Articles & Podcast Episodes

Jason Sidana

A Deep Dive into Growth, Partnerships, and Staying Connected with Customers: A Conversation with Jason Sidana and Madeleine Anderson

Hello everyone, I’m excited to share with you a fascinating conversation I had with two exceptional guests, Jason Sidana, Chief Growth Officer at Maxburst, and Madeleine Anderson, Partner Manager at Endear.

Jason Sidana | maxburst
Jason Sidana

Meet the Guests

Jason Sidana is a man of many hats at Maxburst, a web design and development agency. He juggles sales, marketing, and project management while focusing on the company’s growth and helping clients achieve their growth goals. Jason’s passion for business is evident, and he enjoys delving into operational and management books.

On the other side, we have Madeleine Anderson, who is based in Fargo, North Dakota. As the Partner Manager at Endear, a CRM and clienteling tool for retail brands, she handles co-marketing activities, lead generation, and events with partners. Madeleine is also passionate about triathlons, which adds an interesting twist to her personality.

Jason’s Journey into the Industry

Jason’s journey into the industry is rooted in his family’s footwear and apparel stores. This exposure sparked his interest in retail, leading him to build a custom POS system and expand into wholesale and various sales channels. This entrepreneurial journey eventually led him to start his own agency, which later merged with Maxburst.

Maxburst’s Holistic Approach to Client Growth

At Maxburst, Jason and his team take a holistic approach when working with clients. They delve into the granular details of the business’s operations, including logistics and staff management. This comprehensive understanding of the client’s business allows them to identify areas for improvement.

The Power of Partnerships

Jason emphasizes the importance of partnerships when building a tech stack for clients. He believes that it’s impossible to do everything on your own and that finding good partners in the ecosystem is crucial. By collaborating with experts in specific areas, such as CRM or middleware integration, they can provide comprehensive solutions to their clients.

Leveraging Sales Staff as a Marketing Tool

Jason shares an interesting insight about using sales staff as a marketing tool. He realized that there was downtime during lunch hours and late evenings when the sales staff could engage with customers and potentially increase sales. This benefited the sales staff by earning them extra commission, creating a seamless customer experience, and improving overall satisfaction.

The Importance of Merging Retail and E-commerce

Madeleine adds to the discussion by highlighting the importance of merging retail and e-commerce. She explains that in the past, retail was seen as a stepping stone towards e-commerce, but post-COVID, retail has become crucial for quick and convenient product access. The omnichannel concept has gained significance, emphasizing the need for businesses to have a cohesive presence across multiple sales channels, including retail, online, and marketplaces.

Staying Connected to the Customer

Jason discusses the concept of companies losing their soul as they grow larger. He shares his personal experience of staying connected to the end consumer by working as a salesman in his family business. By doing so, he gained valuable insights into customer trends, preferences, and needs, which helped him make better decisions regarding purchasing and customer experience.

Wrapping Up

As we wrapped up our conversation, Jason offered his sneakers and website development services. Madeleine expressed her gratitude for being part of the podcast. This conversation was a treasure trove of insights and lessons, emphasizing the importance of partnerships, understanding the customer, and staying connected to the customer as a business grows.

For more podcasts about Customer Experience

The Influence of Content Marketing in E-commerce

Delve into the game-changing role of content marketing in e-commerce. Learn to engage consumers, drive online sales, and stay current with shifting marketing trends by leveraging high-quality, persuasive content.

How Wix's Ecommerce Platform Boosts Sales and Customer Engagement with Oren Inditzky

From Browsing to Buying: How Wix’s Ecommerce Platform Boosts Sales and Customer Engagement with Oren Inditzky

In a recent podcast episode, I enjoyed conversing with Oren Inditzky, the VP and GM of Stores Ecommerce for Wix. We delved into the world of ecommerce, discussing the features of Wix’s ecommerce platform, the role of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, and the future of ecommerce. Here’s a recap of our insightful discussion.

Meet Oren: The Man Behind Wix Ecommerce

Oren, a passionate snowboarder and tech enthusiast, is the driving force behind Wix’s ecommerce platform. He oversees the day-to-day operations of Wix ecommerce, a platform that empowers merchants with professional tools to establish, manage, and grow their online businesses.

Wix Ecommerce: A Comprehensive Solution for Online Merchants

Wix ecommerce is more than just a website-building platform. It allows merchants to sell products across various channels, including their own branded online store, native mobile app, physical point of sale, and integrations with external ecommerce marketplaces and social media platforms.

From sourcing products and managing inventory to accepting payments, fulfilling and shipping orders, and obtaining analytics, Wix ecommerce covers all aspects of ecommerce operations. It also offers a wide range of marketing and ecommerce tools to increase traffic, customer engagement, and sales.

The Power of Third-Party Apps and Smart Algorithms

One of the standout features of Wix ecommerce is its integration with hundreds of third-party apps. These apps can be customized by developers and merchants to create unique ecommerce experiences at scale. Oren highlighted the growing number of apps joining the ecosystem and the upcoming collaborations to enhance cross-selling and upselling capabilities on the checkout page.

Wix also leverages smart algorithms for product recommendations, a powerful cross-selling tool. By suggesting other products to customers based on their browsing history, Wix increases the chances of cross-selling and upselling.

The Future of Ecommerce: AI and Content Creation

During our conversation, Oren revealed an exciting upcoming feature: the ability to generate an entire website using AI. This feature aims to streamline the website creation process and optimize day-to-day operations for businesses.

Oren also discussed the future of ecommerce, emphasizing the importance of content creation for online stores. He mentioned the potential for customers to purchase entire looks, including outfits, accessories, and makeup, through their connected devices. He also highlighted the use of augmented reality fitting rooms and the seamless integration of AI, advanced hardware, and logistics to deliver spontaneous purchases within hours.

Looking Ahead: The Importance of Repeat Customers and Content

As we look ahead to 2023 and the upcoming holiday season, Oren emphasized the need for online merchants to focus on generating repeat customers due to the skyrocketing customer acquisition costs. He advised utilizing the holiday season to obtain new customers and then using retention strategies to keep them coming back.

Oren also highlighted the importance of ecommerce content, attracting customers to the site and building trust and increasing conversion rates. He explained that good content goes beyond text and includes the overall design, images, and messaging of the site.

Wix’s Advanced Capabilities: SEO and AI Content Generation

Finally, Oren touched upon Wix’s advanced capabilities for improving site indexing and search engine optimization (SEO), making it easier for online stores to generate content and optimize it for SEO. He also mentioned the use of AI content-generation tools as a valuable resource.

In conclusion, our conversation with Oren provided a deep dive into the world of Wix ecommerce, revealing its powerful features, the role of AI, and the future of ecommerce. As we move forward, it’s clear that platforms like Wix will continue to shape the ecommerce landscape, offering innovative solutions for online merchants.

For more podcasts about Commerce

Talk-Commerce-Jessica Totillo Coster

Unraveling the Power of Email Marketing: A Conversation with Jessica Totillo Coster

Hello everyone! I’m the host of the podcast “Talk Commerce Today,” and I recently had the pleasure of having a fascinating conversation with Jessica Tosto-Coster, an e-commerce and email marketing strategist for scrappy entrepreneurs. Jessica has over 20 years of experience in retail and e-commerce, and she uses her expertise to help small businesses grow their traffic, sales, and profit. Today, I want to share some of the key insights from our conversation.

Meet Jessica, The E-commerce and Email Marketing Strategist

Jessica is a passionate e-commerce and email marketing strategist who has dedicated her career to helping small businesses thrive. She offers one-on-one coaching, a membership program, and digital courses to equip entrepreneurs with the tools they need to succeed. Jessica’s passion lies in shoes, but she also loves spending time with her family, including her husband and cat.

The Power of Newsletters and Email Marketing

During our conversation, we delved into the topic of newsletters. Despite having a prolific blog and podcast, I’ve always hesitated to start my newsletter. Jessica, however, highlighted the importance of email marketing, stating that it has the highest ROI of any marketing activity and is essential for converting leads into sales.

She advised small businesses to prioritize email marketing over social media, as it generates more revenue. Jessica also addressed the common concern of not knowing what to say in newsletters, ensuring it’s simpler than it seems. The content should focus on solving customers’ problems, inspiring them to buy, or nurturing repeat customers.

The Art of Email Marketing: Providing Value and Segmenting Your Audience

Jessica emphasized the importance of not trying to please everyone with your email marketing. She shared an example of an email marketer in the online education space who shifted their mindset to prioritize providing value to their audience rather than segmenting them based on their engagement frequency.

I shared my personal experience with a company that emailed me even after purchasing. This highlighted the importance of segmentation and targeting the right audience to avoid annoying them. Jessica agreed, adding that sending the same product to someone who has already purchased it is lazy email marketing. She advised considering the product being sold and customers’ consumption habits to create a successful email program.

We also discussed the importance of email deliverability and being intentional about who we email and the content we send. Jessica emphasized the need to practice positive email practices, clean our email lists, and stay engaged to avoid any deliverability issues.

She also highlighted the legal considerations regarding automation like checkout abandonment or browse abandonment emails. It’s crucial to ensure that only those who have opted in to receive marketing emails from us receive these subsequent emails.

The Importance of Guiding Customers to the Right Product

Jessica and I discussed the common tendency for e-commerce businesses to focus too much on perfecting their websites. Jessica advised listeners to prioritize keeping their e-commerce operations running smoothly and consistently reaching their target audience. She emphasized that having a visually perfect website is not as crucial as ensuring that people know about the business and its products.

Closing Thoughts and a Special Offer

In closing, Jessica shamelessly plugged her membership program, “The Lounge,” which offers guidance and optimization opportunities for small e-commerce businesses. She describes it as the best place on the internet to grow traffic, sales, and profit. She also offered a special gift for listeners, which can be accessed through a specific link.

Our conversation with Jessica was enlightening and packed with valuable insights. Whether you’re a small business owner or an aspiring entrepreneur, I hope you found this recap as informative and inspiring as our original conversation. Remember, the key to successful email marketing is to provide value, segment your audience, and always stay engaged. Happy emailing!

For more podcasts about Marketing

Welcome to the Second Act of InBound 2023

Day 2 Amplification: Conquering the Marketing Landscape at InBound 2023

Day 2 of InBound 2023 saw a blend of high-profile keynotes, interactive sessions, LinkedIn talks, aiming to empower marketers with a deeper understanding of their vast landscape. Explore the day’s highlights, including Derek Jeter’s take on resilience, insightful sessions on advertising strategies, Text AI, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, and the hilarious unwind with John Mulaney.