk about how subscription models have evolved – and what separates the brands that last from the ones that quietly churn themselves into oblivion. This is a calm, grown-up look at subscriptions in 2026: less gimmicks, more value. They cover: – How subscription models have changed over the last decade– Why customers are more selective than ever– Loyalty vs lock-in (and why one kills brands)– What Craft Gin Club got right building long-term retention– Pricing, cadence and perceived value– Why “easy recurring revenue” was always a myth– What the future of subscriptions really looks like About the Guest John Burke, Founder and Non-Executive Director of Craft Gin Club, one of the UK’s most established subscription brands built on curation, experience and community. About the Host Adam Pearce, Co-founder of Blend Commerce and eCom Collab Club®, helping brands grow without nuking margins or trust. Links Craft Gin Club → https://www.craftginclub.co.ukBlend Commerce → https://blendcommerce.com eCom Collab Club® → https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-ecom-collab-club #subscriptions #ecommerce #retention #recurringrevenue #dtc #ecomcollabclub

    56 min

  4. FEB 4

    The CEO Brain at 3am

    What Do CEOs of eCommerce Brands Really Think About? Everyone talks about growth tactics.Very few talk about the mental load of actually running the business. In this episode, Adam Pearce sits down with Luke Bream, CEO of Valentte, for an honest conversation about what really occupies the mind of an eCommerce CEO — beyond dashboards, Slack pings, and LinkedIn optimism. This isn’t about hacks.It’s about leadership, pressure, decision-making, and the quiet stuff nobody posts about. They cover: – What keeps eCom CEOs awake at night– The shift from founder mode to CEO mode– Decision fatigue and prioritisation– Growth vs stability (and when to choose each)– Leading teams without micromanaging– Why more data doesn’t always equal better decisions– The realities of responsibility, pressure, and long-term thinking If you’re running a brand, or want to one day, this episode hits differently. About the Guest Luke Bream is CEO of Valentte, a premium home fragrance and lifestyle brand built on craftsmanship, calm, and long-term brand thinking. Luke focuses on sustainable growth, leadership clarity, and building a business that lasts. About the Host Adam Pearce, Co-founder of Blend Commerce and eCom Collab Club®, helps brands grow without losing their minds, margins, or momentum. Links Valentte → https://www.valentte.comLuke Bream on LinkedIn → https://uk.linkedin.com/in/luke-breamAdam Pearce on LinkedIn → https://uk.linkedin.com/in/shopifyexpertadampearceBlend Commerce → https://blendcommerce.com #ecommerce #leadership #ceomindset #founders #dtc #ecomcollabclub

    55 min

  5. 12/05/2025

    Lord of the Billing Cycle – Why CRO & Subscriptions Need to Collab

    In this episode, Adam sits down with Craig Niven: Founder of FILDI, 15-year subscription veteran and literal Scottish Lord — to unpack one of the most misunderstood relationships in eCommerce: CRO + Subscriptions. Most brands treat them like divorced parents who only communicate through passive-aggressive notes…but the reality is they have to work together if you want recurring revenue that actually sticks. Craig’s seen subscriptions at Sky, BT, News UK, NFL Game Pass, Tennis TV and Future. He’s here to explain what healthy subscription businesses do differently, why so many brands launch subs badly and how to stop churn before it starts. This one’s a biggie for anyone running subscriptions, planning to launch them, or wondering why their LTV looks like a heart monitor. They cover: – Why CRO & Subscription teams accidentally sabotage each other– How AB tests impact churn (yep, really)– AOV vs ARPU vs LTV: which metrics actually matter– The subscription boom: who should (and shouldn’t) launch one– Loyalty vs retention (and why points don’t equal loyalty)– The upsides, downsides & emotional damage of subscription models– Craig’s top 3 non-negotiables for subscription success– What healthy subscription businesses look like behind the scenes– How CRO + Subs can collaborate without stepping on each other’s throats About the Guest Craig Niven, Founder of FILDI Subscriptions Consultancy and official Lord of Glencoe (one square foot of Scottish land, infinite authority).Craig has spent 15 years deep inside the subscription world across Sky, BT, News UK, NFL Game Pass, Tennis TV and Future.Today, he helps scale-up brands build, understand and grow recurring revenue. FILDI – https://www.fildi.coLinkedIn – Craig Niven: https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigniven/ About the Host Adam Pearce, Co-founder of Blend Commerce and eCom Collab Club®. CRO obsessive. Known for saying the quiet eCom thoughts out loud (and then some). Join the eCC community → https://ecomcollabclub.com/community Work with Blend Need your site to convert like your metrics depend on it? Get CRO help from Blend Commerce → https://blendcommerce.com

    1h 2m

  6. 11/27/2025

    The 2025 Paid Ads Reality Check

    Paid ads in 2025 feel like a toxic relationship:You need them…You rely on them…But they hurt you on a molecular level. This week, Adam Pearce and Pete Gardner sit down with Oscar Ford, Founder of Anuncia, to break down what’s actually happening inside Google, Meta and Microsoft Ads...beyond the shiny webinars and suspiciously perfect LinkedIn screenshots. Oscar brings 15+ years of PPC experience, £3m+ in managed annual ad spend, and more strong opinions than the platforms would like him to have. If your CPC keeps climbing, your tracking keeps breaking and your ROAS keeps gaslighting you, this is the episode that finally explains why. They Cover: – Why ad costs are skyrocketing across every platform– What caused the 2025 auction inflation (and why it’s not slowing down)– The death of old targeting tactics– How Google & Meta are “simplifying” ads… while making things harder– Why tracking + clean data matter more than ever– How product feed optimisation impacts everything– The unsexy basics that outperform every shiny hack– The channels that actually worked: PMax, YouTube Shorts, TikTok, Amazon Ads– The signals that tell you an account is on the edge of disaster– What Oscar would do if he had just £1,000 to grow a brand This is the PPC episode brands needed six months ago. About the Guest Oscar Ford, Founder of Anuncia, is a PPC specialist of 15+ years managing millions in annual ad spend for ambitious UK eCommerce brands and charities.An expert in tracking, feed optimisation, analytics, and calling out bad platform advice. About the Hosts Adam Pearce and Peter Gardner, co-founders of Blend Commerce and eCom Collab Club®, helping operators grow without losing their sanity, their margins, or their will to live. Work with Blend Need your store to convert like your margins depend on it?Book a free “Metric on Fire” diagnostic:👉 https://blendcommerce.com/pages/metric-on-fire #eCommerce #PaidAds #PPC #MetaAds #GoogleAds #DigitalMarketing #Shopify #eComCollabClub #BlendCommerce

    1h 1m

  7. 11/18/2025

    How to Go Global Without Going Broke

    Brands love to say they’re “going international.”Cool. Cute.But as George Bland from Airwallex will tell you, global expansion is less passport stamps and more surprise FX fees + late-night logistics panic. This week, Adam and Pete sit down with George Bland, Agency Partnerships Manager at Airwallex, to pull back the curtain on what really happens when a brand decides to sell beyond its borders...and how to stop your margins leaking faster than your sanity. If “international expansion” is anywhere near your 2026 roadmap, consider this episode mandatory listening. They cover: – How to pick the right markets (not just the shiny ones)– FX leakage — the silent profit killer– Payments, tax, and compliance: what you absolutely cannot afford to wing– Cross-border logistics and the ops mistakes brands keep repeating– How to prep your business for global scale without setting fire to your margins– The real cost of going global — and how to do it sustainably This is the stuff most founders learn the hard (and expensive) way. George is here to save you from that. About the Guest George Bland, Agency Partnerships Manager at Airwallex, has spent 7+ years in payments and cross-border eCommerce (Klarna, Airwallex), helping brands and agencies access new global markets without triggering a financial meltdown. About the Hosts Adam Pearce and Pete Gardner, co-founders of Blend Commerce and eCom Collab Club®, known for turning eCommerce chaos into conversations that are actually fun to listen to. Work with Blend Need your store to convert like your margins depend on it? Book a free “Metric on Fire” diagnostic:👉 https://blendcommerce.com/pages/metric-on-fire #eCommerce #InternationalExpansion #CrossBorderCommerce #GlobalGrowth #Payments #Shopify #eComCollabClub #BlendCommerce

    1h 3m

  8. 11/07/2025

    How to Keep Customers When the World’s on Fire

    The world’s in chaos. Ad costs are climbing, margins are vanishing and someone in finance just used the word “reforecast” again. So this week, Pete flies solo with Joseph Aubry, CEO of Loyoly.io, to talk about how brands can survive (and thrive) when the markets are wobbling, consumers are twitchy and retention is the only real growth hack left. Because let’s face it — in 2025, keeping your customers might be the boldest move of all. They cover – Why loyalty is your best defence against rising CAC– What “global market challenges” actually mean for operators– How to scale sustainably when budgets are tight– Turning community, social proof, and post-purchase engagement into growth– Why retention > panic – every time If you’ve ever found yourself praying your customers don’t ghost you after checkout, this one’s your new playbook. About the Guest Joseph Aubry, CEO of Loyoly.io, is helping brands turn customers into advocates. Loyoly’s post-purchase engagement platform connects loyalty, community and UGC to keep customers coming back and buying more. About the Host Pete Gardner, Co-founder of Blend Commerce and eCom Collab Club® — known for his strong opinions, weak filter, and ability to make retention chat actually entertaining. Work with Blend Need your store to convert like your margins depend on it?Book a free “Metric on Fire” diagnostic:👉 https://blendcommerce.com/pages/metric-on-fire #eCommerce #Loyalty #CustomerRetention #SustainableGrowth #Shopify #eComCollabClub #BlendCommerce

    1h 1m
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Get the undocumented, unfiltered, and unscripted confessions, strategies, and secrets of the biggest and fastest-growing DTC brands. Packed with actionable insights, this business podcast will help you grow revenue and master subjects like CRO. Each episode breaks down the wins and painful mistakes that shaped today’s top eCommerce brands. Hosted by Peter Gardner and Adam Pearce, the founders of the eCom Collab Club™ and Blend Commerce, the Shopify CRO agency trusted by DTC businesses to get your visitors to Buy Now, Buy More, & Buy Again.

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