eCommerce Podcast

Leo Rodriguez has spent years watching ecommerce brands quietly overpay on shipping, sometimes billed for 18 pounds on a parcel that actually weighs two. In this episode of the eCommerce Podcast, Matt Edmundson sits down with the VP of a Los Angeles 3PL to pull apart the unglamorous moves that protect your margin, one parcel at a time.SummaryLeo Rodriguez, VP of River Plate, Inc., joins Matt to talk through the hidden costs sitting inside every order you ship. It starts with dimensional weight, where a small product in an oversized box gets rated as a far heavier shipment, so you end up paying for air. Leo explains how "cartonization" and carrier rate-shopping can claw that money back, saving $2 to $3 per parcel for brands doing hundreds of orders a day.From there the conversation widens out to the messier stuff. Leo breaks down why smaller brands got hit hardest by the new tariffs while bigger brands used their buying power to get manufacturers to absorb the freight. He and Matt compare notes on international shipping gray zones, customs nitpicking, fuel surcharges becoming the new normal, and Amazon's ever-growing pile of fees.00:00 Welcome and meet Leo03:58 The inventory and replenishment problem09:51 Tariffs, Brexit and customs gray zones21:29 Why small brands got hit hardest25:29 Fuel surcharges and the new normal29:02 Cartonization, save $2 to $3 a parcel33:07 Amazon's fees and dim weight41:17 How to reach LeoDim Weight and Cartonization, Where Your Margin Quietly Leaks[33:07]Dimensional weight is the formula carriers use to rate a parcel by the space it takes up, not just what it weighs. Put a light product in a box that is too big and you get penalised for the empty space."If you're putting it in a, you know, 12 by 12 by 12 box and weighs only 2 pounds... it's not a 2-pound shipment. It's getting rated at an 18-pound shipment." — Leo RodriguezThe fix is cartonization, where transport management software reads the net dimensions and weight of your products and picks the smallest sensible shipper. Pair that with rate-shopping across a multi-channel carrier network and the savings add up fast.Brands doing 100 to 300 orders a day can save $2 to $3 per parcelShipping cost can be more than your fulfilment fee on a per-order basisRegional carriers and zone skipping can halve transit time and cost on the right lanes"They're saving $2 per shipment. That adds up. That's a margin protector." — Leo RodriguezWhy Smaller Brands Got Hit Hardest by Tariffs[21:29]When the large tariff percentages landed, the brands with leverage came out ahead. Big brands could go back to their overseas manufacturers and renegotiate, and in some cases get the factory to cover the full freight bill, between $4,000 and $9,000 a container.Smaller brands had no such leverage. Many were left holding inventory they had already produced overseas but could not afford to import, while retail partners cancelled or halved the very purchase orders they had been banking on.Lead times stretched from 3 to 4 weeks out to 8 to 12 weeksBrands shifted to smaller consolidated shipments, nearshoring, and alternate-country manufacturing in places like Malaysia and TaiwanStanding up a new supply chain takes time, so the relief is rarely quickInternational Shipping and the Customs Gray Zone[09:51]Matt and Leo swap war stories on cross-border shipping, with Matt's running Brexit gag as the UK parallel to US tariff chaos. On both sides of the Atlantic, free global trade turns out not to be that free.Country-by-country rules are strict, especially on cosmetics and skincare, with Italy, Spain and Mexico all flagged. You can send 50 or 100 shipments through fine, then one customs agent nitpicks and the product gets stuck, disposed of, and the brand cops the bad review."Free global trade is not actually that free... it does require quite a lot of joined-up thinking." — Matt EdmundsonLeo's advice is to build item-level profiles, get the harmonised codes and packaging language right at the point of manufacture, and register properly for tax before you fire away.Fuel Surcharges, Amazon's Fees, and the New Normal[25:29]Fuel surcharges jumped roughly 18 to 20% in two months, and the historical pattern is that surcharges ratchet up and never quite come back down. Plastics and packaging climbed 20 to 30%, hitting shrink wrap, poly mailers and bubble bags.Amazon comes in for a closer look too. Powerful, yes, but fee-laden, with per-unit charges, ageing and seasonality storage tiers, FBA percentages, marketing fees, and a quietly added fuel surcharge in early May. Leo's case is for channel diversification, so you keep some control and predictability rather than living entirely inside one ecosystem."I am optimistic overall still. I think brands, you get smart and then you have to be resilient." — Leo RodriguezToday's GuestLeo Rodriguez is Vice President of River Plate, Inc., a Los Angeles-based 3PL and fulfilment company serving DTC, wholesale and Amazon brands. River Plate handles fulfilment, logistics and international shipping, and Leo is happy to take a quick call to see whether there is a fit.Website: riverplateinc.comLinkedIn: Leo RodriguezRiver Plate Inc on Instagram and LinkedInEmail: sales@riverplateinc.comAbout the eCommerce PodcastThe eCommerce Podcast helps you deliver eCommerce WOW. Every Thursday, Matt Edmundson talks with experts and founders who've built the stores and learned the hard way, so you don't have to.Subscribe and find every episode, with full show notes and links, at ecommerce-podcast.com. While you're there, take a look at the free monthly eCommerce Cohort and Slingshot AI Mentor.Episode link: https://www.ecommerce-podcast.com/why-your-2-pound-parcel-ships-like-it-weighs-18

Selena Knight has spent 20 years in retail and knows exactly why most e-commerce businesses are undercharging. One of her favourite examples? An Australian party supplies company that charges $6 for $3 paper plates — and their customers keep coming back.In this conversation, we get into price anchoring, why the businesses that survived 2025 were the ones charging more, not less, the three questions that close every in-store sale, and what she learned from Gary V's organisational psychologist about hiring people who actually think for themselves.If you're competing on price, this one might change your mind.Subscribe to the newsletter at ecommercepodcast.netKey Point Timestamps:06:45 - The Three Questions That Close Every Sale11:52 - What a £12,000 Cocktail Teaches About Pricing15:34 - Why Premium Brands Won 202525:22 - Hiring for Culture Over SkillsThe Three Questions That Close Every Sale (06:45)In her eco baby product stores, Salena developed a framework built on one principle: if you give someone more than three choices, they probably won't buy anything.When a customer walked in looking for a gift, the team asked three questions: What type of person are they? What pain point do you want to solve? What's the budget? From there, they'd present three options — high, mid, and low. "And inevitably, I tend to find that they buy the high price thing, which is great."The e-commerce application is straightforward. Most online stores dump customers onto a category page with dozens of options. But you control the canonical structure of that page. You choose what appears first, second, and third — and you can guide decisions just as deliberately as a knowledgeable shop assistant would.What a £12,000 Cocktail Teaches About Pricing (11:52)Price anchoring is behaviourally proven — our brains benchmark against the first number we see. At the Savoy, a £16 gin and tonic feels outrageous until you see cocktails for £300–400. Then a £12,000 flagship cocktail makes the £300 ones look almost sensible.Salena applies this directly to e-commerce category pages. Most stores sort products lowest-to-highest. Her advice: "When somebody comes to a category section, I will always have at least two really high-priced products. And then I'll have the product that you really want to sell."If your sweet spot is £200 jeans, put the £300 pair first. Some people will bounce, but as Salena notes, "They probably weren't gonna buy anyway." Everyone else now sees £200 as a bargain.Why Premium Brands Won 2025 (15:34)In a year where consumer spending tightened noticeably, Salena shares what she saw across her client base: the businesses that did well were charging above the average, not below it."Where I saw the people who did well were brands that I would call premium. Not luxury, not your Louis Vuittons, but they're charging above the average."Premium brands had already built their point of difference. They weren't competing on price, so price pressure didn't destroy them. Meanwhile, the discount-driven businesses were stuck in a brutal race to the bottom. The Party People could charge $6 for $3 plates because convenience was worth paying for. Premium doesn't mean expensive for the sake of it — it means giving people a reason to pay more and making that reason obvious.Hiring for Culture Over Skills (25:22)Premium pricing only works if the team understands the vision. Salena distinguishes between "donkeys" (reliable doers) and "unicorns" (thinkers who solve problems independently). Both are essential, but growing beyond a certain point requires people smarter than the founder."You can't be as smart as me. You have to be smarter than me. Because if this whole business is only as smart as me, we're screwed."Working with Gary Vaynerchuk's organisational psychologist, Salena learned a simple hiring exercise: write down everything that annoys you. The insight? "When you ask people what they want, they can't usually tell you. But they can tell you what they don't want." From that list, she identifies which frustrations are genuine business needs — and which are just personal irritations she needs to make peace with.Today's GuestToday's guest: Salena KnightCompany: Salena Knight — Retail Growth StrategistWebsite: salenaknight.comLinkedIn: Connect with Salena on LinkedInInstagram: @thesalenaknightEpisode link: https://www.ecommerce-podcast.com/how-to-charge-double-for-paper-plates-and-have-customers-thank-you

What if 99.5% customer satisfaction could still threaten your entire business? Payments veteran Jeff Foster reveals why the economics of chargebacks have shifted dramatically, and why the smartest merchants are giving money back faster than you'd expect.Jeff has been in payments since 1998, helped process the first CVV and Verified by Visa transactions ever, and now runs Quick Refund to help merchants navigate the tightening thresholds that Visa and MasterCard have imposed. We explore why 25% of chargebacks hit transactions that were already refunded, how friendly fraud became behavioural rather than criminal, and what you can actually control to protect your margins.Key Point Timestamps:03:36 - The gap in the market Quick Refund identified05:42 - Why payment systems haven't evolved since 200615:08 - Friendly fraud and why it's a behavioural issue21:13 - The economics of refunds vs chargebacks25:02 - Why banks don't care about merchants30:53 - How Quick Refund actually works43:58 - Jeff's top tip for new eCommerce operatorsThe Uncomfortable Economics of Chargebacks (21:13)The threshold for acceptable chargebacks keeps dropping. It used to be 3.5%. Then it fell to 1%. Now it's heading towards 0.5%. Jeff puts the stakes in perspective with a striking comparison."Imagine your bank calling you up and threatening to shut your business down because only 98% of your customers were perfectly happy. Imagine if a politician had to deal with those kinds of stats. Every elected official would be gone their first week."The cascading costs are brutal. A $25 product can generate $75 in fees and fines when disputed. A $250,000 annual problem can quickly become a million-dollar drain. And cross certain thresholds, you're not just paying fines. You're losing your ability to process cards entirely.Friendly Fraud Isn't What You Think (15:08)Unlike organised criminal fraud, friendly fraud is largely behavioural. Someone buys something, receives it, then decides to get their money back through the bank rather than the merchant. Jeff's data shows most of it isn't even premeditated."It's something that maybe is a little more expensive than you should have bought in the first place. A bill comes in that you weren't expecting. Things are a little tight. And you say, you know what? I'm just gonna call my bank and tell them I didn't get it."The pandemic accelerated this behaviour significantly. Banks have built dispute buttons into their apps, right next to every transaction. Two taps and the money's coming back. No consequences for the consumer.Why Banks Favour Cardholders (25:02)Jeff shares a revealing conversation from Money 2020, the major payments conference. A premium card issuer explained their position plainly: customers spending $17,000 a month, generating premium interchange and high interest rates, are worth keeping happy. If they want to dispute $200 every other month? The bank doesn't care."It's definitely not my problem. It's your problem." That's the message merchants receive, whether stated explicitly or not. There's far more money in the issuing business than processing. Merchants are simply the cost of doing business.The 25% Refund Problem (30:53)Here's something most merchants don't realise: a refund through your processor isn't actually a refund. It's a forced deposit back to the original payment method. The bank then has to match these up. And often, they don't."Something like 25% of all chargebacks are transactions that have actually already been refunded. But the bank didn't match them up."A customer requests a refund, you process it promptly, but forced deposits can take days. The customer checks their bank app, doesn't see the credit, gets frustrated, and disputes it anyway. Now you've got two refunds going out, plus fees, plus fines.What You Can Actually Control (43:58)Jeff's parting advice focuses on the 25-30% of disputes that are entirely preventable through better communication and fulfilment."The number of disputes, refunds, and things that we see on a daily basis that are based on a lack of communication from the merchant is something that every single merchant can easily solve in its entirety."Get products out fast. Overcommunicate throughout the process. Make yourself easy to reach. Follow up after delivery. These basics, done brilliantly, eliminate the confusion and frustration that drive a significant chunk of friendly fraud.Today's GuestToday's guest: Jeff FosterCompany: Quick RefundWebsite: getquickrefund.comLinkedIn: Connect with Jeff on LinkedInEpisode link: https://www.ecommerce-podcast.com/how-to-stop-chargebacks-from-destroying-your-profit-margins

What if the secret to building a subscription brand isn't clever retention tricks? Joe Welstead took his electrolyte company OSHUN from zero to over 5,000 subscribers in just 10 months, achieving a 42% subscription signup rate and 5% conversion rate.Episode SummaryIn this episode, we explore how Joe built OSHUN with a deliberately different approach to his previous venture-backed, multi-SKU supplement company. After selling that business in 2022, he chose the opposite path: one product, bootstrapped, subscription-first from day one. We discuss why launching with a single SKU is more freeing than multiple products, how spreading decisions across the customer journey reduces analysis paralysis, the exact tech stack powering their subscription engine (Skio, Klaviyo, UpCart, AfterSell), and how a supply chain constraint accidentally created their refill pouch model.Key Point Timestamps:08:37 - The chaos packaging that got everyone talking18:53 - Why one SKU beats twelve27:52 - The product-first subscription philosophy29:05 - Building the subscription tech stack33:26 - Obsessing over customer experienceThe Single-SKU Advantage (18:53)Joe's previous supplement company had multiple products, venture backing, and all the complexity that comes with scale. With OSHUN, he deliberately chose the opposite path."The experience as a founder of launching a brand with multiple SKUs is completely different to the experience of launching with one SKU," Joe explains. "Launching with one SKU for somebody who likes to be creative and who likes to explain the product in the most eloquent way possible is so much more freeing and enjoyable."With his previous company, every piece of marketing became diluted. With OSHUN, his entire job became distilling one product's benefits and communicating them beautifully. That focus shows in everything from their advertising to their website.The Product-First Philosophy (27:52)In a world where subscription brands obsess over retention hacks and loyalty points, Joe's approach is refreshingly direct."We're not in the game of providing gimmicks to keep people roped in," Joe shares. "We have a really good product. We really believe in it. And if you feel the benefits, you're going to be fine and happy with a little bit of money going out every month towards refilling it."This philosophy underpins everything OSHUN does. The product has to work. Everything else follows from there.The Subscription Engine (29:05)OSHUN's subscription success is built on a carefully considered tech stack. Joe started with Shopify's native subscription app but moved to Skio after a few months."Even if you're not subscribed and you log in, you think you're logging into Shopify, but actually you're logging into Skio," Joe explains. "Everything's there. Your whole order history, your subscription details. It's all in that one login."They send billing reminders five days before renewal with three quick actions, including a "skip for two weeks" option. Joe's reasoning: "If you have a little bit extra, the default might be 'I need to cancel this.' If there's a really easy skip by two weeks, hopefully it makes sense for everyone."Reducing Decision Fatigue (33:26)Joe's obsession with customer experience led him to rethink how most e-commerce sites handle product pages."One thing that I really dislike is when a brand overloads you with a bunch of decisions upfront on a product page," he explains. "There's pack size, frequency, flavour... all these decisions, bam, in your face before you've really committed to it."OSHUN's product page doesn't even have a quantity selector. You either click "subscribe and add to cart" or "buy once and add to cart." Additional decisions happen later in the cart, giving people "bite-sized decisions rather than just lumping it all on you."Today's GuestToday's guest: Joe WelsteadCompany: OSHUNWebsite: drinkoshun.coLinkedIn: Joe WelsteadInstagram: @drinkoshunEpisode link: https://www.ecommerce-podcast.com/from-zero-to-5000-subscriptions-in-10-months

What if your e-commerce platform is actually holding you back? Mikel Lindsaar, founder of StoreConnect and author of the forthcoming book Customer Commerce, explains why most platforms end up controlling your business rather than serving it. We explore how unified data systems enable smarter automation, faster page loads, and the kind of personalised customer experiences that build lifetime value.Mikel shares practical examples including a museum using AI to identify VIP visitors, automated refunds that create customer delight, and how one company consolidated 76 websites across 26 brands onto a single platform. We also discuss why his strongest advice has nothing to do with technology: put a phone number on your website and actually answer it.Key Point Timestamps:09:23 - The Tail Wagging the Dog Problem15:21 - AI for Customer Identification22:04 - The Real Cost of Platform Fragmentation26:41 - Creating Moments of Joy39:34 - Why Phone Support Still MattersThe Tail Wagging the Dog Problem (09:23)Mikel had three clients approach him in a single year asking to build e-commerce platforms that integrate with Salesforce. His initial reaction was to redirect them to Shopify or BigCommerce. Their response changed his thinking entirely."Those platforms are all fantastic for the front end," Mikel explains. "They do an incredible job at helping someone buy a widget. What they all genuinely suck at is if I want to access the data in my way, or I want to build automations the way I want to build those automations."The result is what Mikel calls "the tail wagging the dog" - your e-commerce platform dictates how you access data, how you report, how you contact customers, and how the checkout flow works. Instead of your business processes driving the technology, the technology drives your business.The Hidden Cost of Plugin Sprawl (22:04)As e-commerce businesses grow, they accumulate SaaS tools. Shopify, then Klaviyo, then reviews, then loyalty, then subscriptions. Before long, you've got 20 different products running your business."You now have your data in Shopify, in Klaviyo, and maybe six or seven plugins on random Amazon servers around the world," Mikel points out. "That data is becoming a bit of a challenge from a security point of view."Each plugin charges monthly, holds a piece of your customer data, and potentially slows down your site. The clever automations that actually transform customer relationships become nearly impossible to build when your data is fragmented across dozens of systems.Creating Moments of Joy (26:41)When your data lives in one place, you can start treating customers as humans rather than transactions. Mikel shares a common scenario: you buy something, then days later receive an email offering 10% off the thing you just bought.Now flip it. A customer buys something 24 hours before a 10% sale launches. Instead of sending them the promotional email, your system automatically refunds 10% to their credit card and explains what you've done."If I got an email like that, I'd be like, are you kidding?" Mikel says. "These moments of joy, treat them as humans. Don't treat them as just a transaction."AI That Actually Works (15:21)Mikel suggests using AI for pre-processing rather than real-time calculation. An education provider using StoreConnect runs algorithms when a student completes a course, determining the next best course based on their entire history. By the time the congratulations email goes out, it already contains a personalised recommendation."Instead of having to send them to a site which is trying to calculate the next best course for that student, you've already done all that work in the back end," Mikel explains. "That page loads within a tenth of a second or less." The key is giving AI specific parameters. Don't ask for everything about a customer. Ask: is this person interested in any of these five specific things we sell?Today's GuestToday's guest: Mikel LindsaarCompany: StoreConnectWebsite: getstoreconnect.comLinkedIn: Connect with Mikel on LinkedIn

Companies that capture and apply lessons have a 27% higher success rate. Yet most eCommerce founders either skip their year-end review entirely or give their numbers a cursory glance. In this Slingshot episode, Matt Edmundson shares the framework that saved LEGO from bankruptcy and reveals why accountability partners increase goal achievement by 95%.Episode SummaryMatt opens with the remarkable story of LEGO's near-collapse in 2003, when the company discovered it hadn't generated economic profit for over a decade. Through confronting brutal facts with honest review, they transformed into one of the world's most successful brands. We explore the common traps founders fall into during reviews, including the dangerous 'genius trap' when things go well. Matt introduces the Slingshot framework covering seven essential business areas, explains the critical difference between lead and lag measures, and shares the specific financial and customer metrics worth tracking. The episode closes with compelling research on why doing reviews alone limits your potential.Key Point Timestamps:00:18 - The Importance of Year-End Reviews01:16 - How LEGO Saved Themselves from Bankruptcy04:49 - Common Review Pitfalls and the Genius Trap14:00 - The 7 Areas of the Slingshot Framework22:00 - Lead Measures vs Lag Measures27:00 - The Numbers Worth Tracking33:53 - The Power of Accountability PartnersLEGO's Brutal Facts Revival (01:16)In 2003, LEGO was on the brink of bankruptcy with sales down 30% and $800 million in debt. This was a company that hadn't made a loss between 1932 and 1998. When leadership finally conducted a thorough review, they discovered the company hadn't generated any economic profit for more than ten years."They didn't know which products actually made money. They didn't know their customers anymore," Matt explains. "As one executive put it, the culture was so closed off that massive opportunities were completely invisible."The result of confronting these brutal facts? Nearly 20% compound growth over two decades. By 2020, they'd launched an entire 18+ product line for the adult customers they'd previously ignored.The Genius Trap (04:49)Matt introduces a subtle trap that catches founders when things actually go well. When the facts aren't brutal, it's dangerously easy to cherry-pick wins and build narratives that feel good but teach nothing."The goal isn't to prove you're brilliant. It's to understand what actually worked, what didn't, and where to focus next," Matt emphasises. "Imagine presenting your findings to a board of directors. What would you proudly share? And what would you rather not mention? That second list is where the real insights live."This isn't ego management. It's pattern recognition that drives genuine improvement.The Slingshot Framework: 7 Areas That Matter (14:00)After years of building and selling eCommerce businesses, Matt shares the seven interconnected areas that meaningful reviews need to cover:1. Sell (Product) — Which products are your real winners versus quietly draining resources?2. Story (Brand) — Do you truly understand who you're serving and is your messaging landing?3. Tech Stack — Is your technology helping or hindering? Are systems integrated or fragmented?4. Marketing — If your main marketing channel disappeared tomorrow, would your business survive?5. Optimise (Conversion) — When did you last watch a real customer try to use your site?6. Experience (Post-Purchase) — Is your post-purchase journey building loyalty or losing customers?7. Growth — Which growth lever has the most room to improve?The 95% Accountability Advantage (33:53)Matt closes with research that shows having an accountability partner increases the likelihood of achieving your goals by 95%, compared to just 10% when working alone."Reviewing in isolation has limits. You'll be kinder to yourself than you should be. You'll miss the blind spots that others are gonna catch for you," Matt notes. This is precisely why the eCommerce Cohort was created — a free monthly group where founders share challenges, give feedback, and hold each other accountable.Episode link: https://www.ecommerce-podcast.com/year-end-review-most-ecommerce-founders-skip