Ecommerce: The Hammersley Brothers Ecommerce Podcast

Most eCommerce advice fails because it's aimed at the wrong stage of business growth. What works for a $10M brand can be completely irrelevant for a business doing $100K. In this episode, Mark and Ian break down the different stages of eCommerce growth and explain why knowing what to focus on next is one of the biggest advantages you can have as a founder. In this episode: • Why most founders focus on the wrong things at the wrong time• The 5 stages of eCommerce growth from startup to $20M+• How priorities change as your business scales• Why copying large brands can slow your growth• The danger of chasing advanced tactics too early• What successful founders ignore so they can move faster• How to know what actually matters at your current stage• Why eCommerce growth is more about sequence than strategy• The biggest mistake business owners make when scaling If you've ever felt overwhelmed by conflicting eCommerce advice, this episode will help you understand exactly where to focus next. P.S. Whenever you’re ready... here are 3 ways Ian and I can help you grow your ecommerce business: 1. Talk to us. Book a call with us and let's talk about accelerating your growth - https://go.hammersleybrothers.com/scheduleuk-ant 2. Grab a copy of our book - https://gohigh.hammersleybrothers.com/get-the-book 3. Join the Ultimate Guide To Ecommerce Facebook group and connect with e-commerce owners who are scaling too - https://www.facebook.com/groups/924567391291786

This week on the Hammersley Brothers Ecommerce Podcast, we dive into one of the most overlooked parts of scaling an ecommerce business properly: stock forecasting.Most founders think forecasting is just spreadsheets and guesswork. In reality, it’s one of the biggest drivers of growth, cashflow, profitability, and momentum. In this episode, we discuss: Why stock forecasting feels like gambling for most ecommerce owners The hidden danger of understocking your best sellers Why running out of stock destroys your ROAS and growth How long lead times completely change your business model Why some brands intentionally choose lower margins for faster stock rotation The importance of focusing on hero products instead of too many SKUs How to improve your odds when ordering stock The relationship between stock levels, Meta ads, and Google Ads Why trending products can destroy forecasting models How to identify winning products before scaling harder The “yo-yo” effect that traps many ecommerce brands How great forecasting creates confidence to scale aggressively If you’ve ever struggled with stock, cashflow, forecasting, or scaling profitably, this episode will completely change how you think about ecommerce growth. P.S. Whenever you’re ready... here are 3 ways Ian and I can help you grow your ecommerce business: 1. Talk to us. Book a call with us and let's talk about accelerating your growth - https://go.hammersleybrothers.com/scheduleuk-ant 2. Grab a copy of our book - https://gohigh.hammersleybrothers.com/get-the-book 3. Join the Ultimate Guide To Ecommerce Facebook group and connect with e-commerce owners who are scaling too - https://www.facebook.com/groups/924567391291786

This week on the Hammersley Brothers eCommerce Podcast, we’re tackling a topic we haven’t covered before — but one that can have a massive impact on the growth of your business:Hiring the wrong person, team member, or agency. In eCommerce, the wrong hire doesn’t just cost you money. It can slow momentum, create bad energy in the business, pull you out of sync with the market, and in some cases, set you back for years. In this episode, we talk through: Why hiring the wrong people can be so damaging The hidden cost of bringing “C players” into your business Our own mistakes when it comes to hiring and choosing partners How to spot the warning signs before it’s too late What to look for when building the right team around your brand Whether you’re hiring internally, working with freelancers, or choosing an agency, this episode will help you avoid one of the biggest mistakes eCommerce brands make. P.S. Whenever you’re ready... here are 3 ways Ian and I can help you grow your ecommerce business: 1. Talk to us. Book a call with us and let's talk about accelerating your growth - https://go.hammersleybrothers.com/scheduleuk-ant 2. Grab a copy of our book - https://gohigh.hammersleybrothers.com/get-the-book 3. Join the Ultimate Guide To Ecommerce Facebook group and connect with e-commerce owners who are scaling too - https://www.facebook.com/groups/924567391291786

Buying an ecommerce business can look straightforward on the surface.The revenue looks good. The brand looks decent. The seller talks about “huge potential”. But this is where people get caught out. What matters is not what the business looks like from the outside. It’s what is really going on underneath. The numbers. The margins. The customer behaviour. The cash flow. The operational risks you inherit the moment the deal is done. In this podcast episode, Mark and Ian break down the biggest mistakes people make when buying an ecommerce business, the red flags that are easy to miss, and what you should actually be looking at before you hand over any money. Because if you get this wrong, you’re not buying an opportunity. You’re buying a pile of problems.In this podcast episode: Why the stated profit is often not the real profit The hidden costs that only show up once you take over How supplier risk can destroy your margins overnight Why are there no repeat customers? It is a massive warning sign The difference between having customers and just having orders How to tell whether a business is under-optimised or just weak Why margin and lifetime customer value matter far more than top-line revenue What actually creates a moat in ecommerce Why reselling other people’s products is often riskier than it looks The danger of trend-driven and fad products How stock, lead times, and cash flow quietly kill ecommerce businesses The key questions you should be asking before you buy If you’re even considering buying an ecommerce business, watch this first. P.S. Whenever you’re ready... here are 3 ways Ian and I can help you grow your ecommerce business: 1. Talk to us. Book a call with us and let's talk about accelerating your growth - https://go.hammersleybrothers.com/scheduleuk-ant 2. Grab a copy of our book - https://gohigh.hammersleybrothers.com/get-the-book 3. Join the Ultimate Guide To Ecommerce Facebook group and connect with e-commerce owners who are scaling too - https://www.facebook.com/groups/924567391291786

Most ecommerce businesses are not worth investing in. Not because they are bad businesses. But because they are structurally broken. In this episode, Mark and Ian break down what actually makes an ecommerce business investable and why only a small percentage truly stands out. They cover: Why do only 1 in 10 ecommerce businesses have real scale potential? The difference between a lifestyle business and a scalable asset What “structurally broken” actually means in ecommerce The three key levers every serious investor looks at How to spot an unoptimised business with huge upside Why high margins and repeat purchases change everything The role of conversion rate, average order value, and lifetime value Why boring problem-solving products often outperform trendy brands How to think about market size and long-term growth potential This is not a theory. These are the exact lenses used to evaluate real ecommerce businesses doing millions. If you are building a brand, this episode will show you what makes it valuable and what holds most businesses back. P.S. Whenever you’re ready... here are 3 ways Ian and I can help you grow your ecommerce business: 1. Talk to us. Book a call with us and let's talk about accelerating your growth - https://go.hammersleybrothers.com/scheduleuk-ant 2. Grab a copy of our book - https://gohigh.hammersleybrothers.com/get-the-book 3. Join the Ultimate Guide To Ecommerce Facebook group and connect with e-commerce owners who are scaling too - https://www.facebook.com/groups/924567391291786

Most ecommerce brands think that more products mean more sales. Usually, it means more complexity, more stock problems, more cash tied up, and worse performance. In this episode, Mark and Ian unpack one of the biggest truths in ecommerce growth: A small number of products usually drive the vast majority of the revenue. They break down: Why 20 percent of your SKUs often drive 80 percent of your sales? Why adding more products can actually slow down growth How too much range creates stock headaches, ad inefficiency, and wasted cash What Bedding Envy taught them about white sheets, bestsellers, and running out of the products that matter most Why narrower ranges with deeper stock often scale better than huge catalogues How Google and Meta behave when your revenue is spread too thinly across too many products Why “more choice” online does not work the same way it does in retail stores The difference between recruitment products, add-on products, and dead-weight SKUs This is a big one. Because a lot of ecommerce owners are not short of products. They are short of focus. If your range is getting bigger, but your growth is getting harder, this episode will explain why. P.S. Whenever you’re ready... here are 3 ways Ian and I can help you grow your ecommerce business: 1. Talk to us. Book a call with us and let's talk about accelerating your growth - https://go.hammersleybrothers.com/scheduleuk-ant 2. Grab a copy of our book - https://gohigh.hammersleybrothers.com/get-the-book 3. Join the Ultimate Guide To Ecommerce Facebook group and connect with e-commerce owners who are scaling too - https://www.facebook.com/groups/924567391291786

Episode 4 of our 5-part series on why your ads aren’t scaling. Most ecommerce brands obsess over ads, creatives, targeting, and campaign structure. But the leak usually happens after the click. If your follow-up is weak, your ad account will always feel capped because you are paying to create interest and then doing nothing to convert most of the buyers In this episode, we cover: • What we actually mean by follow-up is the time between the first click and the sale. • Why the biggest lever is not fancy flows, it’s capturing more emails first • The fastest way to boost conversion rate without touching your ads • Why weekend email promos can generate massive revenue even from first-time buyers • The simple rule: stop building flows if your email capture is 1 percent • How follow-up turbocharges ad performance by lifting conversion rate and ROAS • When remarketing matters and when it doesn’t, short window problem-solving purchases • The overlooked power of SMS abandoned cart, and when to save SMS for big promos • Timing strategy for email and SMS so your message lands when people are actually on their phone • Why making checkout easier often beats trying to solve every objection If you feel like your ads should work, but they don’t scale, fix your follow-up and watch what happens. Next episode: you are freaking out and changing things too often. P.S. Whenever you’re ready... here are 3 ways Ian and I can help you grow your ecommerce business: 1. Talk to us. Book a call with us and let's talk about accelerating your growth - https://go.hammersleybrothers.com/scheduleuk-ant 2. Grab a copy of our book - https://book.hammersleybrothers.com/ 3. Join the Ultimate Guide To Ecommerce Facebook group and connect with e-commerce owners who are scaling too - https://www.facebook.com/groups/924567391291786

Part 2 of our 5-part series on the question everyone asks: why your ads aren’t working. Most people blame Meta, Google, or their agency. But if your landing page doesn’t do the job, your ads never had a chance. In this episode, we break down: Why do we always start with landing pages, not a full site rebuild? The fastest way to find what’s actually broken is to use the top landing pages. Why product pages on mobile are usually the real battleground The Busy Restaurant Test and why it decides whether people bounce in seconds How to reduce bounce rate and make it feel easy to buy Why pop-ups can wreck first impressions if you block the product How big brands choreograph the entire first visit on purpose The conversion rate and AOV tradeoff that unlocks scale Why Shopify gimmicks often lower conversion instead of raising it If your ROAS is sliding, and you keep tweaking ads, this is your reset. Fix what happens after the click, and the ads suddenly look “better” without changing them. Next episode: your ads are boring. P.S. Whenever you’re ready... here are 3 ways Ian and I can help you grow your ecommerce business: 1. Talk to us. Book a call with us and let's talk about accelerating your growth - https://go.hammersleybrothers.com/scheduleuk-ant 2. Grab a copy of our book - https://book.hammersleybrothers.com/ 3. Join the Ultimate Guide To Ecommerce Facebook group and connect with e-commerce owners who are scaling too - https://www.facebook.com/groups/924567391291786

This podcast is the second half of our fastest, most repeatable path to $10 million in revenue. Not theory. Not trends. The actual mechanics that separate brands that compound from brands that stall. Mark and Ian break down what really moves the needle once traffic is flowing: Why email isn’t “retention”, it’s the engine that lets you outbid competitors The three levers that determine revenue per visitor (and why most brands pull the wrong ones) Why average order value is the easiest win in e-commerce, if you know where to look How most brands completely misuse email capture and quietly cap their own growth Why margin, LTV, and stock, not ads, set your real growth ceiling The difference between chasing a bestseller and building a scalable range Why the $10m version of your business looks nothing like the $1m version This episode is built from real decisions, real numbers, and examples from our own businesses, including the mistakes that hurt and the moves that unlocked the next level. If you’re scaling hard, or wondering why your current effort isn’t translating into growth, this is the playbook. Email. Model. Margin.That’s where the leverage is. P.S. Whenever you’re ready... here are 3 ways Ian and I can help you grow your ecommerce business: 1. Talk to us. Book a call with us and let's talk about accelerating your growth - https://go.hammersleybrothers.com/scheduleuk-ant 2. Grab a copy of our book - https://book.hammersleybrothers.com/ 3. Join the Ultimate Guide To Ecommerce Facebook group and connect with e-commerce owners who are scaling too - https://www.facebook.com/groups/924567391291786

AI this. GEO that.“New hacks.” “New secrets.” Most of it is noise. In this episode, Ian and I break down what actually matters heading into 2026 — based on what really happened in 2025 across real brands, real numbers, and real P&Ls. No hype. No crystal balls. Just patterns we’re already seeing. We cover: • Why AI won’t save you if you don’t already understand your numbers • How AI is quietly being baked into Shopify, Meta, Google, and Klaviyo (whether you want it or not) • Why “hobby” categories (sewing, knitting, crafts) are set up unusually well for growth • The slow death of small, low-spend ad agencies — and why that’s good news for founders • Why disruptor brands will keep stealing share from incumbents • The rise of health, wellness, and awkward-to-buy-in-store products • Why tracking is getting harder — and why server-side is no longer optional • The real skill gap opening up in 2026: business architecture, not tactics If you’re still relying on: • Fixed ad budgets • Agencies asking “what’s the spend this month?” • Guessing instead of knowing your margins, CAC, LTV, and cashflow 2026 is going to hurt. If you do know your numbers?It’s shaping up to be one of the biggest opportunity years we’ve seen. 🎧 Listen now and reset how you’re thinking about the year ahead. P.S. Whenever you’re ready... here are 3 ways Ian and I can help you grow your ecommerce business: 1. Talk to us. Book a call with us and let's talk about accelerating your growth - https://go.hammersleybrothers.com/scheduleuk-ant 2. Grab a copy of our book - https://book.hammersleybrothers.com/ 3. Join the Ultimate Guide To Ecommerce Facebook group and connect with e-commerce owners who are scaling too - https://www.facebook.com/groups/924567391291786

This episode is Offer #5 in our 5 Offers Series: Reactivation — the last offer in the stack, and the most misunderstood. Reactivation should never be your growth strategy.It should be the icing, not the cake. But done properly? It’s free revenue sitting on your doorstep. In this episode, Mark and Ian reveal: The real purpose of a reactivation offer (and why it isn’t what you think) How to calculate the exact moment a customer becomes “lapsed” using the 95% rule Monetary credit vs. discounts which actually breaks through inbox blindness Why waiting too long kills reactivation… and how acting early transforms your AOV What to do with subscribers who don’t open, ignore, or never see your emails Why some businesses shouldn’t expect powerful winbacks and what to focus on instead How to use reactivation across email, SMS, direct mail, Facebook, and Google audiences The old bakery story that explains why reactivation works (only after fixed costs are paid) If you’ve ever wondered whether reactivation is worth it — or if your business is doing it the wrong way — this episode answers everything. 📉 Think reactivation will fix bad retention?📈 Want to squeeze extra profit from customers who’ve drifted away? Start here. P.S. Whenever you’re ready... here are 3 ways Ian and I can help you grow your ecommerce business: 1. Talk to us. Book a call with us and let's talk about accelerating your growth - https://go.hammersleys.co.uk/scheduleuk-ant/ 2. Grab a copy of our book - https://book.hammersleybrothers.com/ 3. Join the Ultimate Guide To Ecommerce Facebook group and connect with e-commerce owners who are scaling too - https://www.facebook.com/groups/924567391291786

This is Offer #3 in our 5 Offers series — and it’s the offer that quietly decides whether your business becomes a scalable brand… or stays stuck buying customers forever. You’ve nailed the first sale. Maybe you’ve got the second. But unless you’re intentionally architecting repeat purchase behavior, you’re losing margin, losing momentum, and relying way too heavily on Meta and Google to stay alive. In this episode, Mark and Ian unpack: Why the General Retention Offer is the most overlooked money-maker in ecommerce The 3 drivers of real retention: Rhythm, Relevance, and Reward How brands like Brook Taverner, GSF Car Parts, and AO.com leverage natural buying cycles Why “loyalty points” don’t work — and what to use instead How to build a retention strategy that compounds LTV without discounting The simple offer tweak that instantly boosts retention across the board 📉 Still depending on discount codes and random email blasts?📈 Want your customers to buy again because they want to, not because you’re begging? Listen to this and your entire view of retention will change — permanently. P.S. Whenever you’re ready... here are 3 ways Ian and I can help you grow your ecommerce business: 1. Talk to us. Book a call with us and let's talk about accelerating your growth - https://go.hammersleys.co.uk/scheduleuk-ant/ 2. Grab a copy of our book - https://book.hammersleybrothers.com/ 3. Join the Ultimate Guide To Ecommerce Facebook group and connect with e-commerce owners who are scaling too - https://www.facebook.com/groups/924567391291786