The Checkout by Cogsy
Cogsy
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A podcast for DTC brands pursuing operational excellence. We explore best-practices and insights from top operations and retail experts: everything from inventory to purchase orders, from cash flow to fundraising, and more. Learn something new about retail operations in each episode.
Available episodes
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Oldest first
Mar 16, 2023
David Gaylord Of Bushbalm: Building An 8-Figure Skincare Brand
There’s nothing sexy about selling “pubic hair oil.” David Gaylord, founder and CEO of Bushbalm, learned this quickly after launching 7 years ago. But fast-forward to today, and the bikini line skincare brand is pulling in $9m in sales annually.
In this episode, David delves into the intricacies of launching, testing, at times failing, and scaling a successful bikini line skincare company.
Tune in to steal the multichannel retail playbook that has helped scale Bushbalm into an international, 8-figure brand!
👉 Skim this episode's highlights.
The Checkout is brought to you by Cogsy, the ops optimization tool empowering DTC brands to unlock 40% more revenue and save 20+ hours a week. Learn more and try it free for 14 days at cogsy.com.
PS – Love this podcast? Don’t forget to leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts.
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Mar 8, 2023
Gavin Ballard Of Disco Labs: Building Modern Brands Through Composable Commerce
Today’s consumers want their needs met quickly, personalized to their tastes, and delivered with the utmost convenience. These high expectations have placed businesses under pressure to adapt and cater quickly to their customer’s ever-evolving demands. With a composable commerce solution, ecommerce brands can meet these expectations by choosing the most appropriate commerce components and combining them to suit their unique needs.
Just like how you can mix and match different pieces of a puzzle to make your own unique picture, composable commerce allows businesses to mix and match different parts of an online store. This way, businesses can create a store that fits their specific needs and makes shopping easier for their customers.
In this episode of The Checkout, Gavin Ballard, founder and CEO of Disco Labs, explains how you can optimize your operational efficiencies with composable technology.
For context, Gavin is the leading expert on composable commerce. He’s built technology stacks for billion-dollar companies (including HarperCollins, Four Seasons, and JB HiFi). And he’s learned that high revenues don't necessarily mean complex operations along the way.
Tune in to get the competitive leverage your brand needs in these disruptive times!
👉 Skim this episode's highlights.
The Checkout is brought to you by Cogsy, the ops optimization tool empowering DTC brands to unlock 40% more revenue and save 20+ hours a week. Learn more and try it free for 14 days at cogsy.com.
PS – Love this podcast? Don’t forget to leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts.
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Mar 1, 2023
Valentin Radu Of Omniconvert: Mastering Customer Value Optimization
With ad spends at an all-time high, chasing short-term profits only gets your retail brand so far. That is, unless you master the art of customer value optimization (CVO).
CVO is a strategic approach that aims to enhance every stage of the customer journey, ultimately building strong, long-lasting customer relationships and generating maximum ROI from all marketing activities.
Fortunately, Valentin Radu, founder and CEO of Omniconvert, with 16+ years of experience working with eCommerce brands, has developed the CVO methodology that has unlocked growth for 100+ brands, including Samsung and Avon. And today, on The Checkout, Valentin walks you through this methodology for free.
Tune in to be among the next generation of ecommerce leaders winning customers for life!
👉 Skim this episode's highlights.
The Checkout is brought to you by Cogsy, the ops optimization tool empowering DTC brands to unlock 40% more revenue and save 20+ hours a week. Learn more and try it free for 14 days at cogsy.com.
PS – Love this podcast? Don’t forget to leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts.
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Feb 22, 2023
Bernardo Carreira Of 8000Kicks: The Challenges Of Building A Hemp Product
Developing your own line of hemp shoes is no easy feat. Starting a DTC brand is hard enough; overcoming the stigma attached to Cannabis only adds to the challenge.
But for Bernardo Carreira, founder and CEO of 8000Kicks, these were challenges he was eager to tackle head-on.
In this episode of The Checkout, Bernardo walks our host, Adii Pienaar, through his brand’s journey to becoming the world’s first waterproof hemp shoes.
Tune in to hear all about 8000Kicks journey from start to finish.
👉 Skim this episode's highlights.
The Checkout is brought to you by Cogsy, the ops optimization tool empowering DTC brands to unlock 40% more revenue and save 20+ hours a week. Learn more and try it free for 14 days at cogsy.com.
Love this podcast? Don’t forget to leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts.
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Feb 8, 2023
Tygh Walters of SellerSmile: Key Strategies To Build The Ideal Customer Experience
Customer service conversations are a gold mine for key insights, improving customer loyalty and your bottom line. But as businesses grow and scale, maintaining focus on meeting customers’ requirements at speed becomes increasingly overwhelming.
In this episode, Tygh and our CEO, Adii Pienaar, discuss how brands can deliver great customer service across different channels while scaling and innovating at the same time.
Tune in and increase sales and customer happiness for your business!
👉 Skim this episode's highlights.
The Checkout is brought to you by Cogsy, the ops optimization tool empowering DTC brands to unlock 40% more revenue and save 20+ hours a week. Learn more and try it free for 14 days at cogsy.com.
Love this podcast? Don’t forget to leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts.
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Feb 1, 2023
Dylan Whitman Of Inveterate: Tech Trends Shaping The Future Of DTC
Nobody wants to fall behind, especially with new technologies like ChatGPT and Midjourney that can significantly benefit their business. However, the rapidly evolving digital customer journey and the proliferation of ecommerce technology make it challenging for retailers to manage their tech stack effectively.
In this episode, Dylan and CEO Adii Pienaar, explore the impact of AI on retailers in 2023 and ways for brands to remain competitive through a focus on customer-centricity and superior products.
Tune in and unlock growth opportunities for your brand this 2023!
👉 Skim this episode's highlights.
The Checkout is brought to you by Cogsy, the ops optimization tool empowering DTC brands to unlock 40% more revenue and save 20+ hours a week. Learn more and try it free for 14 days at cogsy.com.
Love this podcast? Don’t forget to leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts.
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Jan 25, 2023
Andrew Lolk Of SavvyRevenue: Building a Successful Paid Marketing Strategy To Maximize ROI
Paid acquisition remains as one of the most popular ways to grow your business. However, as attribution challenges, automation, and limited transparency increase, it has become more difficult to generate meaningful ROI from these strategies.
In this episode, Andrew Lolk, founder of Savvy Revenue, and our CEO, Adii Pienaar, discuss how brands can rise above the challenges and scale their PPC strategy and ecommerce business to greater heights.
Tune in and find out how you can scale your ecommerce business!
👉 Skim this episode's highlights.
The Checkout is brought to you by Cogsy, the ops optimization tool empowering DTC brands to unlock 40% more revenue and save 20+ hours a week. Learn more and try it free for 14 days at cogsy.com.
Love this podcast? Don’t forget to leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts.
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Jan 18, 2023
Introducing The New Subscription Feature: Smarter Subscription Management For Stronger Retention
33% of customers will switch companies after 1 bad experience — like a subscription showing up late. By the 2nd bad experience, that number shoots to 60%.)
With the new Cogsy + Smartrr integration, you won’t have to worry about this anymore. With this new feature you can maintain optimal inventory levels that can easily fulfill your one-off and subscription demand (without overstocking to make it happen).
In this special episode of The Checkout, our CEO Adii Pienaar shares how you can get the best out of our all-new feature to fullfil subscriptions accurately and consistently.
Listen now to learn how to never miss a subscription order again.
👉 Skim this episode's highlights.
The Checkout is brought to you by Cogsy, the ops optimization tool empowering DTC brands to unlock 40% more revenue and save 20+ hours a week. Learn more and try it free for 14 days at cogsy.com.
Love this podcast? Don’t forget to leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts.
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Jan 11, 2023
Ammar Moiz Of Mayple: How To Drive 20% Revenue Growth By Globalizing Your Brand
Building your business across borders? There’s never been a better time for DTC brands to go global. But international expansion this 2023 is not without its challenges.
In this episode, Ammar Moiz of Mayple, and our CEO, Adii Pienaar, share what it takes to build a global brand in today’s multi-channel marketplace. They discuss global distribution trends, why brands are going beyond their local markets, and the opportunities that the global market holds for DTC brands in 2023
Tune in and find out how you can start expanding internationally!
👉 Skim this episode's highlights.
The Checkout is brought to you by Cogsy, the ops optimization tool empowering DTC brands to unlock 40% more revenue and save 20+ hours a week. Learn more and try it free for 14 days at cogsy.com.
Love this podcast? Don’t forget to leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts.
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Dec 7, 2022
Cameron McCarthy Of WeStock: How To Succeed At Omnichannel Retail
Before omnichannel retail existed, Cameron McCarthy, co-founder, and CEO at WeStock, went door-to-door selling chocolates to independent retailers where he learned all about the big challenges in retail and how to overcome them to accelerate growth.
In this episode, Cameron and our CEO, Adii Pienaar double down on today’s best practices that will transform the landscape of retail amidst evolving multichannel trends.
Tune in and step up your brand’s experience!
👉 Skim this episode's highlights.
The Checkout is brought to you by Cogsy, the ops optimization tool empowering DTC brands to unlock 40% more revenue and save 20+ hours a week. Learn more and try it free for 14 days at cogsy.com.
Love this podcast? Don’t forget to leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts.
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Nov 30, 2022
Molly Duffy Of Smartrr: How To Implement A Successful Subscription Business Model
Customer retention can drive predictable revenue growth, but what are the best ways to convince subscribers to stick around and become lifelong brand champions?
In this episode, Molly Duffy, Director of Product at Smartrr and our CEO, Adii Pienaar announce an upcoming strategic partnership between Smartrr and Cogsy. Together they uncover the best DTC subscription practices and tease a much-awaited feature that can help DTC subscription-based brands drive predictable revenue growth.
Tune in and step up your brand’s experience!
👉 Skim this episode's highlights.
The Checkout is brought to you by Cogsy, the ops optimization tool empowering DTC brands to unlock 40% more revenue and save 20+ hours a week. Learn more and try it free for 14 days at cogsy.com.
PS – Love this podcast? Don’t forget to leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts.
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Nov 16, 2022
Kait Stephens Of Brij: How To Leverage QR Technology To Drive Business Growth
The integration of online and offline customer experiences has become a challenge, but not an impossible one.
In this episode, Kait Stephens, CEO, and co-founder of Brij, shares the best QR code strategies to help you better connect with your customers through online and offline experiences to drive repeat sales across all sales channels.
Tune in and step up your brand’s experience!
👉 Skim this episode's highlights.
The Checkout is brought to you by Cogsy, the ops optimization tool empowering DTC brands to unlock 40% more revenue and save 20+ hours a week. Learn more and try it free for 14 days at cogsy.com.
PS – Love this podcast? Don’t forget to leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts.
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Nov 9, 2022
Kelcey Lehrich Of 365 Holdings: Building Diversified DTC Brands As A Sustainable Growth Strategy
If you think running one business is tough, try scaling 6 consumer brands, 3 verticals, and hundreds of products. It’s surprisingly not that crazy, according to 365 Holdings, a holding company that owns and operates multiple retail brands.
In this episode of The Checkout, our CEO, Adii Pienaar, and Kelcey Lehrich, co-founder and CEO of 365 Holdings, share the unique operational strategies behind 365’s vertically integrated model. Get ready to learn how to build a sustainable brand - from marketing and managing inventory for multiple channels to a sales formula for diversifying your brand.
Tune in and grow a diversified brand built to last!
👉 Skim this episode's highlights.
The Checkout is brought to you by Cogsy, the ops optimization tool empowering DTC brands to unlock 40% more revenue and save 20+ hours a week. Learn more and try it free for 14 days at cogsy.com.
PS – Love this podcast? Don’t forget to leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts.
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Nov 2, 2022
New Multi-Location Support: Centralize How You Manage Inventory Across Locations
Today's best retail brands don't sell through only one channel anymore. It’s not only DTC or only retail. Brands know that in order to succeed, they have to meet the customer where they’re at— and that is through a multichannel approach.
But how can brands fulfill every promise to every customer, regardless of order, channel or location?
In this special episode of The Checkout, our CEO Adii Pienaar shares all about our new feature: multi-location support.
Be the first to hear about Cogsy’s new feature designed to give you clear visibility over inventory demand across multiple warehouses and channels. And get the confidence you need to continue increasing sales with the right amount of stock, at the right location, and at the right time.
Hit play and ensure your business’ success through multiple channels.
👉 Skim this episode's highlights.
The Checkout is brought to you by Cogsy, the ops optimization tool empowering DTC brands to unlock 40% more revenue and save 20+ h…
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Oct 26, 2022
Dan McCormick Of Create Wellness: 5 Keys To Launching A Successful DTC Brand
After years of taking creatine supplements and diving into scientific research, Dan McCormick came up with an amazing product idea that could change the supplements industry. Fast forward to today, he is about to launch the world’s first modern creatine gummy brand.
In this episode of The Checkout, our CEO, Adii Pienaar, and Dan McCormick, co-founder, and CEO of Create Wellness discuss a proven framework for validating an amazing product idea and strategies to launch a new brand successfully.
Hit play and win at your next big launch!
👉 Skim this episode's highlights.
The Checkout is brought to you by Cogsy, the ops optimization tool empowering DTC brands to unlock 40% more revenue and save 20+ hours a week. Learn more and try it free for 14 days at cogsy.com.
PS – Love this podcast? Don’t forget to leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts.
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Oct 19, 2022
Bryan Porter Of Simple Modern: The Proven Amazon Strategy For Sustainable Omnichannel Growth
Simple Modern found an unusual path to success. They discovered that the road to being Amazon’s #1 drinkware brand was just the beginning of omnichannel success.
In this episode of The Checkout, our CEO, Adii Pienaar, and Bryan Porter, Co-founder and Chief Ecommerce Officer at Simple Modern, crack the code to omnichannel growth, exploring 3 simple strategies: prioritizing inventory, optimizing for second purchases, and living intentionally.
Hit play and discover the proven strategies to drive demand across multiple retail channels!
👉 Skim this episode's highlights.
The Checkout is brought to you by Cogsy, the ops optimization tool empowering DTC brands to unlock 40% more revenue and save 20+ hours a week. Learn more and try it free for 14 days at cogsy.com.
PS – Love this podcast? Don’t forget to leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts.
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Oct 12, 2022
Claudiu Cioba Of Videowise: How To 10x Customer Engagement With Shoppable Videos
Would you believe 21% of consumers purchased after watching a shoppable video? On top of that, 35% of marketers using interactive video have seen increased conversions and sales.
We believe in adding more human connection to your brand’s shopping experience, so we’re switching things up a notch.
For the first time here on The Checkout, our CEO, Adii Pienaar, and Claudiu Cioba, founder and CEO of Videowise, share a fascinating conversation on everything you need to know about videos for operational excellence.
Hit play and learn how to increase your sales this year with interactive videos!
👉 Skim this episode's highlights.
The Checkout is brought to you by Cogsy, the ops optimization tool empowering DTC brands to unlock 40% more revenue and save 20+ hours a week. Learn more and try it free for 14 days at cogsy.com.
PS – Love this podcast? Don’t forget to leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts.
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Oct 5, 2022
Liza Amlani Of Retail Strategy Group: Leveraging Smarter Inventory Planning To Accelerate Your Speed To Market
A topsy-turvy economy, erratic consumer behavior, and evolving software tools have made it imperative for brands to bring products to market quickly.
In this episode of The Checkout, our CEO, Adii Pienaar, and Liza Amlani, founder and Principal of Retail Strategy Group, reveal key strategies to achieve speed to market.
They also tackle the blend of science and art in planning, merchandising, and operations for retail brands. And how finding the optimal balance between the two is crucial for brand success.
Tune in and get the proven strategies to power up your speed to market.
👉 Skim this episode’s highlights.
The Checkout is brought to you by Cogsy, the ops optimization tool empowering DTC brands to unlock 40% more revenue and save 20+ hours a week. Learn more and try it free for 14 days at cogsy.com.
PS – Love this podcast? Don’t forget to leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts.
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Sep 30, 2022
Amanda Schutzbank Of Willow Growth: Fundraising And Growth For Early Stage DTC Brands
DTC brands have had an interesting last two years. Some of them experienced their best moments, while others weren't so fortunate.
In this episode of The Checkout, our CEO, Adii Pienaar, and Amanda Schutzbank, co-founder and general partner at Willow Growth, discuss the rational path to profitability for DTC brands.
From enduring the current economic climate and the key growth metrics that attract investors to the playbook Willow implements with their portfolio companies to get the best outcome.
Hit play and get the strategies you need to take your DTC to the next level.
👉 Skim this episode’s highlights.
The Checkout is brought to you by Cogsy, the ops optimization tool empowering DTC brands to unlock 40% more revenue and save 20+ hours a week. Learn more and try it free for 14 days at cogsy.com.
PS – Love this podcast? Don’t forget to leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts.
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Sep 23, 2022
Nate Poulin Of Feat Clothing: How Centralizing Data Accelerates Your Business’ Growth
What if you can find a new answer, a new way of getting things done, a new way of generating more sales with one powerful source of truth?
In this episode of The Checkout, our CEO, Adii Pienaar, and COO of Feat Clothing, Nate Poulin, break down how to structure sources of truth, systems of record, first-party data and ERPs to make data serve its purpose: to help DTC brands make decisions.
Tune in and learn tangible advice and tactics to turn data into revenue.
👉 Skim this episode’s highlights.
The Checkout is brought to you by Cogsy, the ops optimization tool empowering DTC brands to unlock 40% more revenue and save 20+ hours a week. Learn more and try it free for 14 days at cogsy.com.
PS – Love this podcast? Don’t forget to leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts.
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Sep 16, 2022
Drew Marconi Of Intelligems: A Guide To Experimenting With Product Pricing For Business Growth
Among all aspects of a company, pricing is one of those that can stay untouched for years. Price testing is hardly ever talked about in the business world. And it can take lots of back and forth with leadership to get this accepted.
In this episode of The Checkout, Drew Marconi tells us about the benefits of empowering teams to test and iterate pricing strategies. He walks us through the importance of focusing on retention, conversion optimization, and increasing margins.
Drew co-founded Intelligems, a powerful revenue optimization tool for ecommerce brands to increase sales and improve margins. Intelligems makes integrating and launching new tests simple so you can focus on what matters.
Tune in to learn more about the benefits of testing your pricing strategy.
👉 Skim this episode’s highlights.
The Checkout is brought to you by Cogsy, the ops optimization tool empowering DTC brands to unlock 40% more revenue and save 20+ hours a week. Learn more and try it free for 14 days a…
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Sep 9, 2022
Jack Benzaquen Of Duradry: The Road To Success As A CPG Brand In The DTC Space
The CPG industry is ever-changing; however, the last two years have been a record. Brands that have taken steps to anticipate and prep for evolving trends and opportunities have had a navigable journey. For others, it has been more challenging.
In this episode of The Checkout, Jack Benzaquen, a veteran in the intersection of the CPG and DTC industries with more than 18 years of experience, walks us through his journey as a serial entrepreneur and his lessons learned along the way.
In 2017, Jack founded Duradry, a personal care brand focused on a common problem — hyperhidrosis. In this conversation, you’ll learn about his journey of bootstrapping a business while wearing multiple hats, raising funds, and building an effective team.
Tune in to hear what it takes to succeed in this highly competitive space.
👉 Skim this episode’s highlights.
The Checkout is brought to you by Cogsy, the ops optimization tool empowering DTC brands to unlock 40% more revenue and save 20+ hours a…
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Aug 26, 2022
Saman Izadiyar: Do's And Don'ts For Building Successful DTC Brands
In this episode of The Checkout, Saman Izadiyar and our CEO, Adii Pienaar, walk us through their recommendations for building successful businesses, including processes, habits, and tools.
Tune in and learn what you can start doing now to set your brand up for success.
👉 Skim this episode’s highlights.
The Checkout is brought to you by Cogsy, the ops optimization tool empowering DTC brands to unlock 40% more revenue and save 20+ hours a week. Learn more and try it free for 14 days at cogsy.com.
PS – Love this podcast? Don’t forget to leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts.
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Aug 19, 2022
Martina Vancena: DTC Brand's Operational Challenges And Trends Revealed
Conversations in all kinds of relationships are important. But, having conversations with your market audience can make or break your business. And in our case, these conversations with DTC brands are crucial to building a product that makes operators' lives easier.
In this episode, we sit down with Martina Vancena, head of growth at Cogsy, who spends much of her time talking to DTC brands. Over the course of hundreds of conversations, she has gained invaluable insights into DTC brands' most common challenges and current trends.
Tune in to hear some of the most common operational obstacles DTC brands like yours are facing today and how to tackle them.
👉 Skim this episode’s highlights.
The Checkout is brought to you by Cogsy, the ops optimization tool empowering DTC brands to unlock 40% more revenue and save 20+ hours a week. Learn more and try it free for 14 days at cogsy.com.
PS – Love this podcast? Don’t forget to leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts.
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Aug 12, 2022
Keeping Your Operational Health In Check With Our Powerful New Features
Inventory planning and forecasting involve some complex calculations. Add to that a fast-growing brand, supply chain disruptions, and creeping inflation, and it can quickly become unmanageable.
In this episode of The Checkout, our CEO, Adii Pienaar, holds a conversation with one of our dearest podcast guests and early customers of Cogsy, Mark Riskowitz. Mark is the VP of Operations at one of the fastest-growing DTC brands these days, Caraway Home.
Adii and Mark share all you need to know about Cogsy’s latest features, including how a brand like Caraway is already putting them to use.
Hit play to listen to how Cogsy’s new features provide brands with the needed visibility and alignment within their business to ensure accurate forecasting and better growth.
👉 Learn more about our latest features.
The Checkout is brought to you by Cogsy, the ops optimization tool empowering DTC brands to unlock 40% more revenue and save 20+ hours a week. Learn more and try it free for 14 days…
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Aug 5, 2022
Govalo & Cogsy: The Future Of DTC Resiliency
Did you know that more millionaires were made during the depression in the 1930s than in any other period before that? According to Rhian Beutler, founder of Govalo, people love spending money on a depressed economy.
Perhaps, the greatest certainty in uncertain times is opportunity.
When problems hit the supply chain, Govalo, a brand reinventing the digital gifting experience, took it as an opportunity to maximize profitability. Hear it from Rhian Beutler, founder of Govalo, and our CEO, Adii Pienaar as they reveal how retailers like you can be resilient, flexible, agile and turn the most challenging times into a profitable win.
Tune in and don’t miss the essential strategies to building resilient businesses.
👉 Skim this episode’s highlights.
The Checkout is brought to you by Cogsy, the ops optimization tool empowering DTC brands to unlock 40% more revenue and save 20+ hours a week. Learn more and try it free for 14 days at cogsy.com.
PS – Love this podcast? Don’t forg…
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Jul 29, 2022
Bunny Ghatrora Of Blume: 2022’s Unusual DTC Holiday Playbook
Thanks to Blume, “puberty-positivity” sets a new standard for skin, body and period care.
Blume was created by sisters Taran and Bunny Ghatrora to make self care easier and healthier for young women, destigmatizing normal things during puberty like acne and periods.
In this episode of The Checkout, Bunny Ghatrora, Co-founder and COO of Blume, shares her fascinating journey to DTC, from the joys and challenges of sibling cofoundership and doing everything by hand in their basement, to creating a tracking system that has helped massively scale their self-care startup amidst the complexities of the fast-paced self-care industry.
Tune in and learn exclusive operational strategies to starting scrappily and scaling happily.
In this episode, we talk about:
* Blume’s journey through DTC with no money, no network and no resources
* Optimizing operations based on proactivity vs. reactivity
* How improving relationships with suppliers can help prevent stockouts
* Blume’s key…
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Jul 22, 2022
Aubrie Pagano: How DTC Brands Can Build Supply Chain Resilience
In this episode of The Checkout, we chat with Aubrie Pagano, General Partner at Alpaca VC, a New York based firm. The Alpaca VC fund, formed by previous founders, invests in technology that powers commerce in the physical and digital worlds. Before Alpaca, Aubrie built and sold her own DTC apparel and gifting brand, Bow & Drape. During this time, she experienced all the ups and downs of creating her own DTC brand.
Cogsy's CEO, Adii Pienaar, sits with Aubrie to discuss all-things DTC-supply chain. In this conversation, she walk us through actionable strategies and tools DTC brands can leverage to solve some of today's supply chain challenges.
Last but not least, this is an exciting episode as Aubrie is the first Cogsy investor to join us on The Checkout.
In this episode, we talk about:
* The driver for Aubrie's passion for all things supply chain
* What brands can do to become more proactive vs. reactive
* The impact of real-time online data visibility on brands
* Pros and c…
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Jul 15, 2022
Mark Riskowitz Of Caraway: Ideal Ops Tech Stack For Early-Stage DTC Brands
Mark Riskowitz, VP of Operations of Caraway, shares his journey setting up the company's operational tech stack before their first product ever launched.
This is the 3rd time we have Mark on the podcast, and this chat is all about the systems that set up DTC ops teams for success.
Caraway is one of the fastest-growing DTC brands around today, selling high-quality, clean home goods that range from sets of pots and pans to table linens. And one of the reasons their success has scaled so well is because of the operational systems Mark set up before they launched their first SKU.
In this episode of The Checkout, Mark walks us through his recommendations for early-stage DTC brands—particularly around allowing flexibility for growth and cleanliness of operational data. At the tail end of the episode, you'll catch Mark walk us through the difference between building a brand and building a business.
Listen in as Mark shares his best practices for how to set up an operational tech stack t…
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Jul 8, 2022
Drew Fallon Of Mad Rabbit: Startups' Journeys After Landing Shark Tank Deals
Did you know that 40% of the US population has a tattoo? The founders of Mad Rabbit, 2 friends with a passion for ink, were clear about this. And after experiencing the commonly recommended poor tattoo aftercare practices, they decided to take action.
In this episode of The Checkout, we chat with Drew Fallon, COO of Mad Rabbit, a tattoo aftercare product company revolutionizing the space. Its founders saw an opportunity to create a superior natural solution for the tattoo healing process and were able to share their story and close a deal on Shark Tank in March 2021.
From body wash, soothing gels, balms, lotions, and more, Mad Rabbit is committed to reinventing the tattoo care space with high-quality, reliable products.
Listen in as Drew shares Mad Rabbit’s journey and how they’ve faced their most recent challenges.
In this episode, we talk about:
* An overview of Mad Rabbit’s origins and journey
* An inside look at TikTok’s role in Mad Rabbit’s marketing strategy…
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Jul 1, 2022
Niki Shamdasani Of Sani: Bootstrapping A Niche Brand In A Competitive Industry
In this episode of The Checkout, we chat with Niki Shamdasani, co-founder of Sani, an Indian and South-Asian-inspired fashion startup.
Niki and her sister Ritika founded Sani Designs when they realized how disconnected they felt from their South Asian culture. Niki and Ritika were determined to bring their cultural identities together through a brand and help women everywhere channel the radiant energy rooted in South Asian fashion.
Niki takes us through their journey of growing Sani as a bootstrapped business—from their humble living room beginnings to making it on Rent the Runway to going viral on TikTok.
In this episode, we talk about:
* The Sani sisters' journey as a bootstrapped fashion business
* The cold outreach strategy that got them onto Rent the Runway
* How TikTok plays a crucial role in Sani’s brand awareness and lead generation strategies
* TikTok virality bumps the brand experienced
* How improving relationships with suppliers can help prevent stockouts…
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Jun 24, 2022
Introducing: New Product Syncing And Improved Product Views To Build A Better Profile Of Your Product Catalog
The tracking of product data is a key component of the DTC business but is often challenging for teams to stay on top of. This is why at Cogsy, we're always looking for ways to make work easier for brands, so they can focus on what matters—growing.
In this episode of The Checkout, Marcella Chamorro, Head of Marketing, and Adii Pienaar, Cogsy's CEO and co-founder, chat about Cogsy's two newest features—Product Views and Product Syncing. In their conversation, Adii shares how these two new features are critical to unlocking better insights for DTC brands.
Tune in to their chat to learn how Cogsy's latest feature drop improves data accuracy around product data so brands can extract valuable insights to run their operations effectively.
In this episode, you'll hear:
* The importance of data cleansing before it affects your brand in the long run.
* How Cogsy's new features can help brands improve accuracy around product data
* How these two features are precursors to the even…
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Jun 17, 2022
Mathias Schröder: The Fundamentals Of Building High-Converting Ecommerce Sites
This week on The Checkout, we chat with Mathias Schröder, a leading expert on all things conversion optimization. He’s also currently building a DTC empire along with his family.
During our chat, Mathias shares his experiences in conversion optimization for his own DTC brands. We learn about his favorite data-driven experiments and his greatest learnings as a DTC operator, particularly when it comes to learning that his assumptions are usually wrong.
Tune in to our talk as Mathias walks us through his favorite strategies for high-converting online stores.
In this episode, we talk about:
* Mathias’ journey entering the DTC space
* The immediate effects of building a community on social media
* Tips for optimizing your store’s conversion rate
* The #1 lesson he wishes he knew when he started his DTC journey
* How optimizing repeatable experiments leads to revenue growth
Connect with Mathias Schroder:
* Follow Mathias on Twitter
* Subscribe to Mathias’ newslet…
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Jun 3, 2022
Arjun Rastogi Of VaynerX: The Balancing Act Of Marketing For 2 DTC Brands
In this episode of The Checkout, we chat with Arjun Rastogi of VaynerX. Arjun is a DTC marketer who focuses on using a holistic approach to drive business growth for startup brands and small to midsize companies. Currently, Arjun simultaneously serves as the Head of Marketing of 2 different DTC brands, including AsWeMove, a men’s underwear brand and Deborah Pagani, a jewelry and hair accessory brand.
During our conversation, Arjun takes us behind the scenes to discuss the challenges of running multiple DTC brands at the same time.
In this episode, you’ll hear:
* Arjun’s journey entering the DTC space
* How to leverage team collaboration between marketing and operations
* An inside look at Arjun’s biggest marketing challenges and how he has overcome them
* Main SKU metrics you should be aware of from a marketing perspective
* An overview of the process of new product launches at AsWeMove and Deborah Pagani
Connect with Arjun and the Vayner X team:
* Connect with…
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May 27, 2022
Jason Wong: How DTC Brands Can Soar In Times Of Capital Market Uncertainty
Becoming a leading expert in the DTC space is a real challenge. But, this can come as second nature to people like Jason Wong, an ecommerce serial founder and investor with over eight years of experience developing brands, establishing marketing strategies, supply chain management, and global logistics.
In this episode of The Checkout, we are happy to have Jason as a guest. Jason has built a portfolio of 7-figure and 8-figure ecommerce brands that span beauty, food and beverages, home decor, and apparel. His holding company Pughaus is involved in Doe Lashes, Kaja Beauty, Nectar Hard Seltzer, Triple Whale, and other emerging brands in the DTC space.
Tune in as Jason explains how the capital market changes will impact DTC brands and how to prepare accordingly.
In this episode, you’ll hear:
* An overview of Jason's journey through different industries in the DTC space
* How the supply chain disruptions will change in the coming months
* Effectively leveraging supplier relation…
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May 20, 2022
Archie Durfee Of Ro: The Downstream Effects Of Reactive vs. Proactive Planning
In this episode of The Checkout, we chat with Archie Durfee, Associate Director of Supply Chain at Ro, a direct-to-patient digital healthcare platform providing high-quality, affordable healthcare without the need for insurance.
Archie walks us through the downstream effects of operational issues, the importance of being proactive vs. reactive, and how going out of stock affects a subscription-based business.
Before joining Ro, Archie gained wide-ranging experience in the supply chain and operations arenas at Radio Flyer, the innovative children’s products brand. After Radio Flyer, Archie was Quip’s first operational hire, leading the Planning and Distribution area at the oral care company. Quip was the first direct-to-consumer oral care subscription service.
Tune into this exclusive interview and listen to Archie’s problem-solving strategies for the operational world.
In this episode:
* The impact of transparent and proactive internal communication in operations
* Plann…
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May 13, 2022
Roundtable On Marrying Marketing & Ops Data To Reach Your Revenue Goals
This is a special episode of The Checkout. A few weeks ago, we hosted a webinar about all things planning, and we decided to share this conversation with you.
This time, our Head of Marketing, Marcella Chamorro, and our Head of Growth, Martina Vancena, lead a chat with Nik Sharma, CEO of Sharma Brands, and Lillie Sun, consultant for DTC brands and formerly in charge of growth at Three Ships Beauty.
During this interesting session, you’ll listen to their first-hand experience running fast-growing DTC brands and how they’ve overcome their supply challenges. As the cherry on top, you’ll get the inside scoop on insights and trends in the DTC space.
Tune in as we bring these voices together to the same table.
In this episode:
* First-hand experience of fast-growing DTC brands to reach revenue goals with confidence
* How transparent communication between marketing and operations can revolutionize a brand’s growth
* The importance of taking marketing events into account in…
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May 6, 2022
Niels Tervoort Of Organifi: Solving For Growing Pains of Fast-Growing Brands
Meet Niels Tervoort, Director of Supply Chain at Organifi, a fast-growing plant-based superfoods company, and also co-founder of Dermazen, a skincare brand that has experienced skyrocketing revenue growth from the first day it launched.
In this episode of The Checkout, Niels takes us through his journey of solving operational growing pains. He gives us a quick glance at what it took to help Organifi scale, and then we dive into how he took that experience into creating his own DTC brand, Dermazen.
Fast growth is a blessing but also an operational challenge. Fulfilling increasing customer demand in the midst of an uncertain supply chain was a true problem filled with life-long operational learnings for Niels and his team.
Tune in to our chat with Niels on how to solve operational growing pains.
In this episode:
* An overview of Organifi’s journey
* Growing pains faced by Dermazen — and how they managed them
* How better relationships with your suppliers can help you preve…
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Apr 29, 2022
Feature Drop! Introducing Production Orders + New Product Planning To Reach Revenue Goals with Confidence
Demand planning can feel like a moving target, especially in today’s disrupted supply chain. Add to that a fast-growing brand with big product launches, and it quickly becomes complicated.
In this episode of The Checkout, you’ll hear all about Cogsy’s new features — Production Orders and New Product Planning. Adii Pienaar, Cogsy’s CEO and co-founder, and Marcella Chamorro, Head of Marketing, hold an internal conversation on why our new planning features have strongly resonated with DTC brands and how they are so important to helping brands reach their revenue goals with more confidence and in less time.
Listen to how Cogsy provides brands with the needed visibility and alignment within their business to ensure accurate forecasting and better growth.
In this episode:
* How supply and demand work together to build a better business
* Why spreadsheets are restraining brands from taking action at the right time
* The benefits of implementing a holistic operation plan to…
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Apr 22, 2022
Aaron Alpeter Of Izba: Unlock Growth Through Improved Fulfillment Center Relationships
In this episode of The Checkout podcast, we chat with Aaron Alpeter, founder of Izba, a group that brings proven operator expertise to startups on a fractional basis so that founders can be more equity - and cash - efficient while focusing on other parts of their business. Aaron is also the founder of Capabl, a tool that helps brands get the most out of their fulfillment partners.
Before starting Izba and Capabl, Aaron completed Unilever's prestigious Supply Chain Management Program, where he spent 5 years gaining direct experience working in planning, manufacturing, international logistics, and continuous improvement. He's also worked with brands like MIRROR, Hubble Contacts, and more.
In this exclusive interview, Aaron chats with us about the important role that fulfillment centers play in DTC brands' operations. We explore the benefits of improving relationships with fulfillment partners and their impact on customer satisfaction.
In this episode:
* Increasing customer satisfac…
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Apr 15, 2022
Cody Plofker Of Jones Road Beauty: The Untold Challenges Of Going Viral
Meet Cody Plofker, Director of Ecommerce for Jones Road Beauty, a brand founded by the renowned makeup artist Bobbi Brown that focuses on clean, strategic, and high-trade formulations.
In this episode of The Checkout, Cody takes us through his journey behind joining the team and his family at Jones Road. He gives us a backstage look at the biggest issues that arise after achieving what many brands look for — going viral on TikTok.
Tune in to our chat about the downside of astronomical growth in a fast-growing brand and some potential solutions for these challenges.
In this episode:
* An overview of Jones Road Beauty’s origins and journey
* An inside look at their biggest challenges and how they've overcome them
* Different solutions for stockouts
* What lies ahead for the brand
* Why employee wellness is a growing concern among fast-growing brands
Connect with Cody and the Jones Road team :
* Connect with Cody on Twitter
* Follow Jones Road Beauty on Instagram…
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Apr 8, 2022
Stefano Sala, Cogsy’s CTO: How To Do Great Work In A Calm Culture
Is it possible to run a trend-setting engineering team that thrives working remotely while maintaining a calm and trusting culture?
In this episode of The Checkout, Cogsy’s own CTO, Stefano Sala, sits down with Marcella to discuss what it’s like to lead an engineering team that delivers exceptional work and, at the same time, adheres to Cogsy’s calm, flexible and asynchronous culture.
Listen to how Cogsy’s engineering team manages to ship quickly while maintaining a life-and family-first mindset.
In this episode:
🔎 A behind-the-scenes look at the hiring process from an engineer’s perspective
👌🏻 How the team lives up to its values while delivering excellence
⚖️ The balance between matching values vs. skills during the hiring process
🚧 The importance of boundaries in a trust-based working relationship
Connect with us:
* Connect with Stefano on Twitter
* Stay up to date at cogsy.com
* Sign up for Cogsy’s Newsletter
Dive deeper into this topic:…
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Apr 1, 2022
Nik Sharma: DTC Trends Changing The Retail Landscape
In this episode of The Checkout, we sit with Nik Sharma, CEO of Sharma Brands, a strategic-initiatives firm working with a wide range of brands to help grow and scale revenue across digital platforms.
Nik is one of AdWeek's Young & Influential, Forbes 30 under 30, Business Insider's up and coming Investors to Watch, and an investor and advisor to some of the fastest-growing brands in commerce. Through his work with hyper-growth brands such as Hint Water, Pill Club, and JUDY, he has helped generate millions of dollars in additional revenue.
Exclusively revealed in this interview are some of Nik's top insights gathered from years of working with DTC brand leaders across various verticals. We dig up the most important trends, patterns, and problems facing DTC brands today.
In this episode, we talk about:
* The top DTC trends changing the retail landscape
* Benefits of taking defense vs. offense strategies for DTC brands
* The importance of implementing customer retention strateg…
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Mar 25, 2022
Jake Disraeli Of Treet: The Growth of Recommerce As A Sustainable Retail Strategy
As more brands (and consumers) seek ways to become more sustainable, recommerce is the new trend to follow. This concept isn’t new, but it’s gaining traction in recent years, allowing brands to become more sustainable while positively impacting their bottom line.
In this episode of The Checkout, we chat with Jake Disraeli, co-founder and CEO of Treet, a company rethinking the retail resale market. Treet is a software solution that helps fashion brands become more circular and control the secondhand market for their products by launching their own fully-branded peer-to-peer resale marketplace. And Treet makes it easy for brands to implement resale from an operational perspective.
Tune in to hear how recommerce empowers retail brands as consumers grow more interested in sustainability than ever before. Jake gives us an overview of the surging resale trend and how brands can fully benefit from it.
In this episode, we talk about:
* Empowering your brand through recommerce
* A l…
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Mar 18, 2022
Slam Dunk New Features: A Look At Our Product‘s Future
Running a fast-growing DTC brand is a challenge. Especially because relying on past performance indicators can be a big risk.
This episode of The Checkout is an internal conversation between Cogsy’s co-founder and CEO Adii Pienaar and Cogsy’s Head of Marketing, Marcella Chamorro. In this chat, Adii shares a behind-the-scenes look at building Cogsy — particularly what’s next on the product’s roadmap.
Adii walks us through Cogsy's recently launched features: planning and marketing events. He explains how they work together to provide a holistic and accurate forecast, so you can optimize your DTC brand's operations and resource allocation as you grow.
Listen to how Cogsy provides brands with the needed visibility and alignment within their business to ensure accurate forecasting and better growth.
In this episode, we talk about:
* The catalysts behind Cogsy’s marketing events & planning features
* How Cogsy’s new marketing events feature can save your important sale…
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Mar 11, 2022
Pranay Srinivasan Of Manufactured.com: The Future Of Manufacturing
Manufacturing operations are highly intricate, and issues often arise in unforeseen ways. Even a small modification to the system can have far-reaching effects on costs and production.
But for Manufactured.com’s founder Pranay Srinivasan, a future with faster delivery times, cheaper production costs, and happier customers is totally attainable.
In this episode of The Checkout, Pranay walks us through a career's worth of insights from the manufacturing world.
Tune in as we dive into the complexities of growing a manufacturing business and what it takes to succeed — especially in today's unprecedented times.
👉 Skim this episode's highlights.
The Checkout is brought to you by Cogsy, the ops optimization tool empowering DTC brands to unlock 40% more revenue and save 20+ hours a week. Learn more and try it free for 14 days at cogsy.com.
PS – Love this podcast? Don’t forget to leave us a 5-star review on Apple Podcasts.
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Mar 4, 2022
Matt Mullenax of Huron: How Vulnerability Makes Your Brand Stronger
In this episode of The Checkout, we sit with Matt Mullenax, co-founder and CEO of Huron, a brand dedicated to helping men by offering high-quality personal care products at affordable prices.
In 2019, Huron's co-founders, Matt Mullenax and Matt Teri teamed up to build a best-in-class product, knowing their complementary skills would help them reach their business goals. Matt M. had an up-close-and-personal understanding of men’s ineffective skincare products available on the market after experiencing severely bad skin growing up and into his professional life. His co-founder, Matt Teri, had 20+ years of experience in product development for the world's biggest brands, including The Estee Lauder Company, Tom Ford, and Lab Series.
In this exclusive interview, Matt Mullenax reveals how to build a successful business using a customer-first strategy. And how this has allowed them to create a show-stopping product experience that ensures high customer satisfaction.
In this episode, we t…
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Feb 25, 2022
Mark Riskowitz Of Caraway: The Ins & Outs Of A Successful Bundling Strategy
Bundling can be a mystery to direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands. It can be difficult and perplexing. So, how do some brands make it seem so effortless?
In this episode of The Checkout, we welcome back Mark Riskowitz, Head of Operations at Caraway, who previously joined us on our first episode.
Caraway is one of the fastest-growing DTC brands these days. It launched in November 2019 after its founder, Jordan Nathan searched (without success) for non-PTFE or Teflon-coated products. Jordan decided to create his own, and now, Caraway has thoughtfully raised cookware standards.
Tune in to hear how a top brand like Caraway has become a master at effective bundling. Mark outlines the important factors and complexities to account for as you develop a bundling strategy— and how to work around them.
Join us as we delve into the intricacies of creating a sustainable product bundling strategy.
In this episode, we talk about:
* The easiest way to start your bundling strategy
* The operatio…
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Feb 18, 2022
How Cogsy’s Calm, People-First Workplace Triggers Culture Shock (The Good Kind)
Keeping a company’s founding values and culture can be challenging, especially when it grows rapidly.
As Cogsy continues to grow, we’re being intentional about how we conserve our founding values and culture. It can be difficult in a remote work setting—but not impossible.
In this episode of The Checkout, we hold an internal conversation about all things people as the team’s growth is currently top of mind.
Tune in to hear our Head of People, Bori Tóth, share her approach to recruiting, selection, and onboarding processes at Cogsy. We walk you through its successful strategies to empower its team as it expands. In addition, we share unique day-to-day team practices that have helped Cogsy keep its culture alive.
Listen to how Cogsy’s team lives up to its values and empowers its human resources to thrive by bringing their best and unique selves to work each day.
In this episode, we talk about:
* What Cogsy’s leadership is focusing on to foster its values and culture…
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Feb 11, 2022
Govalo: How The Resurgence of Gift Cards Can Reduce Your Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
Meet Kelly Vaughn and Rhian Beutler: the co-founders of Govalo, a brand working on reinventing the digital gifting experience. Their Shopify plugin empowers brands to offer customized gift cards and for customers to send them directly to their intended recipient.
As veterans of the Shopify ecosystem, Kelly and Rhian carry over two decades of combined experience. And when they saw early indicators of gift card resurgence, they joined forces to improve the way brands can leverage the asset.
Before Govalo, both Kelly and Rhian saw success with other Shopify-centric ventures. Kelly founded and scaled The Taproom, a Shopify Plus agency. And Rhian founded Ventovv, a successful Shopify app company.
In this episode of The Checkout by Cogsy, Kelly and Rhian break down how gift cards are a viable tool that every merchant should be taking advantage of right now. Plus, they outline how your brand can leverage this tool in your marketing and operational strategies to reap the biggest benefits.…
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Feb 4, 2022
Eli Weiss: The Power Of Doing Things That Operationally Don’t Scale
OLIPOP rightfully calls themselves "a new kind of soda." Each can packs 2-5g of sugar, 9g of fiber, probiotics and comes in one of seven classic flavors. And in less than three years, the product has found its way into 10k+ grocery stores across the US.
This week, the brand announced their $30M series B round at a $200M valuation. And we got to sit down with Eli Weiss, OLIPOP's Director of CX & Retention, on The Checkout to chat through how they did it.
According to Eli, the soda brand's wild success comes down to putting customers first and doing things that don't scale.
Before joining OLIPOP, Eli built Simulate's first CX team. And before that, he was the Director of CX, Operations & Business Development at FUGU Luggage. There, he learned the ins and outs of operations and realized his passion for building incredible customer experiences, no matter what it takes.
In this episode, we talk about:
* When it makes sense to do activities that don't scale
* How to get buy-in from…
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Jan 25, 2022
Kristen LaFrance: How DTC Brands Can Embrace The New Golden Era Of Commerce
Kristen LaFrance is earning the right to call herself the customer retention expert in the direct-to-consumer (DTC) space. Today, she's the Mayor of DTC Twitter and the Director of Community at Repeat. But her work has appeared on Privy, Honest eCommerce, Modern Retail, among many others.
And in her years of experience, one DTC truth continues to ring true: great customer experiences naturally lead to customer retention. That's why she's a huge advocate for people before metrics. Meaning, brands should treat their customers as unique human beings with goals, dreams, and desires, not just another consumer (because that's who they are).
In this episode of The Checkout, Kristen breaks down her "direct-to-people" philosophy. Plus, she outlines ways companies can objectively implement this model without sacrificing sustainability.
When Kristen's off Twitter and not running customer experience audits (these moments are rare), you can catch her hiking mountains or obsessing over her rescue…
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Jan 17, 2022
How We're Conserving Company Culture After Tripling Our Headcount
We had five team members at the start of November 2021. Just one month later, we had 15 team members logging in from every corner of the globe. 😱
And this episode of The Checkout was the internal conversation that set the tone for that incredible growth. Specifically, how we would conserve company culture.
Tune in to hear Cogsy co-founder and CEO Adii Pienaar share what inspired the company's values and culture. And how we (at the time, intended to) conserve our culture while adding a new team member.
(Exciting update: Early signs say the efforts outlined in this episode are working! 🥳)
We'll also walk you through our hiring process (and how we leverage it to find value-fit individuals) and how our distributed team works together.
In this episode, we talk about:
* Where Cogsy's company values come from
* How Adii and his co-founder Stefano Sala's previous experiences informed Cogsy's culture
* What the duo is focusing on to conserve company culture
* The single ques…
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Jan 12, 2022
Alex McNealey: The People, Processes & Planning That Define Operations
If your brand faces an operational challenge, Alex McNealey has probably already solved it.
Today, Alex is the Chief Operating Officer at Thuma, a DTC high-end bedroom furniture brand that has experienced explosive growth since its founding in 2018.
But before Thuma, Alex managed JCrew's business strategy back when ecommerce was taking off in the late 90s. And before that, he headed up operations at Pure Digital Technologies (which Cisco acquired in 2009) and leading women's lifestyle brand Popsugar.
And he is using all these diverse career experiences to optimize Thuma for scale.
In this episode of The Checkout, Alex walks us through a career's worth of operational insights you can't afford to miss. Namely, what assumptions and levers unlock growth, and how Thuma uses that knowledge to maintain flexibility amidst supply chain disruptions.
In this episode, we talk about:
* Which functions of the business constitute as "operations."
* The pragmatic yin operators need to balanc…
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Jan 6, 2022
Greg Davidson: Scaling Lalo's 400% Year-Over-Year Growth
Greg Davidson, co-founder and CEO of Lalo, shares how his brand has fine-tuned its operations to scale its explosive growth.
In this episode of The Checkout, we chat with our friend Greg Davidson, co-founder and CEO of Lalo, a modern baby and toddler brand.
Lalo promises to underpin customers' belief that the job of parenting should be more important than the task of shopping for it. As a result,
Lalo's team aims to build a genuine and trustworthy brand—from bibs to high chairs to play mats.
And in this exclusive interview, Greg shares his experiences selling direct-to-consumer and scaling the business after seeing 400% year-over-year growth. While that kind of massive growth is a great problem to have, it's also not an easy challenge to solve. That's why the team at Lalo is so committed to optimizing the brand's operations in order to support it.
Before co-founding Lalo, Greg held leadership positions at tech companies including Artsy and WayUp. Today, Greg leverages years of le…
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Dec 22, 2021
Exciting News: Cogsy Raises $6M Seed Funding
we are incredibly excited to share that we've completed a $5M seed round led by Accel Partners. (Alongside our pre-seed round earlier this year, this brings our total funding to date to $6M.)
We're also grateful for having a star-studded support cast in the form of Sugar Capital, Riverpark VC, Bain Capital Ventures, Automattic/WooCommerce, and Brian Long.
Seth Pierrepont, a partner at Accel, said:“Few sectors have evolved as fast as e-commerce in recent years. Retail brands are taking advantage of this new landscape and orienting themselves around a digital-first approach. Yet when it comes to their ops functions, many are still using yesterday’s playbook. Cogsy is helping brands turn their ops function into engines of growth.”
In this episode, we talk about:
* How the fundraising round came about.
* What the future holds for the team's growth.
* How the fundraising will jumpstart the product's innovation.
* The stressed vs. calm approach to running a business.
* Ad…
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Dec 15, 2021
Samar Owais: Is Email The Most Underutilized Ops Tool?
In this episode of The Checkout, we sit down with Samar Owais, email conversion strategist for SaaS and eCommerce brands.
Samar has helped companies like Hubspot, Drip, Pinterest, and numerous eCommerce brands increase conversions, retain customers, and fix the money-leaking gaps in their emails. And she's the creator of the eCommerce Email Bootcamp for copywriters.
Now, Samar walks us through the operational side of email. Plus, she gives her expert recommendations on better managing communications with customers amidst supply chain disruptions.
In this episode, we talk about:
* Why email is first a communications tool, before a marketing tool.
* Fostering and nurturing the post-purchase relationship with customers via email.
* Using email to provide customers options and control over what happens next.
* The importance of looping in ops teams to email marketing plans.
* Opportunities for DTC brands in the upcoming year: transparency, bundling, and more.
* Samar's idea…
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Dec 9, 2021
Alek Koenig: Minimizing Operational Stress Through Access To Capital
Alek Koenig is the founder and CEO of Settle. In 2019, he sought to ease modern businesses' cash flow and financial management. Today, Settle encapsulates payment, financing, and accounting integrations for brands and e-commerce organizations to scale faster.
Before Settle, Alek was the Head of Credit at Affirm from 2015-2019. Before that, he worked at Capital One for six years and a small fintech startup in between.
At Settle, Alek works with fast-growing brands to minimize operational stress and increase operational agility through access to capital.
In this episode of The Checkout , he shares his learnings from working with forward-thinking brands at different stages of their growth journeys. This includes what's working, what isn't, and everything in between.
In this episode, we talk about:
* What in particular inspired Alek to create a cashflow management product.
* How his team and product helped brands adapt to the disruptions that came along with the pandemic.
* The…
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Dec 3, 2021
Why We're Building Cogsy To Empower Retail Brands
Every few episodes of The Checkout, we plan to give you a behind-the-scenes look at building Cogsy. This is the first episode of that kind, and we start with the Cogsy origin story—straight from Cogsy co-founder and CEO Adii Pienaar.
Adii goes into how we plan to empower retail brands. Plus, why we approach commerce with a strong focus on operations and where we plan on taking the product in the future.
Spoiler: The focus is always on operational excellence.
In this episode, we talk about:
* Where the name "Cogsy" comes from.
* Reverse engineering operational processes to help smaller brands.
* How Adii envisions empowering retail brands through the product.
* Why we're now entering the third wave of e-commerce.
* If we're building an inventory management system or not? Adii shares his thoughts on the matter.
* Reporting and insights vs. taking actions and making decisions.
And throughout the conversation, Adii is in the hot seat. Meanwhile, Cogsy Head of Marketing M…
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Dec 3, 2021
Jose Alvarez: Building And Scaling A Fragrance Brand With Agility
This week on The Checkout, we chat with Jose Alvarez, Abbott co-founder and CEO, a New York City-based sustainable fragrance brand, and the growing pains of scaling a fast-growing brand.
And on this episode, he shares the research it takes to launch a new fragrance brand and the importance of flexibility when operating with an unreliable supply chain.
In 2016, Jose co-founded the company with Michael Pass. Abbott is a project that draws upon the friends' long-standing passion for outdoor adventures and sustainable, non-toxic fragrances. Ones that are consciously made but never sacrifice beauty and artistry.
Jose moved around a lot when he was younger but spent his formative years in Nicaragua, where his family is originally from. That's where his passion for adventure and nature began. He spent those years in rural farms, untouched rainforests, and virgin beaches.
Today, he believes that we are all citizens of the world and still have a voracious appetite for discovering new cultur…
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Dec 3, 2021
Mark Riskowitz: Managing Operational Uncertainty At Caraway
Today, we are thrilled to bring you the first-ever episode of The Checkout podcast. In it, Caraway Head of Ops Mark Riskowitz shares how he manages uncertainty and ensures brand growth by dialing in on unit economics.
This first-ever episode of The Checkout is a special one. We talk to our friend, Mark Riskowitz, Head of Operations at Caraway, one of the fastest-growing DTC brands around today.
In this episode, Mark tells us how he helps manage supply chain uncertainty and ensures the brand's growth by dialing their unit economics.
Caraway launched in November 2019 after its founder Jordan Nathan was searching (without success) for non-PTFE or Teflon-coated products. Frustrated at the lack of options, he set out to create his own.
Today, Caraway's four-piece, non-toxic, non-stick set of ceramic pots and pans with a playful color palette are the product of that initial frustration.
And the modern design and aesthetics of Caraway products made them instantly popular. This drove the…
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Nov 29, 2021
What You Can Expect To Hear On The Checkout
The Checkout by Cogsy is a podcast for retail brands pursuing operational excellence. On it, we explore best practices and insights from top operations and retail experts. And we cover everything from inventory to purchase orders, from cash flow to fundraising, and more.
Learn something new about retail operations in each episode. Each week, we hope to empower you to operate proactively and take smarter actions.
Brands are facing a challenging time. Customer demand is increasing, while supply chains are making fulfillment more difficult than ever. How can they scale amidst this uncertainty? When operations aren't dialed in, brands can't take advantage of growth and sales. We talk to experts in operations, logistics, financing, and more to bring you potential solutions and ideas as you optimize your brand's operations.
Who will be on the show?
Co-hosted by Cogsy's CEO Adii Pienaar and Cogsy's Head of Marketing Marcella Chamorro, The Checkout invites only top leaders in the retail sp…
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